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I was curious because I've been fascinated to see developments made in ceramics over the past 10 years. Current ceramic armor is nearly as strong as diamond and can stop dead straight shots from only inches away, let alone strike and stab weaponry and arrows. The weapons expert brought in to be a technical advisor on The Dark Knight came up with the idea of hundreds of ceramic plates all weaved into an elastic body suit to provide maximum surface area protection without sacrificing movement. Obviously, though, such options would be quite pricey.
Still, the same theory could be expanded to include cheaper, metal options like steel or titanium. The issue is that something like steel is much heavier than modern ceramics, which will slow down movement the better the coverage. Titanium is lighter than steel, but it's more expensive.
I think the most practical thing you can do is to create a custom long-sleeve shirt and pair of pants with inserts like that of a 'battle bra' sewn in. The idea would be for it to be form-fitting, but to maintain your freedom of movement by having elastic or looser joints. You can do the classic shoulders, chest plate, stomach plates, upper back plate, lower back plates, upper arm plates, lower arm plates, neck guard kind of thing. When you've got the thing together, you can price different insert options and go with whatever you think is functional but within your price range. Combine that with a real tactical helmet w/ face guard and steel-reinforced boots and I think you could be a force to reckon with should you meet someone on the field of battle. You can probably get away with a decent pair of motorcycle gloves instead of trying to get something too ridiculous.
What kind of melee weapon are you looking to use? Something quick like a katana or something with power like a broadsword? Or are you more of an axe or mace type?
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