10 iconic jackets from comic books and how to get the look

From the Joker's purple tailored coat to Negan's leather biker jacket

10 iconic jackets from comic books and how to get the look

If you’ve seen the many trailers for Suicide Squad (if you haven’t, what have you been doing?) you’ll know it has some killer style. From the Joker’s purple crocodile skin trench to Harley Quinn’s multi-coloured sukajan, it seems like the comic book world knows how to layer up.

So it got us thinking: which other fictional comic book characters have the best jackets? Well we’ve lined them up here for you alongside the real life alternatives, because taking style inspiration from actual people is so mainstream.

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Negan

You might currently hate the man for how he finished off the latest season of the Walking Dead, but you can’t deny that he knows how to own a leather biker.

On a side note: anyone else hope that he bludgeons Carl?

Leather Biker Jacket

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Jesse Custer

Has a relaxed fit black blazer ever looked cooler? We suppose anything would look awesome against a burning American flag backdrop, but the star of Preacher shows you shouldn’t just leave the classic staple for funerals.

Black Drapey Blazer

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Star-Lord

The Guardians of the Galaxy movie was a fantastic representation of the comics, and even better, it managed to take the red leather jacket away from Michael Jackson’s Thriller video and make it an actual wearable non-fancy dress item.

Red Leather Jacket

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Butcher

Described as ‘the most violent man in comics’, the Boys’ Billy Butcher fills out a leather trench coat without managing to look like Keanu Reeves in the Matrix. If you’re not pumped up with a secret DNA enhancing drug, you might not be able to do the same.

Leather Trench Coat

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Gambit

Admit it, as a child you pretended to be Gambit and set a deck of cards on fire and burned your house down. Oh, just us? Awkward. A safer, more grown up way to be like the X-Man is to invest in a sleek leather duster.

Leather Duster Jacket

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Cassidy

The drunken, drug addicted Irish vampire from Preacher proves that double denim is not a sin in his blue jeans and frayed gilet.

Denim Vest

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Joker

Think of purple, you think of the Joker. The legendary villain has made the colour his own in the comics and movies. Unless you’re some sort of carnival worker, purple might not be ideal/normal to wear everyday, but in special occasion tailoring it works.

Velvet Purple Jacket

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Rorschach

Who watches the Watchmen? AW16 designers, probably. Is the antihero the inspiration for Burberry’s iconic trench coat? Probably not, but for the sake of this piece we are saying he definitely is.

Trench Coat

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Scott Pilgrim

Parkas have always had a weird representation on screen: East Is East, The Thing, and most recently the awful one in ITV’s Marcella. But the parka crown belongs to awkward teenage bassist Scott Pilgrim who makes it credible.

Blue Parka

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Two-Face

Apart from appearing sometimes half burnt to a crisp, Harvey Dent AKA Two-Face is a suave gent (apart from being somewhat of a psychopath). And call us weird, but we're digging his matching tie, pocket square and face combo.

Double Breasted Blazer

Jamie Carson
Contributor

Jamie Carson is an Associate Creative Director at Future Publishing, and a long-time contributor for Shortlist. You can find his work at publications including Esquire, Men's Health and Harper's Bazaar.