Chief Jim Hopper Costume and Props Thread

There's a strange thing about Akubra colours: different retailers often use different names for the same colour. So you can't really use the name as a guide.
 
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Updated 10/8/19 (Hopper Name Tag, & New Patch from Dr. Jones Sr.)
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OK guys...

I'm putting my outfit together now... I've gotten a pretty good head-start, and thanks to this thread... I'm a bit more ahead of the game. Here's my "List" to get together before Halloween. Bold means I've already ordered or have it... and I've hot-linked the specific items I've ordered or will be ordering, to help others.

So... I'm new to this whole COSPlay thing, and I'm just really glad that there's now a middle aged "dad-bod" character that I can relate to. ;)

Trying to stay on a budget since it's looking more like it will be a one-time outfit for Halloween... but then I read about new things to get and they cost "just a bit more" that I expected. But... hoping it will all be worth it since my daughters and I binged all episodes of ST together when they all first came out, and Hopper is one of the FAV characters. :)

Wish me luck guys... and I'm happy to answer any questions about everything I've put together so far (in bold above). I'll certainly get pics up once I get it all together.

Thanks to everyone who's helped create this thread. (y)
 
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Heads up, spencers has a version of the Hawaiian shirt. It is probably the best quality. It just doesn't have the pocket, which honestly doesn't bother me.
 
Police Shirt (Amazon - First Class, yeah... I know, it has pleats... but it was only $20)

White/Grey Henley style T-Shirt (Amazon)

Holster (Find Hume H216 No1/Border Patrol Basket Weave)

Pants - Use my "Dickies" khakis

So... I'm new to this whole Cosplay thing, and I'm just really glad that there's now a middle aged "dad-bod" character that I can relate to. ;)

Awesome! Welcome to Cosplay! I'm a newbie myself, I started at the age of 58 doing Dr Jones Senior.

LOL about the dad bod thing, what a gift Hopper is to us! (I'm the same height, and girth, as David Harbour).

I was hoping that he wouldn't show up for Season 3 all slimmed-down, and he didn't disappoint!

About some of your items:

Police Shirt: Happily the Hopper style is worn by a large number of agencies and if you keep an eye out you'll come across one soon enough. I got mine- Arizona Department of Forestry- on Ebay for around $25. It had been worn and washed many times and is super comfortable.

Henley Shirt: I think the colour is called "natural", it's bone or off-white.

Holster: Yes the Don Hume 216 is a near-perfect match.

Left is an actual Tex Shoemaker, right is a Don Hume 216, a beat-up old $20 black one I painted brown

afRHqKE.jpg


Dickies pants: Yes they're very close to the Hopper pants. The trouble I ran into was the colour. I've seen the khaki Dickies in three or four slghtly different versions of khaki, one is pretty close to the shirt colour. (Hopper's shirt and pants are "silver tan".) I dyed my Dickies to get them pretty close, they worked while I searched for the Flying Cross pants.

(Flying Cross Hopper pants, Dickies after dying. I need to dye them more, to get them more grey and pink, less yellow)

AmEwJKj.jpg


Belt: It changes between S1 and S2. I went with S1. It took some searching on Ebay to find an old belt with the exact buckle, which I stuck on a different belt.

(Season 1, black, 1 1/2 inch)

KgpLSYO.jpg


(Season 2, dark brown) This style of Garrison Belt is seen in 38mm (1.5 inch) with square buckle and 44mm (1.75 inch) with rectangular buckle.
I believe his S2 belt is the latter.

uR9TEG7.jpg


Here's an interesting closeup screen shot from S2 showing the colour of the belt, how it lacks scribe-lines at the borders, and most interestingly how there's an offset hole, as if Hopper had lost weight at some point and needed to crudely stab a hole to cinch the belt tighter.
Another interesting thing is that this photo suggests that the S2 holster may be different than the S1 holster. We know the revolver and belt are different, but I had thought it was the same holster.
dGhAqRj.jpg
 
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Hopper's "Casual" watch:

I gotta tell ya... I was pretty stoked when I thought I had found a watch that I already owned that would work for my uniformed Hopper look:

1570575607834.png


You can see from my list above that I've listed two different options. The first is the one that most folks are attempting to track down and that's a vintage Casio with/without the added compass. However... I originally saw what appeared to be a Vintage Rolex Submariner in one of Hopper's "casual" scenes.

Here's the one I was seeing, which again... appears to be a Vintage Rolex Submariner:

1570575802099.png

1570576327583.png


Here's an actual Vintage Rolex Submariner:

1570576561534.png


And... here's the one I have (Rolex clone of the Submariner):

1570576796638.png


Now... I don't think Hopper's watch truly is a Rolex Submariner, because if you look at the markings for 6 and 9 o'clock, you'll see those times marked by triangles vs rectangles on the Submariner. But... it's pretty dang close.

The reality is... it seems that Hopper really likes watches, because I've seen at least 4-5 different versions of watches on him depending on the day and what he's wearing, so I'm not going to over analyze it too much.

Also... here's a website that discusses the different watches for the different characters. Pretty cool. Watchonista: Stranger Things
They list Hopper's watch in the scene above as a Tudor Submariner... but, I don't think that is correct either for the same reasons I listed why it's probably not the Rolex Submariner. But... either may be close enough for you depending on your tolerance for reality. ;)

Anyway... for those folks looking to add to more of Hopper's "Casual" items to their CosPlay... then this info may help.
 
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Interesting, it's something I hadn't paid attention to. It's a cool character thing.

I'm sticking with the S1 Hopper, and the Atlantis watch I see him wearing in the photos I've happened to come across.

3rNZTSB.jpg


qtGuY4Z.jpg
 
Is it possible the more modern Tudors have the triangular markings? I saw a couple in a quickie search.
 

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Hello, fellow Hopper copycats (Hoppycats?)! I’ve always been a few years behind the trends, so the fact that I’m just 2 years late to this thread is an improvement. Like I told the admin, I’ve been “creeping” on here for about a month and wanted to make it official. I’ve assembled what I feel is a decent Hopper ensemble (overall). I know there are more expensive hats, holsters, and patches out there, but we all have to do what we have to do! Anyway, enough with the intro. Here are my pictures:782150A4-7443-49C4-BF98-79F901000DBA.jpegA4D392B9-E882-4594-AC99-EEFA4ACE9B13.jpeg
 
Hello, fellow Hopper copycats (Hoppycats?)! I’ve always been a few years behind the trends, so the fact that I’m just 2 years late to this thread is an improvement. Like I told the admin, I’ve been “creeping” on here for about a month and wanted to make it official. I’ve assembled what I feel is a decent Hopper ensemble (overall). I know there are more expensive hats, holsters, and patches out there, but we all have to do what we have to do!

Welcome aboard!

That's actually not a bad haul! At least you got the shirt without the pleats. Mine has those since like you... I didn't spend as much as I could have on the "ensemble". Also, I'm still putting things together as well. Waiting on the hat to arrive and still haven't decided on a gun/holster combo. I dig the training "blue" gun you got... that will definitely prevent "issues". As you can tell from my avatar... I definitely need the hat to pull this thing off. ;) I'm also still waiting to figure out the proper pants and watch as well.

Just over 2 weeks to go... yeah... sure... I got this... right??

But hey... I've got the killer 'stache in the works! ;)
 
Hi all, I just discovered this site and I'm a little upset it has taken me this long to find it! I'm putting together a Hopper costume this year, but I'm also a filmmaker, so I can imagine this site will have droves of useful information for me. Anyway, I (admittedly) haven't read every post in the 19 pages of this thread, but, I've skimmed through them. I have't seen where anyone has officially identified Hopper's hat. There's some that are close (and, quite frankly, good enough), but I haven't seen the exact one. I've found the exact hat, it's from the same person who made it for the show. It's a tad expensive, but it's certainly authentic! Here's a link to Worth & Worth, and picture below.
Hat.jpg
 
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Oh, f
I think you may be on to something with that first one. The markings and the band sure match up.
View attachment 1067354
View attachment 1067353

So… I'm not sure where that picture came from, but that watch isn't on his wrist. It's clearly been added by someone after the fact (the angle isn't right, the lighting is wrong, it's too crisp, etc.). It's just the same Casio watch from earlier in this thread. Besides, think about Hopper's character. A Rolex or Tudor is a rich man's watch, Hopper would never wear something like that. Casio is much more his style. Here's actual screen grabs from the episode, as you can see he's wearing a different watch than from the photos above.
h1.jpg
h2.jpg
 
Hi DyerHaus, yes the Worth & Worth hat has been discussed (buried in all the pages!) and at least one member here has purchased one.

I fall somewhere between the 100% Screen Accurate camp and the "close enough is good enough" camp.

I have Screen Accurate S1 shirt, flag patch, badges, pants, belt, watch, wristband, and pen but "close enough" boots, HPD patch, and hat.

The hat I'm using now is a Stetson Stratoliner in Caribou which is very close to the Worth & Worth hat in style and colour.

rSsMBoU.jpg


The main difference is brim width: the Worth & Worth hat has a 2.75 inch brim, the Strat a 2.5 inch brim. One could go to a Stetson Open Road for the correct brim width, and indeed it's been said that the Hopper hat was based on a vintage Open Road.

In any case here's my S1 Hopper impression yesterday at Los Angeles Comic Con, with my Caribou Strat. (I need to re-shape the crown for a more Hopper look.)

f66injj.jpg


About crown shape, the Caribou (left) with the factory crown and my Strat in Cornhill with a re-shaped crown (right). The Worth & Worth crown is somewhere between.
 
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Hi DyerHaus, yes the Worth & Worth hat has been discussed (buried in all the pages!) and at least one member here has purchased one.

I fall somewhere between the 100% Screen Accurate camp and the "close enough is good enough" camp.

I have Screen Accurate S1 shirt, flag patch, badges, pants, belt, watch, wristband, and pen but "close enough" boots, HPD patch, and hat.

The hat I'm using now is a Stetson Stratoliner in Caribou which is very close to the Worth & Worth hat in style and colour.

View attachment 1071895

The main difference is brim width: the Worth & Worth hat has a 2.75 inch brim, the Strat a 2.5 inch brim. One could go to a Stetson Open Road for the correct brim width, and indeed it's been said that the Hopper hat was based on a vintage Open Road.

In any case here's my S1 Hopper impression yesterday at Los Angeles Comic Con, with my Caribou Strat. (I need to re-shape the crown for a more Hopper look.)

View attachment 1071881

About crown shape, the Caribou (left) with the factory crown and my Strat in Cornhill with a re-shaped crown (right). The Worth & Worth crown is somewhere between.

Thank you for that! I figured as long as this thread is, there had to have been mention of the real hat before! And what a great shot of you as Hopper! I think I'm in the same camp as you, when/if I can afford the real stuff, I'll get it… otherwise, close enough is good enough.
 
Hopper's "Casual" watch:

I gotta tell ya... I was pretty stoked when I thought I had found a watch that I already owned that would work for my uniformed Hopper look:

View attachment 1067252

You can see from my list above that I've listed two different options. The first is the one that most folks are attempting to track down and that's a vintage Casio with/without the added compass. However... I originally saw what appeared to be a Vintage Rolex Submariner in one of Hopper's "casual" scenes.

Here's the one I was seeing, which again... appears to be a Vintage Rolex Submariner:

View attachment 1067253
View attachment 1067255

Here's an actual Vintage Rolex Submariner:

View attachment 1067256

And... here's the one I have (Rolex clone of the Submariner):

View attachment 1067257

Now... I don't think Hopper's watch truly is a Rolex Submariner, because if you look at the markings for 6 and 9 o'clock, you'll see those times marked by triangles vs rectangles on the Submariner. But... it's pretty dang close.

The reality is... it seems that Hopper really likes watches, because I've seen at least 4-5 different versions of watches on him depending on the day and what he's wearing, so I'm not going to over analyze it too much.

Also... here's a website that discusses the different watches for the different characters. Pretty cool. Watchonista: Stranger Things
They list Hopper's watch in the scene above as a Tudor Submariner... but, I don't think that is correct either for the same reasons I listed why it's probably not the Rolex Submariner. But... either may be close enough for you depending on your tolerance for reality. ;)

Anyway... for those folks looking to add to more of Hopper's "Casual" items to their CosPlay... then this info may help.

Just looked at that Watchonista article… every single photo on there has a poorly photoshopped watch on the wrist of the actors. Also, the very top (under the headline) reads: "The crisis in Hawkins is bigger than quartz, so we’ve rounded up our recommendations for the best watches for taking on the infamous meat monster. "

In other words, they're suggesting better watches for the characters to be wearing.
 
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