Kilroy Was Here

😎 DIY Blues Brothers Costume: How to Dress Like Cinema’s Most Beloved Brothers on a Mission from God

Before there was a movie, there was a sketch. Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi first appeared as Jake and Elwood Blues on Saturday Night Live in April 1978, introduced by Aykroyd to a television audience that had no idea what was about to happen. The characters were built on a genuine love of blues and soul music that Aykroyd had carried for years and passed directly to Belushi, who became obsessed with the genre almost immediately. Their 1978 debut album Briefcase Full of Blues topped the Billboard chart and produced a Top 20 hit with their version of Soul Man. By the time the film arrived in 1980, Jake and Elwood were not new characters being introduced. They were established figures with a following, and the movie gave them a world big enough to contain everything they had already become.

The Blues Brothers, directed by John Landis and released on June 20, 1980, became one of the most beloved comedy films in American cinema history. The story is simple and the execution is anything but. Jake Blues, played by Belushi, is released from Joliet Prison and reunites with his brother Elwood, played by Aykroyd, who picks him up in a battered used police cruiser he has named the Bluesmobile. The two learn that the Catholic orphanage where they were raised faces foreclosure unless five thousand dollars in property taxes can be paid within eleven days. What follows is their mission from God to reunite the Blues Brothers Band and put on a performance big enough to raise the money, pursued simultaneously by the Illinois State Police, a mysterious assassin played by Carrie Fisher, a group of Neo-Nazis, and a vengeful country band.

The music is the other half of the film and it is extraordinary. Aretha Franklin appears as a soul food diner owner and performs Think with a force that stops the film cold in the best possible way. James Brown plays a preacher who delivers a full gospel performance that sends Jake into a spiritual awakening. Cab Calloway performs Minnie the Moocher with the full authority of a man who owns that song. Ray Charles plays a music store owner. John Lee Hooker performs Boom Boom on a street corner. The film assembled some of the greatest living blues and soul performers of the era and gave them each a real moment, and the result is a musical sequence that has never been matched in an American comedy film before or since.

A DIY Blues Brothers costume works for one person or two, as a solo build or as one of the great couples and group costume pairings in this entire series. The costume is identical on both characters in almost every element, which is part of the joke and part of the beauty of it. What separates Jake from Elwood is in the details, the accessories, the physical differences between the characters, and the specific letter tattoos across their knuckles that are one of the most quoted visual references in the film. Getting those details right is what separates a convincing Blues Brothers build from a man in a black suit and sunglasses.

The film grossed over 115 million dollars worldwide against a production budget that ballooned significantly due to the scale of the car chase sequences, which remain among the most ambitious practical stunt work ever attempted in a comedy film. It holds up completely. The music is as good as it ever was. Jake and Elwood are as funny and as cool as they ever were. And the costume is one of the most enjoyable builds in this entire series because it is simultaneously simple to assemble and specific enough to reward every detail you get right.

👔 Step 1: Create the Base

The foundation of a DIY Blues Brothers costume is a black single-breasted suit, and both Jake and Elwood wear an identical version of it throughout the film. The suit should be black, not charcoal, not dark navy. Black. The jacket is single-breasted with a standard lapel and the trousers are straight-cut without any tapering or fashion-forward silhouette. This is a working suit worn by two men who are not thinking about how the suit looks. They put it on because it is what they wear and they have worn it long enough that the question of whether to wear something else has not occurred to them in years.

Thrift stores are the right and honest source for both the jacket and the trousers, and they do not need to be a matched set from the same suit. A black jacket and black trousers found separately at a thrift store will produce exactly the right reading, particularly if the blacks do not quite match, because the Blues Brothers were not shopping at the same time with coordination in mind. Look for a single-breasted jacket with standard notch lapels and straight-cut black trousers with a flat front. The fit should be slightly boxy rather than slim, the fit of a suit that was bought for function and has been worn without alteration since.

The bright white dress shirt is the element that creates the contrast the costume depends on, and it should be genuinely white rather than off-white or cream. A pressed white dress shirt with a standard collar, worn with the collar button fastened and the tie in place, is the correct configuration. Thrift stores carry white dress shirts in abundance. Look for one that is fully white with no pattern and no decorative elements. The brightness of the white against the black suit is part of the visual identity of the characters and a dingy or yellowish white will not read the same way.

The skinny black tie is the detail that dates the costume correctly and connects it to the specific aesthetic Jake and Elwood inhabited, which was always slightly behind its own time and completely unaware of that fact. A narrow black tie in a solid color, worn with a simple four-in-hand knot, is exactly right. Thrift stores carry narrow ties regularly, particularly in the men's accessories section where the full range of decades is usually represented. Look for something genuinely narrow rather than a standard width tie that has been called skinny. The narrowness is the whole point.

Black leather oxford shoes complete the base at the floor. Plain, low-profile, lace-up oxfords in black leather with no decorative broguing or distinctive styling. The shoes of two men who chose their footwear for durability rather than appearance and have been wearing the same pair long enough that the question has not come up again. Thrift stores are the right source here as well. The more worn the leather looks, the more accurate they are for this costume.

🪡 Step 2: Add the Details

The black fedora is the silhouette piece that completes the character from the top and it is the most important single item in the costume after the suit itself. The brim should be medium to narrow, not the wide dramatic brim of a gangster hat and not the tiny brim of a fashion trilby. A classic medium-narrow brimmed fedora in black felt is the correct shape. The hat should be worn pulled down slightly in the front, level rather than tilted, in the way of two men who put their hats on and do not adjust them again because the hat is not something they think about once it is on their head.

Costume shops, hat retailers, and online retailers all carry black fedoras at a range of price points. Thrift stores occasionally surface them in the accessories section and a thrift store find will often have the right amount of wear already built in. When wearing the hat, set it slightly forward on the head rather than pushed back. Jake and Elwood wore their hats as part of their uniform, not as an afterthought, and the placement should reflect that.

The Ray-Ban sunglasses are the face piece that completes the character before any expression is added. The specific style is the Ray-Ban Wayfarer, the classic black frame with slightly angular corners that became one of the most recognizable eyewear shapes in popular culture largely because of this film and its cultural footprint in the years after. Wayfarers are available from Ray-Ban directly and from many retailers at a range of prices. If the budget does not extend to the real thing, a convincing Wayfarer-style frame in black is findable from online retailers and costume shops at minimal cost. The lenses should be dark enough that the eyes behind them are not visible.

The medium width black belt is the finishing piece of the base and it should be plain black leather with a simple silver buckle. Nothing decorative, nothing wide enough to read as a statement piece. A functional belt doing a functional job on two men who are not thinking about their belt. Thrift stores will have these at minimal cost.

The watch with a round face is the wrist piece worn by both characters and it should be a simple, classic round-faced watch in a style that reads as practical rather than fashionable. A plain white or cream dial with simple hands, a silver or gold case, and a leather or simple metal band is the right reading. Thrift stores and vintage watch vendors carry these regularly. It does not need to function. It needs to be visible on the wrist and read as a watch that has been worn for a long time without being replaced.

✍️ Step 3: The Knuckle Tattoos

The knuckle lettering is the detail that signals to anyone who knows the film that this costume was built by someone who actually watched it, and it is worth doing correctly because it photographs beautifully and holds up through an evening of wear.

JAKE across four fingers on the right hand of the person playing Jake Blues. One letter per finger, index through pinky, in a bold block style. The lettering is a direct visual reference to The Night of the Hunter, the 1955 Charles Laughton film in which Robert Mitchum's character has LOVE and HATE tattooed across his knuckles. See DIY Reverend Harry Powell Costume John Landis put the same device on Jake and Elwood as a deliberate homage to that film and it became one of the most quoted visual details of the Blues Brothers specifically.

ELWOOD across both hands of the person playing Elwood Blues. Six letters spanning both hands, three letters per hand, E-L-W-O on the right and O-D on the left, or distributed however reads most naturally when both hands are held up together. The six-letter span across both hands is confirmed in the film and it is part of the visual joke of the two characters standing side by side with their hands displayed.

A black cosmetic face paint marker or a theatrical body paint marker in black is the right tool for applying the lettering. Both are available at costume shops and online retailers. Practice the letters on a piece of paper first to get the sizing right before committing to the knuckles. Each letter should sit centered on the finger pad rather than running up toward the nail or down toward the second knuckle. Apply the letters before putting on the suit jacket so you have full range of movement while writing. A light dusting of translucent powder over the finished letters will help set them and extend the wear through an evening.

🎭 Step 4: Jake vs Elwood

The costume base is identical on both characters, and the differences between Jake and Elwood live in the accessories, the physical contrast between the two performers, and the specific details that the film established for each character individually.

Jake Blues is the shorter, broader of the two. Belushi played him as the more physically expressive character, the one whose face and body communicated everything he was feeling at full volume. Jake's knuckles read JAKE across four fingers. If you are building the Jake side of a couples costume, the handcuffs are the Jake-specific prop, a nod to his recent release from Joliet Prison and his status as a man who has spent time in institutional custody and carries that history visibly.

Elwood Blues is taller and leaner, the more contained of the two. Aykroyd played him with a specific stillness that made Belushi's expressiveness funnier by contrast. Elwood's knuckles read ELWOOD across both hands. The harmonica is the Elwood-specific prop, confirmed by multiple sources as the instrument Elwood carried onstage, sometimes in a briefcase handcuffed to his wrist. A simple blues harmonica in the key of C, carried in the jacket pocket or held loosely in one hand, is the correct prop for the Elwood side of the build. The briefcase belongs to both characters as a general Blues Brothers prop, but the harmonica is specifically Elwood's signature.

The sideburns are the facial hair element that both characters wear and they are worth addressing practically. Both Jake and Elwood had visible sideburns that extended below the ear and contributed to the slightly out-of-time quality of the whole look. If your natural sideburns are minimal or nonexistent, a spirit gum sideburn piece in a dark brown or black is the practical solution. Costume shops and theatrical supply retailers carry these at accessible prices. Apply them using the same spirit gum technique established in earlier articles in this series, pressing firmly and dusting the edges with translucent powder to blend the join.

🎵 Step 5: The Music Connection

No article about the Blues Brothers costume would be complete without acknowledging that the costume is inseparable from the music, and the music is what made the characters matter in the first place. Jake and Elwood were not comic characters who happened to play music. They were musicians first, built by two men who genuinely loved blues and soul and wanted to put that music in front of an audience that might not have found it otherwise.

The film's musical performances are worth watching before wearing this costume because they will inform how you inhabit the characters in a way that no costume guide can fully convey. Aretha Franklin performing Think in the soul food diner. Cab Calloway performing Minnie the Moocher with the full elegance of a man who invented that song's coolness decades earlier. James Brown delivering a full church revival performance as Reverend Cleophus James. Ray Charles playing the music store owner with the particular authority of someone who does not need to perform authority because it is simply present. These moments are the heart of the film and they are what Jake and Elwood were in service of the whole time.

If you are building this costume for an event with music, knowing the Blues Brothers catalog even superficially will give the whole performance a quality that a purely visual costume cannot match. Soul Man. Everybody Needs Somebody to Love. Sweet Home Chicago. Shake a Tail Feather. Any one of those playing when you walk into a room wearing this costume will produce an immediate reaction from anyone who has seen the film, and the reaction will be exactly right.

🕺 Step 6: Movement and Presence

Jake and Elwood moved through the world with a specific quality of cool that was built entirely on the gap between the chaos surrounding them and their own complete composure within it. Police cars were crashing. Nazis were pursuing them. The entire state of Illinois was mobilizing against them. Jake and Elwood walked at their own pace, spoke in measured tones, and never once suggested that any of this was outside the normal parameters of a mission from God. That composure is the whole performance and it is what makes the costume work at a party.

The posture is upright and contained. Neither Jake nor Elwood slouched. They stood with the easy authority of two men who are certain of their purpose and see no reason to explain it to anyone who has not been briefed. Shoulders back without being rigid, weight settled evenly, hands relaxed at the sides or in the jacket pockets. The sunglasses do significant work here because they make the eyes unreadable, which adds to the quality of contained composure that both characters projected at all times.

Move at a deliberate, unhurried pace. Jake and Elwood were never rushed by external events even when external events were moving very quickly around them. Walk with the steady confidence of two men on a mission from God who have already done the math and know how this ends. Do not hurry. Do not look around nervously. Do not adjust the hat.

The deadpan delivery is the verbal signature of both characters and it should be practiced before the event. Jake and Elwood stated extraordinary things in completely ordinary tones and then moved on without acknowledging that anything unusual had been said. It is 106 miles to Chicago. We got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes. It is dark and we are wearing sunglasses. Hit it. Practice delivering lines from the film with complete flatness and zero indication that any of it is a joke. It is not a joke to Jake and Elwood. It never was.

If you are building this as a couples costume, the physical contrast between the two characters is part of the presence. Jake was shorter and broader and more physically expressive. Elwood was taller and leaner and more still. Stand next to each other with that contrast visible and let the hats and the sunglasses do the rest. That image communicates the characters completely before either of you has said a word.

📸 Step 7: Capture the Moment

For photography, the Blues Brothers costume belongs in an urban setting wherever one is available. A Chicago-style streetscape, a brick wall, a concrete staircase, a parking structure, any of these will give the photograph the gritty urban atmosphere that the film was built on and that a suburban or natural backdrop will never provide.

Cool or neutral light suits this costume better than warm golden light. The all-black costume with the white shirt reads with maximum contrast under cool daylight or overcast sky, and the Ray-Ban lenses photograph best when they are catching light directly rather than in shadow. Position yourself facing the light source so the sunglasses catch it and the white shirt reads bright against the black suit.

The straight-on shot with both characters standing side by side, hats level, sunglasses on, hands relaxed, expressions flat and composed, is the strongest single image this costume can produce. That image needs no caption for anyone who has seen the film.

A second shot with the knuckles displayed, both hands raised together to show JAKE and ELWOOD across the fingers, is worth getting specifically because it is the detail that most versions of this costume miss and the one that will produce the strongest reaction from anyone who knows the film well enough to recognize it.

If you have a briefcase, hold it at the side with one hand. If you have the harmonica, hold it loosely in the other. That combination completes the visual inventory of the costume in a single frame and documents every detail the build contains.

🏆 Why Go DIY? Wrap-Up

Building a DIY Blues Brothers costume from a thrift store black suit and a pair of Ray-Ban Wayfarers means assembling something that costs almost nothing at the clothing level and rewards the specific details with an immediately recognizable result that lands with anyone who has ever seen the film. The knuckle lettering takes five minutes. The sideburns take ten. The deadpan delivery takes practice and pays off every time someone hears it and smiles before you have finished the sentence.

The Blues Brothers mattered because Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi genuinely loved the music and the film was built around that love rather than around the comedy. The comedy was a delivery system for Aretha Franklin and Ray Charles and Cab Calloway and James Brown, and the delivery system worked so well that forty-five years later the film is still watched and the characters are still dressed as and the music is still exactly as good as it always was.

John Belushi died in 1982, two years after the film was released, and the loss of what he might have done with another forty years of work is genuinely felt every time you watch the movie and remember that this was a man at the beginning of something rather than the end of it. The costume is a small tribute to a large talent, worn by people who remember what it felt like to watch those two men on a mission from God tear through Chicago at full speed and come out the other side having saved the orphanage and delivered the greatest blues and soul revue American cinema has ever produced.

Put on the suit. Adjust the hat. Put on the sunglasses. Do not take them off for the rest of the evening. You are on a mission from God. Hit it.

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Further Reading & Resources

📺 See: The Blues Brothers
🔍 More: The Blues Brothers - Wikipedia