`Similar to' or `Similarly to'

Usually it seems obvious whether `similar' or `similarly' should be used, but I often have difficultly when starting a sentence, and often question which is correct when I read text written by others.

For example, `Similarly to Jane, John is wearing a blue jacket'.

Is this correct? The intended meaning is that Jane and John are both wearing a blue jacket, but they aren't similar otherwise. I think that `similarly' is correct because it's modifying the phase `is wearing a blue jacket'... or am I misunderstanding something? Does the fact that they are both wearing a blue jacket mean that they are in fact similar in that sense, so I should use `Similar to Jane, John is wearing a blue jacket'?

Or could either be correct?

I realise that I could reword the suggested text. However, I really want to understand whether `Similar/ly to' is correct.

Thank you