I had made a Palpatine-esque robe more than a decade ago from a Jedi robe pattern that I found freely on the Rebelscum forums (if I recall correctly) and had modified to what I thought made a handsome Emperor's robe. Unfortunately, I honestly had no idea what I was doing at the time and was rather unhappy with the results. I've stewed for the last 10+ years on what I would do differently if I were to do it again to make it more accurate to the RotJ look.
Being that RotJ's 40th is around the corner at the time of writing this (RotJ was my touted favorite Star Wars film for the longest time), it was only recently when Whiskey Emperor Palpatine thread popped up again, the photos/discussion that took place there really motivated me to make another one, working what was mentioned there into what I had gathered myself. Rather than just hi-jack that thread, I may as well post what I made here on my own.
This build spanned a week of intermittent work but I'm sure it was only just a day's worth of actual doing that tallied the final build time (a lot of it was me humming and hawing over details). A lot of what I referenced is in the previous thread, so go jump to that if you want more photo reference material to the real screen-used costume.
The robe itself is "kimono-cut," Jedi garb typically being inspired by Japanese clothing, meaning the sleeves and the main body of the garment is attached and typically cut from one single cloth. Palpatine's robe from the PT is like this, but the OT is put together from four panels: two back and two front panels. I didn't have a physical pattern to work from beyond what I memorized from before, so don't take the following photo as gospel to follow.
The fabric is a black, cotton waffle-weave that I found on Etsy and I bought a total of 12 yards of the stuff (3.5 of it wasn't used, I may turn it into a proper bath robe for the wife) at 59 inches wide. The weave of the pattern itself is larger than the actual screen-used material but it was the closest I could find in the width that I thought would work for me.
Before any cutting was done, the material was pre-washed in tap-cold water and left to hang dry. This pre-shrinks the cloth (and the waffle pattern) and keeps it from distorting as it's worked. The robe needs to be washed again, exactly the same as the pre-wash, after it is fully assembled to "lock" the fabric and look in place as it relaxes and restructures itself during the washing and drying process around the seams and hems.
The above front panel cut was the first preliminary cut whole-cloth to be closest to what I figured McDiarmid's was. I'm a small and slight man (shorter than McDiarmid) and, having met him, I was pretty confident on how long the cut needed to be. I subsequently tweaked this a number of times to find the proper drape on me and that informed the other panels. Ultimately, I had to shorten the bottom of the robe and the height of the sleeve to look decent on me. The back panels, however, were kept longer than the front so to drag and drape more.
Palpatine's robe isn't just big, it's big for him. The costume was tailored to McDiarmid's size at the time of RotJ and that's what gives it distinctive look compared to the robes used in the PT. It can't just be copied onto me. For it to capture that RotJ look on me, I had to rescale the pattern and cut of the robe. I think this is a detail that a lot of replica robes tend to overlook, especially when it comes to the hood. It can't just be cut big and baggy; it has to look big and baggy to your body type.
There's also a number of little idiosyncrasies that make the RotJ robe, and here's just some of them:
Overall, I'm really pleased with the outcome and am certainly more proud of the results this time around than I was with my first attempt a decade ago. Here are some awkward, flipped cellphone selfies in a number of poses, chronologically ordered by film quotes. Can you figure them all?
Oh, the brooch was made my me. Sculpted in Monster Clay, molded in silicon and cast in resin with bits of steel inside so I could use neodymium magnets instead of pins and a clasp. It covers the hook and eyelet that's actually holding the closure together.
Being that RotJ's 40th is around the corner at the time of writing this (RotJ was my touted favorite Star Wars film for the longest time), it was only recently when Whiskey Emperor Palpatine thread popped up again, the photos/discussion that took place there really motivated me to make another one, working what was mentioned there into what I had gathered myself. Rather than just hi-jack that thread, I may as well post what I made here on my own.
This build spanned a week of intermittent work but I'm sure it was only just a day's worth of actual doing that tallied the final build time (a lot of it was me humming and hawing over details). A lot of what I referenced is in the previous thread, so go jump to that if you want more photo reference material to the real screen-used costume.
The robe itself is "kimono-cut," Jedi garb typically being inspired by Japanese clothing, meaning the sleeves and the main body of the garment is attached and typically cut from one single cloth. Palpatine's robe from the PT is like this, but the OT is put together from four panels: two back and two front panels. I didn't have a physical pattern to work from beyond what I memorized from before, so don't take the following photo as gospel to follow.
The fabric is a black, cotton waffle-weave that I found on Etsy and I bought a total of 12 yards of the stuff (3.5 of it wasn't used, I may turn it into a proper bath robe for the wife) at 59 inches wide. The weave of the pattern itself is larger than the actual screen-used material but it was the closest I could find in the width that I thought would work for me.
Before any cutting was done, the material was pre-washed in tap-cold water and left to hang dry. This pre-shrinks the cloth (and the waffle pattern) and keeps it from distorting as it's worked. The robe needs to be washed again, exactly the same as the pre-wash, after it is fully assembled to "lock" the fabric and look in place as it relaxes and restructures itself during the washing and drying process around the seams and hems.
The above front panel cut was the first preliminary cut whole-cloth to be closest to what I figured McDiarmid's was. I'm a small and slight man (shorter than McDiarmid) and, having met him, I was pretty confident on how long the cut needed to be. I subsequently tweaked this a number of times to find the proper drape on me and that informed the other panels. Ultimately, I had to shorten the bottom of the robe and the height of the sleeve to look decent on me. The back panels, however, were kept longer than the front so to drag and drape more.
Palpatine's robe isn't just big, it's big for him. The costume was tailored to McDiarmid's size at the time of RotJ and that's what gives it distinctive look compared to the robes used in the PT. It can't just be copied onto me. For it to capture that RotJ look on me, I had to rescale the pattern and cut of the robe. I think this is a detail that a lot of replica robes tend to overlook, especially when it comes to the hood. It can't just be cut big and baggy; it has to look big and baggy to your body type.
There's also a number of little idiosyncrasies that make the RotJ robe, and here's just some of them:
- The hood isn't just cut from a square of cloth and sewed onto the main garment, it is rounded from front-to-back, giving it that distinct v-cut in the waffle pattern at the top of the hood.
- The RotJ look also has a long and narrow opening due to the lower and wider collar of the neck as opposed to how it is ideally cut and higher-sitting in the PT (it's also smaller than in the PT).
- The sleeve isn't hemmed in the front but closed at the bottom, and then tucked inward and attached to the interior before it is bunched up with a strand of thread running the length of the forearm.
- The front opening of the hood has a hem with an extension running a ways into the hood (I have mine sitting just atop my forehead), I believe this is to add some rigidity and stabilize the opening's shape.
- The front closure of the robe should ride higher than the feet with the sides and back draped onto the floor. The bottom of the robe should not entirely end above the feet. This is something obviously done to keep the actor from tripping while moving.
Overall, I'm really pleased with the outcome and am certainly more proud of the results this time around than I was with my first attempt a decade ago. Here are some awkward, flipped cellphone selfies in a number of poses, chronologically ordered by film quotes. Can you figure them all?
Oh, the brooch was made my me. Sculpted in Monster Clay, molded in silicon and cast in resin with bits of steel inside so I could use neodymium magnets instead of pins and a clasp. It covers the hook and eyelet that's actually holding the closure together.
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