Turning John Cleese into The Grim Reaper

Now that it is being broadcast on TV, I can finally reveal that I recently completed a commission for the one-and-only John Cleese! I was thrilled to have the chance to dress this comedy legend as the most gothic of characters: The Grim Reaper.

 His stylist provided me with fabric and trimmings and a tight deadline of 2 days! The requirement was a robe that looked luxurious, and had a train - quite a length for a man of 6 foot 5. 

I created a partially interfaced hood to ensure it draped over his head naturally, but didn't flop down over his face. The edges of the hood and centre-front opening were trimmed with a twisted black braid, and a decorative frog clasp was attached at the throat. The actual cloak was done up with about 25 hooks and eyes all running down the front and hidden.

The belt seen in the screen-shot was added on-set. You can see the cloak in action in the full commercial below.