Caesar's Palace Soldiers Costume

Wearing the costumes is myself, Nathan, and my partner Matthew.
The idea for these costumes came about when we booked our yearly trip to ptown and the theme this year was Viva Las Vegas.. Everyone was doing the whole showgirl, traditional roman soldiers, Elvis etc.... I immediately thought, we need to go big or go home.. It was all or nothing. I began to google traditional roman soldiers, what the wore, what they used for protection in battle. I found what i liked and began to think, how can i turn each of these items into Las Vegas worthy material. I began working on it in March of this year and didn't finish till the end of August. If there was a show at Caesars Palace in Vegas featuring Roman Soldiers "show girl" style (men dressed as men, adorned with all things shiny, and bling with lots of feathers) This is how I envisioned them looking like. Find all the materials we used and what stores we found them at and a step by step on each piece of the costume below!!
HOW-TO/MATERIALS USED:
Materials Used: 50 rolls of Silver Metallic duck tape, zip ties, Styrofoam, wooden skewers, baseball hat, double sided hem tape, feathers, bling roll, sequin fabric, black sheer fabric, rhinestones, black leather, black pleather, silver pleather, lacrosse shoulder pads, lacrosse elbow pads, metal pole, mirrors, fiber optic lights, Silver foam paper, catering pot cover, zippered pouches, black sandals, magnetic buttons, silver fabric trim, floral wire, foam knee pads

All materials were purchased at the following stores: Home Depot, Michael’s Arts and Crafts, AC More, Joanne Fabrics, Sewfisticated Fabrics, Feathers shipped in from China, Marshalls (Lacrosse pads and baseball hat) Payless (sandals).

SPEARS-- we used a 6ft tall metal pipe, carved the spearhead out of Styrofoam and covered it using the bling roll. On the bottom of the spear, we used a round Styrofoam ball followed by a wooden furniture leg directly under it which we painted silver. We needed a hard surface on the bottom if we were going to be touching them along the ground as we walked. For the pole, we covered it in double sided tape and then decked it out with Bling and rhinestones.

SHIELDS-- One of us is a private chef, so we used 2 of his catering pot covers as shields. I wrapped them in silver pleather and duck taped it along the back. I then installed a zippered pouch on the backside, just about the handle , this would later store our cell phones and wallets. After that was done, I took black leather and cut it to fit the backside of the cover to give it a nice finished look. On the front side of the shield we used the bling roll and rhinestones. I took the Trojan condom logo and made some adjustments to it so its not copyright infringement. This was made on foam paper and then laid over black leather. I decided to add this fun detail because – “the shield is OUR protection”

GLADIATOR SANDALS-- black sandals from payless, covered them in metallic silver duck tape, placed double sided tape along the entire sandal and cut the bling roll to fit on each section. I then put a magnetic button on the top and one on the back strap . For the ankle Portion, I took silver canvas like trim and put floral wire inside of it so we could bend and shape it to our legs and to keep it from sliding down, I put the other side of the button on the front bottom and front back of this piece. You put the ankle form on first and then the sandal, buttons come unattached when you bend down, as soon as you stand up, they automatically snap back into place.

ROMAN SKIRTS-- I used a neck tie to get the shape I wanted, I then went ahead and figured out how many points I wanted on the skirt. I made a template out of foam board, this was used to cut out the fabric so they were all the same size, shape etc. The entire skirt is held together with layers of duck tape (I don’t know how to sew) Cut separate panels of the bling roll . On the waist band I used tiny mirrors all the way along as well as silver studs. Bigger square mirrors were placed over top of the sequin panels. I used magnetic buttons and outdoor snap Velcro to keep it on our waist.

ELBOW/CHEST ARMOUR-– Used lacrosse gear I bought from marshalls. Elbow pad I just wrapped it in fabric, chest armour was a full padding covering from stomach to neck. We cut up each one to how we felt comfortable in it, Covered them in duck tape and then bling over top of that. The shoulder part was made out of foam knee pads that we cut to the shape desired and then attached them to the sholder of the padding.

CAPES-- Took sequin fabric as well as black sheer fabric, cut them the same size and used the hem tape all the way around the outside edge except for the bottom, which allowed fluidity and movement.

HEADDRESS-- Took a baseball hat and cut off the visor, using zip ties I attached a piece of Styrofoam that I had cut into the shape of a Mohawk. I then covered everything with the silver duck tape, and using a wooden skewer, began to poke 1500 holes through the tape and into the foam malking it easier to place the 1500 feathers. Made the sides out of foam paper and attached them with hot glue and double sided tape. Hand glued each rhinestone and mirror onto the sides, front and tips of the feathers. Last but not least, attached fiber optic lights (300 of them) to skewers and stuck them throughout the feathers.

Walking down the street in these costumes is thrilling!! Cars stopping, people taking pictures.. I love to know that others appreciate the hard work and all the details we put into this. I did take photos as I went along, If you would like to see anything closer or how it started, I would be happy to share those as well.