With Halloween in a couple of days, people are scrambling to find the best costume; which happens to be Heath Ledgers Joker from the new Batman movie The Dark Knight. 
The problem with the Joker costume is that all the pre-fab stuff is chincy and there’s no single location to pick up a Joker costume without spending a couple grand or more. 

So what do you do?

We’re going to show you where to acquire the most authentic joker gear as well as how to build a joker costume with minimal expense.  So whether you’re a prince or a popper, you’ll be able to put a smile on that face of yours this Halloween; or any other time you want to scare the crap out of people that don’t give you candy.

Read on to find your Joker Gear!

So here’s how it works.  Each piece of the Joker costume is listed below with the proper link for purchasing.  Some items have multiple links in the event that you don’t want the best quality, but rather the best price.

 

MAKEUP 

JOKER MAKEUP KIT:  $40

You can’t have the Joker without the makeup.  If all else fails, you can trick or treat with some face paint and a smile. 
If you’re going for the authentic look, you need to go where Hollywood goes; Mehron is the one-stop-shop for professional make-up artists.  Mehron put together a kit especially for your Joker needs.  The kit includes step-by-step instructions, specialized  makeup for your face, lips, and eyes, green liquid makeup for your hair, rigid collodion (which creates realistic scars), and all kinds of other professional materials. 

Don’t forget the other great Mehron products that will enhance your Joker face.  For the screen accurate look, you’ll also need the Tooth F-X nicotine/decay.

 

SCARS

SMOOTH-ON SILICONE RUBBER $22 or MOLDING WAX $6

There’s a few ways to handle the scars.  If you’ve got experience with molding wax, pick up the Mehron molding putty when you order the makeup kit.  Wax gives a realistic look but can be tricky if you’re not use to working with it.

The other option is building your scars with silicone rubber, which is actually easier to re-use.  Smooth-on sells silicone rubbers for creating scars.  I recommend using Skin Tite with Thi-Vex and Silc Pig.

 

CLOTHING

HEXAGON PATTERNED SHIRT:  $66.00   or HEXAGON PATTERN: $45

One of the most difficult pieces to find for the Joker costume is the Hexagon Shirt.  The best quality and most reasonably priced replica shirt I’ve seen is through Utopiabase (pictured to the left).

If you’d like to save every penny, there’s a Hexagon Pattern that can be ironed onto an old shirt.  You can use it to cover the exposed area’s of the shirt, but you might find that after the iron-on paper, pattern, ink, and old shirt the Utopia deal is better.

 

GREEN JOKER VEST: $56 or make your own ~$15

Again, Utopiabase might be your best bet. Toby has a more screen accurate version and some other good replicas on his site, but they’re limited and expensive.

You can also make your own vest.  Joanne Fabrics sells vest stencils, all you need is some green suede, blue silk and a sewing machine. 
*If you want real screen accuracy, notice the two-tone blue silk back in the suspender shot below.

 

PURPLE TRENCH COAT: $166 or build your own ~$20

The most accurate replica is going to be from Sithcamero.  There’s also a decent replica from seller irongategallery on ebay for $350.  The one for $166 above is from Utopiabase.  It’s not the best but it’s cheaper than the others.

Again, you can build your own with some purple poplin and orange satin (purple felt if you want to save money).

If you really want to save money, you can forget the overcoat and go with just the vest and shirt.  The other option of course is to dress in the Joker nurse outfit. 

 

BLUE SPORTS JACKET: ~$10 (Goodwill)

The Joker’s blue sports jacket is worn under the purple trench coat.  The blazer has the same orange lining as the trench coat.

There are a few people selling this item online, but your best deal is to visit any local Goodwill or Salvation Army.  They’re guaranteed to have something very similar.  If you want to get serious, you can sew in your own orange satin lining.

 

 

PURPLE PINSTRIPE PANTS: $80 or RAVEN BRAND $195

The most screen accurate pinstripe Joker pants seem to be  the "Ralph Lauren purple label madison linen pinstripe pant" and the "Raven tailored navy blue wool pinstripe trousers".

If you don’t want to pay an arm and a leg for pants, you still have a few options.  Hit up Walmart for some purple pants, or check the local thrift stores.  If you really want the pinstripes, you can bring your Walmart pants to a seamstress or make them yourself with a good sewing machine.

To sew the pinstripes, I recommend cutting the lateral seam of each leg and using that as the straight edge guide.  Use the triple stretch stitch option on the sewing machine and space the lines using the pressure foot as a guide; it should be about 3/8ths of an inch.  When the stripes are down, hem up the seams.

 

MULTICOLORED JOKER SOCKS: $25

Tabio was the actual company that supplied the socks for the Joker character in the film The Dark Knight.  If you’re going to buy socks, these might as well be them.

The socks are made from 63% Cotton, 22% Acrylics, 14% Nylon, and 1% Polyurethane.

*no animals were harmed in the making of these socks.

 

 

JOKER BRACES (SUSPENDERS): $33 

You only catch a glimpse of these braces in the film.  They are made by the Albert Thurston company.

The men’s elastic braces have a diamond pattern with nickel fittings and back leather ends.

Obviously, these aren’t essential to the costume, but you diehards may want to know where to pick them up to make your costume perfect.

 

 

 

JOKER NECK TIE: $40

There are a number of ties available and most of them have white backs.  If the costume is for a one time use, the white back should be fine, but for those of you that want to get a neck tie with a solid pattern on 100% of the tie, ebay might be the best option.

 

 

 

PURPLE LEATHER GLOVES: $15

Even though Rubies makes a whole bunch of cheesy Halloween costumes, I would still recommend buying their purple leather adult Joker gloves, opposed to dropping $50 or more on Cashmere lined driving gloves that you’ll probably never touch again.

If you really want the more expensive pair, check out the ebay store of glovesdirect where you can get a pair of purple leather cashmere lined gloves for $50.

 

 

 

JOKER SHOES: $300 or MAKE YOUR OWN ~$25

The Joker’s shoes look like Salvatore Ferragamo shoes, but the company assured me that their shoes were not used in the production. 
With no reply from Lindy Hemming on the manufacturer of the Joker’s dilapidated kicks, you can either purchase some look-a-likes, replicas, or make your own. 
I vote for making my own, it’s actually very easy.

 

 

JOKER CALLING CARDS: $26

There are a number of different cards used in the film and an equal number of places selling replicas.

The particular card shown to the left was used for the scene with the dead Batman look-a-like.

 

 

 

 

 

JOKER BANK HIEST MASK:$17
 

If you want to go simple, just carry around the
mask with your face painted.  Eastern Toys has a good replica of the mask used at the beginning of the film.

 

 

 

 

 

WEAPONS

 

JOKERS 1600 OTF EXTRACTOR KNIFE: $25 or $27

There are a few different knives used by the Joker in the film The Dark Knight.  The most distinct is the one he uses to threaten Rachael Dawns which is also the same knife he uses to kill a Mob Boss.  The knife is called the 1600 OTF Extractor.  It is very similar to the Cupid Clone which has a small serrated edge and a slightly different handle; this sells for $18.  Both knives are spring loaded stiletto style weapons.

If you plan on using this for a costume, you’ll have to dull down the edge with a grinder.

There are two online retailers listed, because this knife may sell out quickly.

 

 

JOKER’S RPG TYPE 69: $325 

The Rocket-Propelled Grenade (RPG) Type 69 replica was used in the film when the Joker attacks the armored Swat truck carrying Harvey Dent.

 

 

SMITH & WESSON M76 SUBMACHINE GUN: 

I can’t find a replica Smith & Wesson M76 Submachine Gun, hence, no price.

 

 

GLOCK 18 WITH EXTENDED CLIP (AIRSOFT): $15

There are a few scenes where the Joker makes use of this weapon.

 

 

 

 

ARMY GRENADES: TWO FOR $5

When the Joker crashes the crime syndicate meeting, he carries 5 grenades on the inside left beast of his overcoat.  Each grenade is attached to the jacket via metal clips and each grenade pin is attached via a string.

 

 

HAVE FUN and HAPPY HALLOWEEN!