What do most of James Bond’s formal shirts have in common? They are light in colour and almost always solid. There are some basic guidelines to follow when getting a Bondian shirt wardrobe but no absolute rules. The Bond shirt wardrobe is typically very limited within a single film, only with significant variation in Roger Moore’s Bond films. If you’re getting a first order from an English bespoke shirtmaker, you’ll likely need six shirts to fill your order. Here is a list of shirts that Bond may get when getting his first six from a bespoke shirtmaker like Turnbull & Asser or Frank Foster.
1. White poplin double cuff
The white cotton poplin shirt with double cuffs (French cuffs) is the formal shirt for the modern Bond. The simplicity of this shirt makes it the most formal shirt and one of the most versatile shirts to wear with a suit. Almost any count of poplin can work for this shirt, from 80s to a 140s Sea Island quality and beyond. While Bond oftens wears the fine, soft Sea Island poplin shirts, they are more difficult to iron and wrinkle more readily than a lower count cotton.
The classic Bond collar is the spread collar, but point and tab collars can also work well for this shirt. Because a white poplin shirt is one of the most formal shirts to wear with a suit, double cuffs fit well with this style. The double cuffs can be square or rounded. If you don’t want double cuffs, cocktail cuffs or simple rounded button cuffs are classic Bond choices for such a shirt. The classic Bond shirt has a front placket and no pocket, which goes for all of Bond’s formal shirts to give them a dressy and symmetrical look.
2. Light blue poplin cocktail cuff
No Bondian shirt wardrobe is complete without a cocktail (turnback) cuff shirt. This cuff works well on one of Bond’s perennial favourites, the light blue poplin shirt. Traditionally in Sea Island quality cotton, this is the classic shirt that Connery wears with most of his suits and blazers in the Bond films. Roger Moore wears this shirt too. The spread collar is the classic style for this Connery Bond staple.
3. Cream poplin
Though Bond has not worn a cream shirt since Tomorrow Never Dies, its many appearances throughout the Bond series up to that film make it a Bond classic. It has a softer, friendlier look than the white shirt, but it can sometimes look a bit old-fashioned. It pairs especially well with earth-toned outfits, but like white it goes with anything. This shirt is good with cocktail cuffs or button cuffs to make it more versatile than a double cuff shirt. Most of Bond’s cream shirts are cotton poplin, but he also wears them in royal oxford cotton or silk poplin.
4. Another blue shirt
Bond proves over and over again how versatile the blue shirt is, pairing it with suits, blazers and occasionally other sports coats. A second blue shirt is a useful addition to any wardrobe, and it can be differed from the first light blue shirt in many ways. The colour for a second blue shirt may be a darker mid blue or French blue, the latter for a sportier look. The weave may have more texture, like end-on-end, royal oxford or voile. The collar could also be varied from the first blue shirt with something narrower. And the cuff may be different, dressing it up with double cuffs or making it more versatile with button cuffs. It is easy to have two blue shirts that are very different yet equally Bondian.
5. White evening shirt
A Bond shirt wardrobe would be incomplete without an evening shirt, also known as a dress shirt or a Tuxedo shirt. The classic Bond evening shirt has a pleated front, but a pique bib front or a plain front could also work for this type of shirt. Bond’s evening shirts are often made of cotton voile, but white-on-white striped or waffle-weave cotton, silk crepe de chine and basic cotton poplin are other options for a Bondian evening shirt. His evening shirts always have a spread collar and usually have double cuffs. Sometime Bond wears an evening shirt with cocktail cuffs. The front of the shirt should have butons or a fly front for pleated-front or plain-front shirts, while a pique bib shirt should take studs.
6. Short-sleeve shirt
A shirt with short sleeves is essential for Fleming’s Bond, who hated dirty cuffs. Though Fleming’s Bond wears short-sleeve shirts with his suits, Bond in the films only wears short-sleeve shirts casually. Connery’s Bond likes it in the camp shirt style, with a camp collar and a short, straight hem to be worn untucked. Blue or pink with stripes or a gingham check are amongst his choices, while Roger Moore likes his in cream silk crepe de chine and Pierce Brosnan likes his in a blue floral pattern. Such a shirt is good in either cotton or linen, or a blend of the two. Roger Moore also wear short-sleeve shirts in cream knit cotton jersey with a make like his formal shirts with a two-piece collar and placket front. There is no quintessential short-sleeve shirt for Bond, but it is a staple of his classic wardrobe.
7. Another white or cream shirt. Or something else.
Bond often has duplicates of his shirts and has room for many white and cream shirts in his wardrobe. A second white or cream shirt can be very useful for those who regularly wear suits, and putting a different collar or cuff style on the second shirt can help vary it from the first. A different material like cotton voile, royal oxford or silk can make this second shirt something unique. Bond has also occasionally worn blue or grey stripes or pale pink semi-solid, which could be a good choice for a more varied shirt wardrobe.
Simon Crompton of Permanent Style recently published a similar article on how to choose five shirts, and his advice can also produce a Bond-approved shirt wardrobe.
As brilliant as koskofs defection !!!!
Any bond staple coming from brosnan?
Dame Judi Dench as M?
I feel like a Brosnan staple would be a double cuff shirt in royal oxford (both TND/TWINE).
What a surprise Matt and another fantastic (00)7 lists of Bondian clothing. Personally I think a light blue shirt is a very Bondian shirt. Do you think a wardrobe of many light blue shirts particularly in differing shades would result to a Bondian wardrobe of shirts (besides white and occassional cream depending on the person’s complexion)?
Yes, it is easy to have a Bondian wardrobe of many light blue shirts.
Yes, the light blue shirt with cocktail cuffs from Turnbull and Asser would have been my number one pick. ;-)
Very interesting and a teaching moment; except the evening shirt (I shun partying) and the cream one, I’ve every of them in my wardrobe, I’m now quite ready to run.
The article however should’ve stressed or remembered how difficult it’s to find Dr No cuffs shirt. The best is to have both blue and white shirt with such cuffs.
Mason & Sons has made it very easy to get shirts with cocktail cuffs.
Indeed. When I first staring reading this blog in 2012, I knew of cocktail cuffs only in the mythical world of James Bond. Now, I have four such shirts in my rotation, all from Mr. Mason.
As do Turnbull & Asser.
Turnbull & Asser’s selection is rather limited.
To be fair, T&A now have cocktail cuffs available for “Made to Measure” (misleading really, it’s special order in standard sizes) in many fabrics. The price is still going to be unattainable for most people compared to Mason & Sons Made to Order.
Fair comment, but in blue and white, the important colours!
Very helpful list here. White poplin double cuff makes sense as #1.
I have four of the seven.
But it is good to still have goals.
Great article as usual Matt.
I have a question but it might seem complicated, here it goes anyway. I noticed borrelli also made a turnback cuff shirt as well but the second half of the cuff is significantly stronger than the first. Meaning the part that you fold over, overlaps the part that you don’t by far. I noticed turnbull and asser s turn back cuff does not do that so much. Is the Italian attempt at the British property?
Is that style , a mistake , or just a fashion trend?
Your thoughts …
My modern Turnbull & Asser turnback cuffs have a much larger turnback portion as well. There needs to be at least a little bit of overlap. Just different styles.
What is the dislike for cream shirts? Really, the only rationale for them being described as “old fashioned” can be that they’re not seen that much any more. So, we’re back to; why? Cream, in particular a pale cream, is as versatile as a white shirt without being so stark for many complexions. Another modern trend i just don’t “get”!
In their defense, it may not work as well on some high-contrast complexions. I think a pale shade is more versatile. But I agree it is nonetheless a classic shade that should be considered.
I must say I agree with Mr. Malborough, cream shirts are not so commonly available these days, but are a wonderful choice. Much more interesting than white.
How about completing the set with a bengal stripe ?
In my set, the white poplin with double cuffs is ivory in twill with hidden placket which suits my complexion better and can be useful as a very formal shirt. All others with cocktail cuffs except a French blue (of course) with 2-button mitred cuffs for the summer. A nice blue herringbone can come in handy even if not canonical.
Amicalement vôtre !
Bengal stripe is nice, though I think many would not consider it very “Bondian” despite Roger Moore’s affection for them throughout his movies.
Do cream shirts work for winter Bonds like Brosnan, Dalton, Lazenby, and Connery? Would white (or even grey) be a better choice?
White is generally a better choice for winter complexions, but cream can look better with certain outfits. Cream often looks better on camera than white does.
Mr Spaiser, in your personal experience, which company/shirtmaker has provided you with the best quality shirts at the best value for money?
Turnbull and Asser, Mason and Sons or Frank Foster himself?
Frank Foster shirts are the best value for the money. All of their shirts are bespoke. The quality is the same as Turnbull & Asser for less money than T&A’s ready-to-wear shirts. I do not have experience with Mason & Sons bespoke shirts, but their ready-to-wear and special order shirts are excellent value as well, but not the same as bespoke quality.
I was under the impression that you would not want to wear a solid white formal shirt when the contrast might be a bit too much. For example Mr.Jordans navy suit in octopussy is very easy on the eyes and has stream like effect, and im thinking its because of the cream shirt and the contrast not being that strong as compared to white.
Am i right ? or am i off?
Louis Jourdan’s cream shirt does indeed give him less contrast and a less formal look than a white shirt would, but he’s the kind of person who looks excellent in high-contrast outfits.
So you are implying that a cream shirt would be considered less formal? Or does it depend on the person’s skin tone?
Less contrast is less formal, and a cream shirt is just ever so slightly less formal than white.
Being at an auction and wearing cream certainly makes sense. Now if i can just make it to London I will be in business.
White, blue, pink or lilac would also have been appropriate shirts. Anything appropriate for business in London is fine in this situation.
What’s your take on the twill?
when should it be worn and when should it not be worn?
Twill is a good workhorse shirt. It’s good for everyday wear because it is hard-wearing, and it’s best in cooler seasons.
You know I’m morally certain that half the reason Bond loves “Sea Island” shirts is precisely because they’re so very, very tricky to keep in shape – I am also morally certain that if 007 ever acquired a batman he’d speedily drive the man to murder or madness (really, just imagine the pure Hell of being James Bond’s valet – the puns, the bloody murder, the ghastly wordplay, the exposure of the very finest clothes to the very nastiest sort of environments, THE PUNS! – anyone less than the Jeeves himself would be left broken by the experience!).
“George Lazenby shakes up the classic Bond look with a pale pink shirt from Frank Foster in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service”.
Is a semi solid shirt?
End-on-end?
It is difficult to tell what it is from only a few brief shots. It is probably semi-solid on some level, likely poplin, end-on-end or voile, all of which would be woven with pink and white yarns.
Here is one of the problems I did not realize I had, (Yes I know I have several of them), you mentioned that when wearing the doeskin blazer, flannel trousers should be worn because of similiar style of cloths. Are there rules when it comes to shirts? Right when I think bond wears nothing but poplin solids, I read your posts and I come to find he wears, at times, pinpoint or satin stripe or broken stripe? Are there rules as to when the cloth of the shirt is important to the cloth of the suit? For example now when I wear my charcoal flannel I try to pair with a poplin dress shirt with some sort of texture. How do you know what fabric/cloth goes with what type of suit?
A poplin shirt will never have texture, since poplin is a smooth weave with a very subtle crosswise rib. Poplin is a basic, dressy shirt that can go with just about all suits and many blazers and sports coats. Voile is great for warm-weather. When wearing tweed it’s often a good idea to wear a shirt with more texture, like pinpoint or twill, both to balance the texture of the suit/jacket and to protect yourself from the scratchy tweed.
When should the striped shirt be worn?
Striped shirts are best worn with solid suits and blazers.
Did you think the oxxford shirt worn by brosnan in bilbao was appropriate for the suit he was wearing? Was it appropriate for a banker for that matter?
It is not an oxford shirt, it is royal oxford. Royal oxford is perfect for a banker because it’s an elegant weave.
I must say I am a fan of the (00)7 series. How about (00)7 Bondian trousers? Inevitably most attention goes to the upper body, but trousers deserve just as much attention too. What do you think?
Did all Sean Connery´s coctail cuff shirts had darted back ? Or are the ones in Dr. No without darts ?
I don’t believe they have darts in Dr. No, but the others do.
Nice, thank you for your answer Matt. I´m ordering my third Sean Connery shirt and I was thinking about getting one without darts.
Whether or not you get darts should be a function of how the shirt fits your body.