The Joker Costume Guide

Grand Heritage DC Comics The Joker Costume

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Authentic Joker Costume: DIY Cosplay

The Joker is a chaotic villain and a prominent member of Batman’s rogue’s gallery. In the comics, films and animated series, The Joker has grown to become Batman’s arch-nemesis and frequent foil. He has appeared in all 3 film trilogies, each having its own unique take on the character. The Joker is portrayed by Heath Ledger in an award-winning performance in The Dark Knight.

Heath Ledger’s Joker is an anarchist with unclear origins who delights in creating chaos in the streets of Gotham and testing Bruce Wayne’s moral code. He has a punk rock aesthetic that can best be described as a mash-up of Keith Richards, Johnny Rotten and a clown.

 

In ‘the Dark Knight’ the Joker has long, stringy green hair, white face paint with smeared purple eye makeup and red clown lipstick. He wears a distinctive purple trench coat, purple dress pants paired with a green vest and a blue hexagonal-pattern dress shirt. The Joker tops off his look with a pair of leather gloves. 

from: Ezcosplay

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How to Dress Like the Joker from the Dark Knight

Hair & Makeup:

The Joker in the Dark Knight is one of the creepiest depictions of the infamous clown prince. He stands out as a result of his long, greasy green hair and his messy clown makeup. He has long blonde hair which he dyes green. It is unkempt to represent his chaotic nature.

The Joker has a scar in the shape of a smile which extends from cheek to cheek. We never quite learn how he got this disturbing scar as he tells different tales of its origin. But he makes the most of it by painting his face with smeared clown makeup.

One of the best things about this version of the Joker costume is that it is rather simple to get the right look but it always comes out looking incredible. We recommend growing your hair out to an appropriate length and using some temporary green hair dye to get the Joker hairstyle down. To be as authentic as possible, don’t wash it for a few days before your cosplay event. If you can’t grow your hair out in time, a good high quality wig will do the trick.

Now for the fun part… The Joker’s makeup is relatively simple. It only requires three colors of face paint: white, black and red. Start with white face paint and cover most of your face. You can be a little sloppy with it to get that grungy look. Leave space around your eyes and around your mouth. Now smudge on some black face paint around the eyes.

This last part can be a little tricky. Use some fake scar makeup to recreate the Joker’s cheek scars. Allow them to dry in place. Once dried, use the red face paint to cover it as Heath Ledger’s Joker does in the film. For a good guide, check out the makeup tutorial below.

Joker Makeup Tutorial:
Hexagon Shirt:

In TDK, the Joker wears a long-sleeved blue dress shirt with a hexagon pattern. The pattern resembles a beehive. This shirt is often sold at cosplay outlets because its so unique, but if you can’t find the right shirt, try finding a similar looking shirt at a local thrift store or vintage clothing store.

Purple Trench Coat & Pants:

One of the most distinctive aspects of any Joker outfit is his purple trench coat and suit pants. He wears a long indigo colored trench coat with a green suit vest beneath it, and a matching pair of purple pants. A pair of purple gloves completes his suit.

You can often find these items as part of a high quality Joker costume set, but if you can’t find the right one you can always purchase a grey trench coat at a thrift shop and use purple fabric dye to get the right color.

Accessories:

To really set your Joker costume apart make sure to bring along some accessories like a joker playing card or his cane. You can find a replica Joker cane on Amazon and other online costume shops.

Joker Voice Tutorial:

About The Joker

Quotes:

Do I really look like a guy with a plan? You know what I am? I’m a dog chasing cars. I wouldn’t know what to do with one if I caught it! You know, I just… *do* things.

Additional Resources:

Cosplay Examples

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