Captain Jack Harkness Costume Breakdown
Let me preface this by saying two things:
1. Thank you to everyone who has ever helped me with my Jack costume.
That includes people who have cosplayed along side me, people who
took my picture, people who helped me look for things, and people who
gave me helpful hints along the way. Especially my team.
2. This is a place to start. This breakdown isn't meant to be the end-all
of your work on your very own Jack Harkness costume. Do your research
and take into account that I, while I have experience with the costume,
am not the end-all. This is your costume.
Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy my costume breakdown.
CAPTAIN JACK HARKNESS
the costume breakdown
Captain Jack Harkness is a lot of things, dashing, charming, etc. What he is not is particularly innovative with his clothing. That said, you must be to get his 'standard' look. He makes it look easy.
This costume breakdown will hopefully get you started on your way to Harkness Cosplaydom. Its a fun place to be! Herein, I will cover, in the best detail I can, Jack's 'iconic' costume from the Torchwood era onward.
From head to toe, inside to out, here is a complete breakdown of the most iconic parts of Captain Jack Harkness' costume. And I do mean head-to-toe and inside-to-out. That's the order we're going in.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
The Undergarments
- The Undershirt
- The Socks
The Outfit
- The Shirt
- The Braces
- The Belt
- The Trousers
- The Boots
The Greatcoat
- The Great Myth
- The Material
- The Cut
- The Rank Braid
- The Buttons
The Accessories
- The Watch
- The Vortex Manipulator
- The Holster
The Other Things
- The Cufflinks
- The Waistcoat
- The Pocket Watch
The Look
- The Hair
The End
about the author
THE UNDERGARMENTS
THE UNDERSHIRT
Jack wears an undershirt, most of the time. There are few rare exceptions.
Undershirts can be bought at nearly any department store. Unfortunately, I do not know the exact brand, but really, all undershirts look the same for the most part. His tend to be white cotton, and are the standard, mens crew-neck undershirt. I buy them in packs of 3 from Target.
THE SOCKS
Like the undershirt, Jack wears socks, like most people in the universe. The few glimpses of them that we've seen have been of plain black socks. I recommend ones that are comfortable inside your boots.
THE OUTFIT
THE SHIRT
Jack wears blue, button-down, collared shirts. The man must have a closet full of a gradient of blue shirts. The shirts tend to be cotton or poly-cotton, and well-fitted. This means no big, blousy shirts. As far as I know, here are all the colors and variants of shirts that he wears:
- Military Light Blue
- Light Blue
- Light Pigment Blue
- Medium Blue
- Dark Blue
- White
- Seafoam Green
- Medium blue striped with light blue base
- White with light blue and brown stripes
The two most iconic are the military light blue, used in many of the promotional images, and the dark blue, worn every time he's been in Doctor Who since 9's regeneration.
I highly recommend consignment stores (thrift stores) or department stores for these shirts. And bring reference images for color.
THE BRACES
Braces, or suspenders, are one of the most iconic parts of Jack's costume. Like the undershirts, he nearly always wears them. There are very few rare exceptions. He only wears one of two pairs. There's a grey pair and a red pair. Both have a 'Y'-shaped back, are made of elastic, and button tabs for buttoning them into the trousers. If the trousers you have don't have buttons already in them, sew them in. It makes a big difference.
The grey pair have a black base with a 'U' shaped pair of tabs. The red pair have black, 'V' shaped tabs.
These are slightly more difficult to come by. I found mine at a suit store, but I know they can be found online, too. Shop around.
THE TROUSERS
Jack wears some nice, pressed trousers. They are grey, wool or a wool-looking fabric (mine tend to be wool), and come in varying shades of gray. They also have the nice trouser crease down the front, so keep them ironed.
Most importantly, find ones that fit you nicely. Though Jack may not have too much flair in his clothing, his stuff fits him really well. Make sure they are nicely hemmed, too.
I find my numerous pairs at consignment and vintage stores. Also, going in knowing your measurements is very helpful.
THE BELT
The belt is a Belstaff belt. If you are not familiar with Belstaff, it is a high-end leather company. They make very nice, exceedingly expensive leather goods. It also happens to be a favorite brand for the show. The 'real' belt is extremely hard to find and will cost you well over $70.
My belt is one I bought at a thrift store for $4. It is a bronze-brown leather belt with a long, dark brass buckle. Jack's is also a bit large for him, leaving lots of excess belt to be tucked into a belt loop. It has a beveled boarder, too, about 1/4" from the edge all around. He also always closes it with the tongue pointing to the left.
THE BOOTS
The boots are Caterpillar brand boots. They're the same bronze-brown as the belt, and have a hefty tread. The laces, too, are brown.
THE GREATCOAT
I gave the greatcoat its own section, simply to be as thorough as possible.
THE GREAT MYTH
On the show, Jack's coat is an RAF officer's greatcoat from the middle of WWII. In reality, it is not. The cut, style, and color are similar, but the coat worn on the show is anything but your standard-issue RAF greatcoat.
The only time Jack Harkness wears a proper RAF greatcoat is back in "The Empty Child"/"The Doctor Dances". Every greatcoat appearance since then has been a costume-designed, heroic coat which alludes heavily to the original RAF greatcoat, but is anything but.
There are a few important tenants when looking at Jack's coat. It has a belt. The greatcoats made after WWII do not have a belt.
If you do not have the time/money/skill/desire to make the coat I am about to describe in painful detail, I highly recommend military surplus stores. There are many online that sell some great reproduction, issued, and non-issued RAF greatcoats.
I have two caveats regarding the purchase of surplus RAF coats. One, they're hot. They're really hot. These coats were built to keep people warm in the freezing winter, embedded in snow. Two, they're wool. Wool is very itchy, and a bit more difficult to care for than most any other fabric. There are people (like John Barrowman himself) who are allergic to the material.
If you would like to learn more about the coat, either for your own curiosity or because you're about to endeavor on the quest of making your own greatcoat, I salute you. Here is my accumulated knowledge of Jack's iconic, beautiful greatcoat.
THE MATERIAL
While the RAF coat was made to be a warm overcoat, Jack's is made to be pretty and functional. Barrowman is also allergic to wool. So, the greatcoat is made of cotton moleskin. It is a special kind of felted fabric which is used the world-over to synthesize wool. Or to cover blisters.
The fabric is very light and thin. If you take a close look at the reference images, the lapels of the coat are very thin. Actual melton or boiled wool (military grade wools) is very thick.
The color is a tricky shade of grey-blue. I highly recommend getting a good reference image, printed in a way that you can be certain of the color (books/magazines/promotional material is great for this).
The coat is also fully lined in a matching, standard lining.
My fabric came from Whaleys, a London-area textile store, and was custom-dyed. My lining came from a cheap fabric store in LA.
THE CUT
A greatcoat, for the most part, is a greatcoat. The lapels, shoulders, and sleeves are pretty standard. Once you get to the body of the coat, however, things start to deviate from your average RAF coat.
On the back, there is a large vent between the shoulders that covers the majority of the area between shoulders to waist. There are two darts in the front and two more in the back that bring in the coat a bit in the waist, right at the pockets.
The coat is both longer and wider at the skirt of the coat. The coat comes down to the calf and the skirt is extremely large for a better dramatic effect.
The vent in the back is also very high. It almost makes it to his waist.
I drafted the pattern for mine myself. If you're not looking to do that, I recommend finding a greatcoat pattern and modifying it or finding someone who knows how to draft patterns or tailor jackets to help you.
THE RANK BRAID
There is no such thing as a 'captain' in the RAF. There is 'group captain'. If an RAF officer did a uniform inspection of Jack's uniform, they would scoff. Jack's rank braid is four separate stripes of 'flying officer's braid.
Again, I would recommend surplus stores or eBay to find this, or make it yourself.
THE BUTTONS
The buttons are, very specifically king's crown buttons. There is a lot of contention over these buttons because they are an important to veterans. If you don't mind that, then there are often lots (not 'a lot', but lots as in a group being sold) of them on eBay.
THE ACCESSORIES
THE WATCH
For the majority of Torchwood, Jack wears a black-faced watch with silver markings on the face and silver hands. It is in a silver casing with a black leather band. He always wears it on his right wrist.
There are many similar, off-brand watches. Mine, like many things, came from Target.
THE VORTEX MANIPULATOR aka wrist strap
These days, Jack cosplayers are in luck. There is a toy version of Jack's wrist strap! This, of course, is not the best, finished piece, but it is a fantastic place to start.
The face is, as seen on the toy, an array of buttons and grills. If you want to mock up one, I highly recommend talking to someone who knows a thing or two about props making.
The actual strap and cover are made of leather. A thin, dark brown, shaped leather cuff with a cover for the faceplate unit. It closes like a standard watch strap.
He always wears it on his left wrist.
THE HOLSTER
Jack's holster was originally intended to go to an RAF officer's Webley. It is a thick, dark leather case with a close-able flap. He always wears it on his right side, a bit back from his side.
The one I have was meant for a Sam Browne belt, a leather belt intended to have a number of different attachments. I bought it as a reproduction off of eBay. I then had to soak it in boiling water to shape it because Jack's is very worn down.
THE OTHER THINGS
THE CUFFLINKS
On occasion, Jack wears silver, Spitfire cufflinks.
There are a few places online to buy them, or a few shops that carry ones like them. (more info coming soon...)
THE WAISTCOAT
Every so often, Jack adds a touch of class on top of his standard, classy look with a waistcoat. It is either black or a dark navy blue with subtle dark pinstripes, and has lapels. The back is a standard, matched lining fabric. It also has 5 buttons, the bottom one of which is unbuttoned.
While there are many great stand-ins to be found in vintage, thrift, and consignment stores, it is most likely this was a one-off piece.
THE POCKET WATCH
Nearly every time he wears the waistcoat, Jack sports a lovely pocket watch, which is strung from the middle button with a long chain. The chain and watch are a bright gold color. The watch sits in his right pocket.
The actual pocket watch, I believe is only seen once, in "From Out of the Rain" (02x10) in the boardroom scene a little past half way through. It is hexagonal and brassy gold like the chain. (Image coming soon...)
THE LOOK
THE HAIR
Jack's hair is short, brown and parted on the right. John Barrowman, once in a video, explained the process of how they do his hair for the show. Its cheap pomade and a straightener.
THE END
I believe that's everything. It is huge, isn't it? Well, this is a compilation of over three years of knowledge from yours truly.
The information here has come from all over the place. If you have information on something that isn't in here, please let me know. I am currently working on an episode-by-episode breakdown of what specifically is worn, but I wanted this to be a useful overview.
If you have any questions or comments, please leave a comment or visit tw_cosplay for more information.
Thanks for reading!
TABLE OF CONTENTS
The Undergarments
- The Undershirt
- The Socks
The Outfit
- The Shirt
- The Braces
- The Belt
- The Trousers
- The Boots
The Greatcoat
- The Great Myth
- The Material
- The Cut
- The Rank Braid
- The Buttons
The Accessories
- The Watch
- The Vortex Manipulator
- The Holster
The Other Things
- The Cufflinks
- The Waistcoat
- The Pocket Watch
The Look
- The Hair
The End
about the author
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
estelofimladris is a student of costume design. She has
cosplayed for many years and has cosplayed specifically
Jack Harkness for over three. She lives in California.
EDITS:
03.13.10: added photos & 'The Other Things' section
03.22.10: updated the Pocket Watch section with 02x10 info