Dr. John Watson's Costume (BBC Sherlock 2010)

I am still in the process of hunting down bit and pieces for a Watson costume. For me close enough is close enough, but I would like to find as close as possible without selling my soul and two cats :) I thought I’d share with you what I’ve found so far and what search words have proved the most effective.

Watson's Jacket

 We know from the GQ article were it came from, just not the exact details (brand etc.) and by the costumers own admission this coat is very expensive.  If you are looking for close enough we are all in luck! This year  the military style coat is the thing to have.  But more on that later.

 There are, to my count, at least two jackets used (not counting the pilot, or the one at the pool). They look similar but are not the same.  The one I am talking about below is the one worn the most, starting when John meets Sherlock at 221b, and is worn through the rest of the series. It is also shown in the publicity stills.

Basic description

The jacket is black with four pockets; (1) the pockets have different buttons to the jacket front. The pocket buttons are smaller than the main buttons and are metal disk (Not a sewn on, probably hammered in like you would a grommet). (2)The buttons on the front of the jacket are larger than the pocket ones and are a standard black four hole or two hole style. There are likely five of these buttons but the top one (I’m guessing) is under the lapel.  Thus far John has only buttoned up three of them.   The collar of the jacket(3) is darker and a different material then the main body and looks like a corduroy sewn on a diagonal.

There is only one shoulder pad (6) and it is on the right side.  The front of the pad is straight but then curves at the shoulder and back. This looks more like vinyl or PVC then leather. Both arms have elbow pads (5) also of the same material as the shoulder bit. The cuffs of the jacket are small and pointed, the button of the cuff are the same as the main buttons. The back is simple; it has one pleat for give and two smaller pleats at the sides that are accented with the smaller buttons. The jacket looks quite different in the publicity stills (which I think is down to how the show is lighted and post production grading).  In the show looks to be richer wool, like a pea coat. While if you look at the publicity stills it seems to have grown in length  (4) and changed into a more canvas like material. I’ve toyed with the idea that it could be a different jacket all together, it is standard for a show to buy at least three of the same costume piece (one hero jacket, one stunt, and one extra) but because it doesn’t look as rich in the photo shoots (they would use the hero jacket for that) I’m pretty sure they are the same jacket. 

Finding One

Now then if you are trying to find a jacket with all of this you’ll be very hard pressed to do so.  It would be far easier to find a similar jacket and alter it.  At the base level you need a black four pocket jacket. (this would look like the one he is wearing at Bart’s) If you want to look more like John’s then  find one with elbow pads, or better still  find one without the elbow pads and add them and the shoulder pad on yourself (easier to match material that way) I plan of doing this myself.  

  When I first began my search for the exact jacket (before GQ) I searched for “Donkey Jackets” this had a few hits that looked similar but not many.  The black patch on the shoulder and the length are the only Donkey-esq things about it.  After we found out a bit more from GQ I found that searching for  “Black military jacket”   had the best search results, adding “four pocket “ is optional and a bit redundant. I’ve found many at reasonable prices and as stores get there winter gear in there are more and more , although because this is the style of the year they are still retail price, but better to pay a bit more now than not being able to find one later.

Where to find (in the US): eBay, Amazon, Banana Republic and Hot Topic all have options available, drop me a line if you find a really good one (after you order yours that is ;)

Sweater

I'm knitting this by hand, If that's not an option for you then I'd suggest goodwill or charity shops for a cable knit jumper. the article mentions where the sweater was bought, but s to brand or even if it was hand made I don't have any info on.

The Shirt

I think that this is the piece you can fudge the most, and you can  find one that most resembles the shirts we can see a lot of so that way you can have "different" John costumes. Just a note Americans if you are hunting for the "real" shirt remember that  patterned shirts like this are called a "check" pattern. Best bet to find one of these would be at an H&M, Kohls, or the like. 

Blue Jeans

  The article mentions the brand used, so I’ll just refer you to that, really 

Shoes

 These look to me like a men’s tan work boat, or they could be a soft leather oxford. I need to look into this more. The more I look I'm going with oxford.

The Cane

 My God this cane! It has been hard to find but through hunting it down I have found lots of close (a bloody) ‘noughs.  It is a palm grip walking stick, also called a Fischer stick.

 

The basics:  John’s cane is aluminum and adjusts in two places on the shaft. The bottom, the adjusters, and handle are gray, I realize in some scenes it looks dark gray and even black. It isn’t! It’s a light gray, you can tell in the therapist’s office and when he is meeting Mike. Of course this standard issue gray has been the hardest thing to find, black lots of, but gray Ahhh! The handle is the most distinctive thing on it. The handle is called a palm grip or arthritis grip.  In a few scenes you can see that the handle has a black sponge –like bit.

 You can add this to yours as well they sell it at many of the places you can by medical supplies. but I have been unable thus far to find it already on canes for sale.  Just remember these canes are for the right or left hand, John’s limp is on the right side so if you are using this purely as a costume piece then you’ll want a right grip one!

Where to find it

The real one (I think): to be added when I can get the link to work

Great alternatives:   I found some great inexpensive ones on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.  There is also eBay or check your local pharmacies, the ones near me didn’t have them but that doesn’t mean the ones near you won’t.  As I mentioned above the gray is hard to find, I say the black is close enough, no one but another Watson costumer is going to know :)