***UPDATED 10-13-09: Check down the post for updated materials that could work well for the coveralls!***
I’m probably one of the biggest fans of The Lonely Island and this Halloween I decided to try and make a Rod Kimble (played by Andy Samberg) replica costume from one of my favorite movies they were involved in, “Hot Rod.” Having a lot of images and watching movie footage I began looking around seeing what I would need to do it as close as I could.
My two big challenges were trying to figure out where the blue coveralls originated from. Eventually after looking around found a website in Canada that carried something very close to what I wanted and ordered this:
They are the same sized ones as the screen used suit worn by Andy Samberg, 38 Tall. The only issues I had with this pair is that it appears they didn’t have the cotton ones with the button up and these had a zipper instead. It made trying to beat the suit up very difficult because of how durable the fabric is, but I was able to make it work. You can purchase a pair clicking the following link from BC Textile Innovations in Canada, but it might be worth a try calling them to see if they have the cotton ones in stock instead of the one made tougher.
***[10-13-08: James Taylor of BC Textile Innovations chimed in recently to let people know for costume purposes they will waive the $70 minimum! Very cool! Thanks for commenting here, James!]
Additionally I have found some other sources that might work for you based on a reply comment I made a few days back that might help everyone:
There’s one that looks like it could be perfect, though it doesn’t say the brand of it, but I think you’ll agree that this one looks to be the best setup with minimal work! click here: directworkwear and scroll down to item D035. Looks to be the closest I’ve seen as a source suit.
100% Cotton Welding Coveralls
100% Cotton Welding Coveralls
Postman Blue, Navy Trim, Metal Buttons, With Reinforced Button Holes, Two Snap Cuffs, One Piece Top Stitched Collar, Telescopic Back For Comfort, Two Chest Pockets with Pencil Division On Left Pocket, Two Front Pockets, Side Vent Openings, Two Big Rear Patch Pockets, Rod Pocket On Right Leg, Double, Stitched, Waist Band With Elasticized Sides, High Resistant, Cotton Thread, Bar Tacked At All Stress Points. Comes In Regular Or Tall.From $45 Per Pair
From 3 Pair For $125
Sizes: 36-66T
I haven’t seen those in person, but looks like a good bet!If you’re willing to sew on all the navy material into the suit the one pictured here:Redkap coveralls in postman blue should do the trick being full cotton and only $29.95. Beyond that I haven’t found much that is comparable and might be extensive work for that. From initial photos the directworkwear version looks lto be the least amount of added work on the navy. You’ll just have to seam rip the navy around the waist and material match that with a postman blue fabric.***
First I had to use a seam ripper and remove the dark navy color around the belt area so I could cannibalize it for the cuffs which you will see in the next photo. It took many times putting the outfit on to measure the coverall legs because I needed then to ride higher than how the suit came. As you can see in the film the pant legs sit almost at the top of his shoes and when he sits down they ride pretty high up his calf. The trimmed pieces were re-used so that I could sew them back on to the coverall belt area later to cover the ban seam under where I took off the navy blue for the sleeves.
The sleeves ran a bit long, so I took them up some so that it would ride just at the wrist. This next part was a bit of a pain. I had to rip open the seam underneath the coveralls so that I could machine sew this red fabric into each side of the sleeves. Keeping it aligned with pins was tricky as I did this, but it all turned out awesome. at the end of each sleeve I used that cannibalized navy fabric from the belt section made my cuffs from it followed by closing off the under-arm seams again. Later I found that I needed to make the sleeves a bit more snug fitting, so I just made my seam a bit farther in to fit accordingly. If you look at the suit it looks like it has a comfortable fit, but on the sleeves and pants appears a little too short which was what I wanted to also achieve.
Can’t forget the star! I pretty much just eyeballed this and made a 3 or 4 layer star and purposely sewed it with the fray out so that when I cut and dirty it up it’ll appear more abused like the one in the movie.
This part was actually very time consuming. Since I didn’t have enough navy fabric to make a leg stripe I had to take a swatch with me to find the closest matching stuff I could find. Went to a few stores before finally finding something passable. As you can see in the picture it matches pretty close to the sleeve cuff. The only other unfortunate thing about the fabric is that it had a lot of play in it in that it doesn’t easily hold still, so even pins holding the stripe down while sewing was a pain. I also had to do what I did with the sleeves which was seam ripping the inner legs to be able to machine sew the stripes down.
I found a great flag patch online for the right side and then I had to look for a custom patch place that could make the “Tony’s Auto” name on an oval patch. I was very please with how this turned out from the vendor.
Next came the smaller stars. I used a small star rubber foam piece from a pack of these at a Michael’s store. I glued the foam rubber to a small block and used it as a stamp in white acrylic paint.
Can’t forget the cape! I improvised and cut out some red letters and roughly cut out a cape. Used blue outer lining material to sew along the top part of the cape and then made two button loops on each side that will attach to the suit under 2 buttons I sewed into the under collar.
After that I added some other details like putting metal snaps in the sleeve cuffs and roughing up some frayed parts. If you look at the movie suit too there’s a couple patched up spots using the suit fabric, so I did that with my excess fabric from the suit.
The last thing needed was painting the red and white stripes on the sleeves. I used painters tape to mask off the spots and then did the white color first and the red part last in acrylic. It was important to not paint too think because the movie suit is really beat up. I painted a wee too thick, but was able to get rid of most of it in the next step.
The only other thing left was to take it outside and literally beat the crap out of it. I would recommend getting the cotton coveralls if you can find it because they dirty much easier and also it’s the same material as used in the film. Because of how durable the coveralls were made it was very hard to abuse the outfit. I had to use a sander in places to wear off some of the paint. Another thing I did was take the suit outside on a damp night and jump all over in in the front yard in the gravelly dirt. Additionally to get some other look of dirt I painted with heavily diluted blacks and browns on parts of the pockets and bosy of the coveralls. I would have liked to make it more abused looking, but it got a bit too close to the Halloween party to do too much more to the suit in time. I’m still very happy with how it turned out.
What shoes are those?!
It took a while to search for these. I have a Hot Rod high resolution digital press kit and was able to zoom on the shoes, but for the life of me could not make out what the brand said, but saw a blobby logo on the tongue of the shoe. After looking at different shoe brand logos I was able to locate the exact shoe. These are Vans “Off the Wall” Skater shoes. Luckily I was able to score a pair of used ones on Ebay and they fit perfect.
***EDIT June 14, 2010*** Sorry for not giving the specifics on the shoe STYLE… it’s Vans Sk8-Hi Core Classics (black with white accents). If you’re just getting them for a costume you might look around for a pair discounted, but I found off the bat that Zappos carries them. Here’s a direct link: Zappos – Van’s SK8-HI Core Classics
Look for another post later this summer with some closeup DETAIL pics of the screen used outfit with more specific sizes of stripe widths and such! New post will have a link in this posting!
******END EDIT*********
And here’s a few pics from that party with me in costume. Of course I had to get a wig that would fit the Samberg sort of look…
I think about 80% of the people there had no clue who I was for Halloween, hahaha! Oh well, it was a great party and there were some excellent costumes there!
Thanks for reading!
April 23rd, 2009 at 8:19 pm
what website did you use to get the coveralls?
April 26th, 2009 at 5:57 pm
The coveralls can be found at this URL:
http://www.textileinnovations.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=121_139&products_id=161
I think they have a minimum order $ amount and might need to call to find out what that is for shipping and such.
Sorry for the delayed reply. Didn't get notification that there was a comment
May 28th, 2009 at 8:44 am
hello there, love the costume! and am planing on makeing my own.
just wondering what color is the suit is? is it the postman with navy trim? also do you know if the company from canada ships to the uk?
thanks for you help.
May 28th, 2009 at 12:02 pm
Yes. It is the Postman blue color with navy trim. any other questions at all please feel free to email me at ryancz1978@gmail.com and I’ll reply back as soon as possible! Best to you on your progress! Would love to see pix when you’re all done!
June 15th, 2009 at 3:45 pm
any chance you could make and sell some?
August 20th, 2009 at 10:44 am
Is there any way you would let me buy/rent/borrow your suit from you? I am jet set on being Rod for Halloween and this would make my life so much easier. I have the moped i just need the suit and stache!
September 18th, 2009 at 9:48 am
wow.
you did such an awesome job! so glad i found your site bc just a few weeks ago i decided to embark on the creation of my own Rod suit. im in the earliest stages now, have the suit & USA patch ordered but can’t seem to find a place to make me a custom “Tony’s Auto” patch. where would you suggest i look to get one made? most places have been telling me they embroider on garments directly but won’t make a seperate patch.
thanks for any suggestions!
September 20th, 2009 at 11:21 pm
hey, Steff! Thanks so much for your kind words! Great to hear you’re giving the Rod suit a go! I have a quick answer for you on the patch!
The patches…. the TONY’S AUTO one I had made custom for pretty cheap through Mindy’s Embroidery. Took about a week in total: http://blujay.com/?page=ad&cat=10170400&adid=2072493
The flag patch I got through Patches N Pins (1st image): http://patchesnpins.com/flags_patch_page.htm
Hope this info helps! Would love to see pix of your finished suit and would be happy to post them up here if you like.
Thanks!
October 8th, 2009 at 1:32 pm
I am 5’11″
What size suit should I pick up? I contacted the suit site and I have not heard a reply, are they still legit?
October 9th, 2009 at 10:12 pm
I would call them and get the order squared away. They weren’t the best at E-Mail contact. I’ll see if I can find the other site I found an alternate suit that could work good.
October 17th, 2009 at 8:23 pm
Hey, I’m making one of these for halloween, almost completed, just need to make the cape. I’m torn as to what fabric to use for the cape, what did you end up going with? I’ve found some Poplin (kind of like a sheet) that would work well, but I’ve also looked at a 60% cotton/40% polyester fabric that would also work well…just wondering what you went with!
Thanks,
Quinn
October 18th, 2009 at 6:39 pm
Quinn-
AWESOME about the costume! If I remember right I think I did go with poplin sort of material. Just something basic, but not too thin. Doubled it up so that I could sew around the seams and then used the lacing for the absolute top neck connecting part.
Hope that helps and would love to see your progress! Best to you and Happy Halloween!
October 28th, 2009 at 2:35 pm
Can you give me the lot # or style number off the shoes you found, can not seem to find them on website selling Van “off the wall” shoes, it has to be more specific and about when did you purchase them or how old is the style?
thanks
October 29th, 2009 at 10:18 am
Joel- Give me later tonight to check my shoes and let you know. I DO have those readily out for me to check, but I’m at work right now, hehe. I noticed that OFF THE WALL was a series and not the name of the shoe (stupid me). I’ll let ya know soon! -Ryan
November 4th, 2009 at 9:53 am
Hey Ryan!
I just wanted to let you know that I gave you and your awesome how-to a shout out on my website: http://meandthebee.wordpress.com/2009/11/03/hot-rod-halloween/
There you can check out my attempt at a replica, though I must admit yours puts mine to shame. Thanks again for all your tips as it made my creation a fun and MUCH easier experience!
Thanks again,
Steff
November 21st, 2009 at 8:53 pm
where did you get the tonys auto patch
December 2nd, 2009 at 5:38 pm
I’m guessing the only way to get this suit is buy making it? you dont know anywhere i can buy it? but fair play, it looks spot on.
December 6th, 2009 at 2:58 pm
that costume is aweome as sh**. great job on it!
January 31st, 2010 at 6:59 pm
you really should make some more of these to sell!
March 9th, 2010 at 11:16 am
how did you sew the stripes on the sleeves and legs? im having so much trouble with it
March 14th, 2010 at 8:24 pm
You have to seam-rip the under arm to be able to get the red stripe sewn in. The process is #1. Seam rip the underarms #2. Pin down carefully the folded red stripe fabric down the arm and shoulder #3, sew red stripe on with sewing machine. #4. Sew the dark navy strip for the sleeve in. #5. turn the suit part with the sleeve inside out and re-sew the seam back on the underarms.
If you have further questions or need other help let me know. I would like to make a better photographic tutorial of this costume so it’s easier for you guys!
March 14th, 2010 at 8:26 pm
The legs are the same way, only you seam rip open the inner thigh area down the leg so that you can properly sew the stripe down that leg using your sewing machine. There’s no other easy way to do it other than hand-sewing, but that will take you forever. The other alternative would be fabric glue, but I think that could come off. I haven’t tried that method, but I prefer how it was in the film and just sew it in.
March 23rd, 2010 at 3:40 pm
Thanks so much man! I’m so excited for how this is gonna turn out! I already got everything I need plus the moped and mustache!
June 14th, 2010 at 1:55 pm
Ryan,
I saw someone asked you for more details on the shoes but didn’t see your final reply. I am making this costume for my husband this year for Halloween and want to get a head start. Can you let me know more info on the shoes? I think I’ll be able to get the rest of the stuff but may end up asking you more questions..
Thank you!!
June 14th, 2010 at 4:21 pm
Shayla-
I thought I had, but I guess I didn’t specify the style, sorry!
They are VANS SK8-HI core classics (black shoe with white accent) Here’s a direct link to one of a bunch of sites that I’m sure carries it:
Zappos – Van’s SK8-HI Core Classics
Hope that helps and thanks so much for visiting the site!
-Ryan
August 6th, 2010 at 11:03 pm
Just to let you all know we have made it easier this year to order your “Hot Rod” Coveralls, 100% Cotton twill fabric. We have set up a separate product on our website for “Hot Rod” Coveralls. I want to thank all those who purchased from us last year, so this year we will be ready for even more people wanting to make their own costumes. Please see the link below;
http://textileinnovations.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=121_139&products_id=1107
You can call us toll free at 1-866-552-7671 if you have any questions.
Cheers
James
August 6th, 2010 at 11:14 pm
James-
This is AWESOME! I haven’t posted new blog postings in a while, but I think this is very deserving of its own post!
Looking at that style it appears this one’s got the button-open kind now and not the snap? That would be even closer to it than the one you previously had up. Really great! And 100% Cotton! THIS IS A BIG YES!!!!! The suits will be much easier to scuff up and dirty to everyone’s desired preference!
I think I might even have to order another set and test drive these out on a more comprehensive how-to video and make sure to link to your page.
Thanks so much for sharing this, James! I will have a post up later on!