I dunno, I still think the costumes of the PT were one of the few things that were not bullshit. You have this galaxy full of tons of planets, tons of different cultures, naturally, they'd all have their own styles of clothing. I think that did a good job of reminding us that we were not seeing a story from our own galaxy as Star Trek or other sci-fi shows, but from an entirely different, unconnected galaxy.
I think it also showed us a nice contrast, a contrast that was largely absent in the PT, to show us a before and after the rise of the Empire. Before, under the Republic, planets had their own cultures, militaries, etc. Under the Empire everyone is forced to come in line, culturally unique things like ceremonial dress or traditional clothings that we see in the PT fade, militaries like Naboo's army are banned, and (according to the OT, but contradicted by the PT, the Empire begings conscripting young men from around the galaxy to be Stormtroopers and pilots in the Imperial Navy.
In the OT we see a used, worn, and oppressed galaxy. I think the OT does a good job of showing that, everyone we come across on the limited number of civilized planets we see all wear very practical clothing, and fairly similar clothing, regardless of their species. I like that change.
I wish George could have better managed this with the ships. Instead, everyone of the rediculous models we see in the PT are completely missing in the OT. It makes sense for clothes to go away and disappear, but ships, like cars, don't just wind up spending the rest of their existence in thrift store like clothes do. You still see really old cars driving around, some restored, some chugging around as dilapidated piles of crap, some resting in scrap yards. A galaxy full of ships doesn't just vanish. This screwup was a much larger piece of bullshit glistening in the PT than the wardrobe was.
