Joe Gardner’s appearance in Soul reflects his daily routine as a middle school music teacher and dedicated jazz pianist in New York City. His wardrobe relies on a grounded palette of muted earth tones—deep olive greens, charcoal, and rich leather browns—creating a warm, understated style that feels lived-in and natural.
Because Joe wears real-world clothing, assembling this costume relies on nailing the specific silhouettes, color harmonies, and notable accessories. The visual identity comes from his textured high-neck sweater, straight-leg trousers, structured hat, thick-rimmed glasses, and classic leather pieces.
Turtleneck and Trousers
The foundation of Joe’s outfit is an army green knit turtleneck sweater with long sleeves and ribbed texture. Choose a medium-weight knit that holds its collar structure around the neck without slumping. The shade should lean toward an earthy forest or moss green rather than bright emerald or neon, keeping the aesthetic grounded.
For the bottoms, select olive green dress pants with a straight-leg or relaxed cut. In the animation, Joe’s trousers are tailored yet comfortable, sitting at the natural waist. The green of the pants does not need to be an exact twin to the sweater; having a subtle difference in hue or fabric sheen creates realistic dimension between the top and bottom halves.
If you need to adjust the trousers, ensure the hem has a clean, slight break right above the footwear. Tucking the sweater in or wearing it over the waistband depends on the length of the knitwear, but letting it fall cleanly over the waistband matches Joe’s relaxed everyday teacher profile.
Headwear, Glasses, and Grooming
The charcoal gray wool fedora is central to Joe’s profile. A short-brim trilby or compact fedora with an indented crown and a dark grosgrain ribbon band provides the right proportion. Keeping the brim short prevents the hat from looking like an oversized costume piece or a wide-brim sun hat.
His eyewear features bold black rectangular frames with slightly softened corners and substantial rims. If you do not require prescription lenses, simple clear-lens costume frames or blue-light glasses replicate the shape easily.
Facial hair plays a noticeable role in framing his face. Joe sports a trimmed mustache paired with a distinct soul patch just under his bottom lip. If you cannot grow matching facial hair, a touch of water-based face paint or an eyebrow pencil stippled lightly across the upper lip and chin creates a clean, convincing effect.
Shoes and Briefcase
Joe wears lace-up dress shoes in a distinctive red-brown or burnished cognac leather. Oxford or Derby shoes with smooth leather and minimal brogue detailing pair smoothly with the olive trousers. The warm reddish undertone in the footwear stands out against the cooler green fabric of the pants.
His companion piece throughout the film is a coffee brown two-strap leather briefcase or messenger bag. Aside from serving as an accurate character prop, it provides practical storage for convention essentials like sheet music, water, or daily items while keeping both hands free when using the shoulder strap.
