Gladiator

Costume from Gladiator- worn by Joaquin Phoenix as Commodus. My photos were taken at the Dressing the Stars 2011 exbitition at Bath- click on an image to enlarge.

The Roman Emperor Commodus fights in the Colosseum in this memorable suit of armour. The outfit is a testament to the Emperor’s vanity- this white armour is highly unsuitable for actually getting dirty in, but it looks good, and sets him apart from the ordinary gladiators.

The costume was designed by Janty Yates:

“His armor had to be malleable to allow for movement, so it was made of rubber and then covered in leather,” Yates reveals. “You can imagine how he felt in the hot sun of Malta.” Yates created Commodus’ stunning white armor ensemble to look like marble, based on Ridley Scott’s thought that Commodus was trying to echo the statuary of his predecessors.

From: http://moviegladiator.tripod.com/costumes.html

The costume reads a lot less white in real life than it does on the screen!

Amazing details!