Judge Andersons costume was designed to be sleek and sexy, but still retain some protection for the wearer. The costume department was all the time being told to make things smaller and less bulky, hence the skin tight pants and the corset-like armored vest. The standard Judge belt buckle was even bent to reduce it's bulk and conform more to Olivia's body. The producers were so keen on making sure Andersons pants were sexy looking, that they spent the money and had the pants specially made by another costume shop when the main costume shop was tasked with a lot already.
Rob Allsopp, key costumer for the movie, said that Andersons costume was designed after they had established Judge Dredd's Hero costume, and that Andersons was trickier to do because Olivia Thirlby was much smaller than Karl Urban and all the components had to be repatterned and resculpted, even the helmet.
An example of how tiny Olivia Thirby was can be seen in these full body photos of the costume (to the right and left). All the Belt Accesories were the same for all the Judges, nothing was changed or altered for those items. Her Belt Buckle and round Breach Mine are right next to each other, then comes the black Ammo Magazine Holders. Now look at the back image of the costume, the Magazine Holders curve around the torso and touch the Back Armored Vest section. Dredd's Mag Holders barely make it past his underarm area. Also, in that back shot, notice there is no Flash Bang Holder (a green leather cylinder). They did not have the space on her belt to give her Flash Bangs.
Anderson's costume has almost all the components that make-up a typical Judge Costume, Her armor and clothes are jsut scaled down. If you trying to go accurate, expect to send near $2000.00+ USD on your Anderson Costume. Leather is not cheap, and neither are screen-accurate parts.
This is a good image comparing Anderson and Dredds costumes side-by-side. Very similar in over-all design, but subtle differences.
Here is a genericPrintable Checklist for the Judge Costume, to help keep track of all the parts needed in your costume build.
In this fantastic close up of Andersons jacket (taken from early on in the movie, where Anderson is questioned by the Chief Justice), we can see that the top area of the jacket uses an embossed-kevlar texture leather. Also notice the embossed-eagle shoulder pad, the double-stitching on the left shoulder pad, and the fact that the left shoulder pad is in two different sections, separated by a sleeve seam.
Unlike Dredd's jacket, Judge Anderson's pop-up collar does not have a button snap. Infact, it's connector-free. The Zipper looks to be a #5 YKK Square-style Antique-brass Zipper.
Andersons leather pants are completley flat across the front, with no pockets. The flat front means the pants have zippers on the side/s. Also, notice the Y-shape stretch panel in the groin area. That panel extends to the underside of the buttocks area as well. The stretch material is most likely the same kevlar-stretch material used in Dredd's Groin area too.
Here is a back shot of the pants, showing the stretch material under the buttocks. Also it looks like the stretch material is on the back of the calf's, below the knee.
There is an accordian-stretch panel on the back of the pants, just like the male pants. This is to allow the pants to stretch as the wearer sits on their motorcyle. Most likely the top-back of the pants zip to the bottom-back of the jacket.
The female vest armor plates contour to the human form much better than the male vest armor does. Notice in this image how it makes a very corset-style sihouette. When sculpting or forming your own female armor parts, keep this in mind. Try to use a Mannequin or Body Form to help ensure accurate shaping.
This image shows a good front view of the armor and it's contouring. The lower panels actually curve up and around the sides of the breast to help ensure the corset-look.
Anderson's Vest Zipper looks to be brass with a Circular Pull-tab. Dredd's pull-tab was square in shape. The YKK #7 or #8 Brass Donut Pull Slider looks to be a close match.
Anderson and Kaplan both have 3 Armor Plates on the back of their Tactical Vests. The male vests have 4 armor plates.
Also notice that there are 2 Leather belt loops hanging off the bottom-back of the vest.
The same Shoulder Bicep Restraint System is in place at the bottoom of the shoulder as it is on the Male Vest. That square pulltab is actually part of 'handle mounting tabs' for luggage (see the 'Vest' section for more information.)
This image shows us just how much curve is in the Eagle Shoudler bell. It's not quite a half sphere, but it's not as flat as we would think either. It definitely looks (in this image atleast) that the curve lessens as it gets further out.
Great shot of the Elbow Armor. Notice that there are 3 Distinct Pads that make up the half-sphere elbow armor.
For those looking for ultra-authenticity. Here's a shot of Anderson's boot tread. It's taken from the scene where Anderson is thrown around in the MaMa Gang Headquarters. Six diamond-shaped knobs in the front of the boot, One diamond-shaped knob in the heel.
At the end of the movie, Anderson's costume looks like it's seen some action.
Look how clean Andersons gear was early in the movie.
If you are just doing a generic female Judge Costume, not an Anderson costume, you can probably get away with using Male armor and leather components on you costume, as long as they fit you. The only people who would know that they are different will be you and the really hardcore fans. Chances are, even those hardcore-types will sympathize with your need to keep it simple, as a Judge's costume is not easy to make, nor cheap.