Bond is frequently overdressed throughout the films. As a traditionally proper Englishman, he dresses up as much as he can get away with because it’s how he thinks people should dress. The suit is a symbol of his heritage. If there’s a possibility that a suit or dinner jacket is appropriate, Bond wears a suit or dinner jacket. It’s a key part of his identity.
For Bond to be overdressed by his own standards, he needs to be both inappropriately dressed for his activities and/or be dressed more formally than everyone surrounding him for no practical reason. There’s usually a reason why Bond is dressed up. If Bond is dressed up only because he’s Bond, he has become a parody of himself.
Sometimes when Bond dresses up appropriately, he later finds himself in a situation where his clothes are inappropriate. For example, Bond dons his dinner suit for the Mojaba Club in The Spy Who Loved Me, which appears to have a black tie dress code based on how the other guests are dressed, but he finds himself without a change of clothes for the next couple of days. When Bond later boards a boat in the same clothes, he says of the boat’s captain, ‘Well, he thinks we’re a bit overdressed, but he’ll take us to Cairo.’ This is not poor judgement on Bond’s part, as he dressed only for the occasion he knew he had to dress for.
Overdressing is part of Bond’s charm, and he should be dressed as smartly as appropriately possible. It’s part of what makes Bond the aspirational character that he is. However, he also needs to be grounded in the real world and dress appropriately for his missions, his occasions and his locations to be truly well dressed. When he goes too far with his clothes, he’s no longer the perfectly dressed character that he’s supposed to be.
001. A Dinner Jacket for Vegas in Diamonds Are Forever
Diamonds Are Forever is the first and worst offender when it comes to Bond overdressing. The character was created in the 1950s and came to life on the silver screen in the 1960s, and Bond wears tailoring the majority of the time in the 1960s because that’s how men dressed at the time. When Bond entered the 1970s, the world had changed, but his wardrobe had not. Bond is still associated with the dinner jacket, and he wears one whenever he thinks he is supposed to, based on the high-class world he was most familiar with. By dressing for Monte Carlo in Las Vegas, Bond is parodying himself. Bond is the only patron in the Vegas casino wearing a dinner jacket, which is what makes him look out of place. He’s maybe dressed like an entertainer or a waiter in this context, and he’s neither.
Bond is going by the name Peter Franks, and as Plenty O’Toole says, he is ‘a little weird’. The dinner jacket may have something to do with that perception. Despite him going by the name Peter Franks, he is dressed entirely as Bond dressed in the 1960s, but with wider lapels and a wider bow tie for the new decade. A mohair suit with a tie would have been more appropriate for the setting, if Bond had to be the most dressed-up man at the casino.
002. A Dinner Suit for Climbing the Whyte House in Diamonds Are Forever
Bond parodies himself again when he wears his second dinner jacket in Diamonds Are Forever, this time without the Peter Franks name, as he scales the Whyte House in a black dinner suit instead of a black tactical outfit. Assuming he’s going to meet Willard Whyte, he wants to be properly dressed, but he’s not properly dressed for his mission or for Las Vegas. He looks absurd. He should have worn a black turtleneck or long-sleeve polo with black trousers instead.
003. A Three-Piece Suit for the Oil Rig in Diamonds Are Forever
The worst offender of all in Diamonds Are Forever comes when Bond wears a navy chalk stripe three-piece suit to parachute into the ocean to make his way onto Blofeld’s oil rig. A three-piece suit instead of a two-piece emphasises how absurd Bond’s attire is. At no point in history would any kind of tailored outfit have been appropriate for such a mission. A tactical turtleneck, perhaps with a casual jacket over it, would have been a far more practical outfit. Not only does this outfit give the impression that Bond does not know how to dress, but he also looks unhinged.
004. A Sports Coat for an Island Adventure in The Man with the Golden Gun
Bond wears a shirt and tie as he pilots a small seaplane to Scaramanga’s Island in The Man with the Golden Gun, and when he arrives on the island, he dons a boldly checked sports coat, likely in silk or a silk blend. While this might have been an acceptable choice for a tropical resort, Bond is overdressed for this kind of adventure. He already wore two safari outfits in the film, but a third would again have been the right choice here. Something like his green safari shirt would have put him in good company with Scaramanga’s similar blue shirt, and it would have been far more practical. If he wanted to maintain a smart look, switching this outfit with the one he wore to Lazar’s shop would have been appropriate. The jacket and tie attempt to portray Bond as serious and responsible in comparison to Scaramanga’s carefree demeanour. The shirt and trousers also make it more believable that Bond could simply throw on the suit jacket and tie from the Bond waxwork to take its place quickly and easily. However, that was just a coincidence that Bond was wearing similar clothes, and Bond would not have known to prepare for the costume change. He should have prepared to visit a tropical, possibly uncivilised island.
005. Attired for a Fancy Dress Ball in The Living Daylights
In The Living Daylights, Saunders points out that Bond is overdressed in a dinner suit for the symphony concert, telling him, ‘This is a mission, not a fancy dress ball.’ Saunders is correct. While evening classical music concerts can be a time to wear black tie, Bond looks out of place because he is the only man in the concert hall dressed in black tie. Not even the men in the orchestra are wearing black tie or white tie. Bond stands out—albeit subtly on screen—when a spy should not. However, his outfit does not hinder his mission—it helps it. Bond’s dinner jacket has a velcro strap to fasten its shawl collar turned up around the neck when he needs to, proving that Bond brought appropriate attire for his mission. Bond should have worn a dark, luxurious suit instead, which still could have a hidden throat latch, though it’s much cooler when it’s a dinner jacket that turns into the tactical tuxedo. This outfit gets a pass because it creates one of the best costume moments in the series, but Bond is still overdressed.
006. A Business Suit for Lake Como in Casino Royale
Bond is only slightly overdressed in the final scene of Casino Royale. A suit is appropriate, and a three-piece suit is still appropriate. A dark three-piece suit is necessary to create the epic look Bond needs in this scene for the important character-defining moment. It’s the navy striped cloth this suit is made of that’s why Bond is overdressed. He’s dressed for business in the city. Maybe he had some business to take care of in Milan before suddenly driving out to Lake Como, but he’s overdressed for the countryside. A navy tonal check or windowpane suit would have brought the formality down a notch, for a better balance of Bond looking elegant, mature and powerful while not looking like he just came from the office. A sutble check would make Bond look more at ease, as he does in the legendary grey glen check three-piece suit in Goldfinger. A navy birdseye suit like Brosnan’s Bond frequently wore would still be too formal, but it would have been a better choice because it’s more neutral than a very city pinstripe. In a non-striped navy suit, he’d still look like he means business without literally looking like he’s dressed for business.
The striped suit is retconned into place in Quantum of Solace, when it’s turned into a two-piece suit, and Bond wears it at a remote headquarters where other agents are similarly dressed. Still, the other options listed above would have been just as appropriate.
007. Layering a Suit and Tie Under A Costume in Spectre
In Spectre, Bond wears a suit and tie under his Day of the Dead costume, which also includes its own coat and tie. It’s rather silly. Bond has planned a mission where he needs to walk across rooftops and spy on a bad guy. This kind of mission calls for discrete, tactical clothing. He may be in a big city, but that does not mean he must wear a suit, and he especially should not be wearing a suit that is too snug to comfortably move about in. He shows later during the film’s climax how he can wear a stylish, casual, tactical outfit in a city. He should have worn something similar in Mexico City. He also could have worn a more informal suit like some other characters were wearing, like a tan suit.
Had this been a normal day in Mexico City where Bond might need to dress like a businessman, the outfit would have been superb (if it fit better). But on a day when Mexico City is clearly closed for business because everyone is partying in the streets, Bond has no reason to be wearing a business suit, other than because it’s Bond’s usual daytime uniform. Bond should be more flexible when it comes to breaking away from the suit. Bond is an important figure in keeping the suit alive and relevant in the real world, but in this scene, Bond might be doing the opposite. By wearing a suit when it’s completely inappropriate, it could seem that he’s mocking the suit.
Also read this article that addresses the related topic of why Bond wears suits so often.
DAF is – possibly with LTK – the worst of the whole series, and the wardrobe only adds to its awfulness.
DAF is certainly one nadir but I would put several from the Moore era at the bottom of the table before I got anywhere near LTK! At least there were no Tarzan yells.
I used to consider DAF and DAD the worst of the series but how you can say that in a world that includes SPECTRE is incomprehensible. Or how you drag down LTK.
I appreciate your realization of the turtleneck’s potential as a tactical garment.
Diamonds is so absurd that the inappropriate outfits go unnoticed by me. Or, more accurately, they contribute and are a major part of the general over the top mix, and therefore don’t standout on their own. But the Mexico City outfit has always bugged me.
I would push back slightly on the MWTGG sports coat; to me the issue is not being over dressed so much as wrongly dressed. While I love the jacket in isolation, the grey and red colors do not work so well for a tropical island. Bond uses a jacket to conceal his Walther. He cannot show up in a tactical jacket because Bond wants to present this as a social call, presumably to ensure Goodnight’s safety (otherwise he should have brought a few commandos in his seaplane, storm the island and taken the solex.) Even wearing a tie makes sense, the only time Bond met Scaramanga prior to this Scaramanga was wearing a tie. So I really think the only issue is the color.
Great post Matt and some astute observations as usual.
This is a topic close to my heart as I am continually irked by unnecessary leaps in logic throughout the canon, especially during the Craig era when the producers are clearly aiming at a more gritty and realistic approach but still commit offences which to me are not playing fair with the public. I consider the topic of this post to be a subset of a broader category of leaps in logic.
I think you could have mentioned several other violations along with those here and I’m guessing there may be more suggestions in the comments.
Does anyone outside of fancy dress wear a tuxedo to the street parties during carnival in Rio?
Does anyone change into a (white) dinner jacket to eat dinner on a train in North Africa?
Is a tuxedo necessary for a rogues’ gallery of criminals to meet up in Havana to celebrate an incarcerated mastermind’s birthday?
Since Bond is so closely associated with black tie, which is so seldom worn these days, the producers are going to find it increasingly difficult to provide an appropriate context in which to portray him in this way, and to a lesser extent even finding appropriate environments for him to be suited up without sticking out like a sore thumb, which ought not to be the aim of a SECRET agent!
I think the logic in-universe needs to make sense, but it might not make sense with the real world. Black tie is appropriate in Bond’s universe for the three occasions you mentioned, which is why I didn’t include them. Bond isn’t the only man in a dinner jacket at Carnival, but I don’t know if anyone would have dressed that way for Carnival in the 1970s. The dining car in Spectre seems to have a black tie dress code, though it certainly seems odd for 2015. The SPECTRE party in Havana is also black tie.
“he also looks unhinged”
Best thing you have ever written!
Thank Heavens someone else agrees that Craig’s suits were far too tight. I’m far from a clothing expert. I simply could never see how he would conceal a handgun when dressed that way.
You’re in good company here! That’s been a big point of conversation around these parts since just about moment this blog came into being.
I find this a tough one. Except TMWTGG I think you’re spot on (though the sport coat does have an odd colour for the island), but at the same time, if Bond follows trends then almost any occasion would be incorrect for a tuxedo. Here in continental Europe even at the opera you’ll see some tuxedos, but you’ll be far outnumbered by men not wearing tailoring. So should Bond just get with the times and abandon it altogether? Even though the suit and tie is getting rarer and rarer, it is still popular in Hollywood and eg Netflix as it still gives great visual cues of power and it makes actors look their best!
I don’t really mind the overdressing in Diamonds. To me, it is an extremely camp film and should be taken as tongue in cheek pretty much throughout.. The real shock is how much Connery aged between the white dinner jacket of Goldfinger and the white dinner jacket of Diamonds. Of course the producers are always trying to shoe-horn in opportunities for black tie, whatever the cost to realism, so Bond gets his iconic black tie look. It’s notable that as well as being overdressed, Bond is also often over-carred: ie driving a car that draws far to much attention for a so-called secret agent.
The real shock for me was how much DAF differed in tone from the immediate predecessor OHMS – a serious film which closely follows the book as opposed to DAF which is the beginning of ‘Carry On Bond’ – a mate of mine reckons it’s a Moore film in many ways. DAF is also nothing like the book and marked the first major departure from the books which continued right up to CR. Also back on topic a good case could be made for the kilt in OHMS to be a good example of overdressing particularly as there’s no hint that Hillary Bray has any Scottish ancestry which makes the outfit even more of an odd choice.
My understanding is that OHMSS was not well received, partly because of the poor acting skills of Lazenby and partly because the ending was seen as too depressing and audiences did not like it. Hence with DAF they increased the Carry On factor, as you rightly say.
You Only Live Twice was the first Bond film that looked nothing like the book. Diamonds Are Forever has a little more of the book in it, but it’s ultimately an original story. For Your Eyes Only would be the only Moore film that has a lot of Fleming in it, but again, it’s still overall an original story.
Yes, I agree with You Only Live Twice as the first Bond film that unfortunately looked (almost) nothing like the book, which is very unfortunate as the book was the second in a final trilogy with a very strong narrative, culminating in The Man With the Golden Gun. For Your Eyes Only has a lot of Fleming in it, in a clever combination of two of his original short stories with some extra filler stuff thrown in.
This is a question I’ve been thinking about lately. I take the “what works in-universe” line up to a point, but sooner or later Bond’s universe gets too far away from ours to be believable – even as escapist fantasy spy thriller fare. Hardly anyone wears a suit even to work in central London these days – if they do, it’s without a tie, and with semi-trainers. Similar goes for casual wear – how long is the “Bond shouldn’t wear T-shirts” line (which I do get, even though I wear T-shirts 99% of the time myself) going to be sustainable?
It’s an interesting question that’s not easily answered. It makes one wonder what makes James Bond. James Bond was historically the womanising, heavy drinking, heavy smoking, suit clad super-spy who touted witty remarks in the face of death. Bit by bit Bond is losing his identity to changing social expectations.
I agree with many of the comments above. I suppose one could justify the “Diamonds” white jacket as his impersonation of Peter Franks, perhaps wanting to stand out to draw the criminals toward him …? But ultimately it’s a Bond film and it would somehow be ‘wrong’ for him to not wear his customary attire. Of the 007 listed, only “Spectre” and wearing the DAF three-piece to the oil rig stick out as egregiously unjustified.
Anyway, nevertheless a good summary that had me chuckling. Perhaps a countervailing “(00)7 Occasions When James Bond is Underdressed”? (I’d be interested to see what occasions would make that list!)
While this list features occasions when Bond made the wrong choice of outfit, he’s rarely underdressed unless he’s taken by surprise. Bond is underdressed compared to Goldfinger when Goldfinger placed him on the laser table. Bond finds himself underdressed when he stumbles upon Kananga’s lair at the end of Live and Let Die. Dr. No in Dr. No and Blofeld in Spectre both provide Bond with appropriate attire because they’re underdressed in their own attire. Bond dressed for the circumstances he planned for. The only times Bond is underdressed when he shouldn’t be, that comes to mind, arewhen Bond does not wear a tie with his two suits in Licence to Kill. He should have been wearing a tie with his suit for his flight to Istanbul. That’s how Bond always dresses for a commercial flight. He also should have worn a tie with his suit for the laboratory presentation. Others in the scene are wearing ties.
One could argue his grey tweed suit for a funeral in The World is Not Enough, but he still manages to pull it off I think.
Yes, and Largo provide Bond with appropriate attire on Trump’s yacht in Never Say Never Again because his underdressed in is own attire. And Columbo provide Bond with appropriate attire on his yacht in For Your Eyes Only because his overdressed in his own attire.
Slightly off topic, but I need to tell you that I work in a low-temperature laboratory with liquid helium, lasers, and superconducting coils, just as in Scaramanga’s lair in TMWTGG – like Scaramanga’s henchman, who ends up frozen, floating on liquid helium (completely impossible by the way).
On occasion, I like to show the relevant sequences and the dialogues about the Solex converter etc. to my young colleagues, as the 70s Bond movies are unknown to people in their 20s. Almost everything on the topic is ridiculously wrong in multiple ways, and we have great laughs. You can use the Bond-Scaramanga dialogue very nicely for safety instructions – how NOT to behave in the lab.
And now finally to being over(-under-)dressed: Scaramanga’s henchman operating the superconducting solenoids, and of course Mary Goodnight, are REALLY dressed wrongly for the occasion and environment.
(I do not show the Goodnight sequences to my lady colleagues of course, this could easily be misunderstood).
Having just rewatched A View to a Kill, I would be tempted to add both black tie scenes to the list. Now technically Bond is not overdressed as at both events the other guests are in black tie and the reception scene is specifically set after 6pm. Nevertheless, the fact that both scenes appear to be in full daylight makes it come across as wrong. I realize it is summer in Paris so the sun does not set till around 9, but it still looks off.
Easy fix would have been to have Bond (and everyone else) wear a suit to meet Aubergine for lunch, no need for black tie since he will wear it at the reception. Then film the reception a bit later so it is dusk. Of course, there are a lot of other things in that film that could have done with altering.
Dinner jackets are for the evening, not for darkness. Summer evening events rarely start after sundown, and there’s nothing wrong with wearing a dinner jacket in the summer. Bond wears midnight blue and ivory dinner jackets, both of which look better in daylight than black. The film is set in June, when the sun sets around 10 PM, and darkness is after 11 PM. I’ve been to Paris twice at this time of year, and it’s wonderful how long the days are (as long as there isn’t a heatwave like this year).
I’m all for black tie any season of the year, if the event is after six. My issue is more one of the choice the filmmakers made than if black tie was truly appropriate for the events.
This is more of a personal annoyance, but I have actually had a few people argue tuxedos are appropriate for the daytime by citing this film. Maybe if we used the term dinner jacket in the states more often it would clear up when you should wear one, but alas we don’t.
> Nevertheless, the fact that both scenes appear to be in full daylight makes it come across as wrong. I realize it is summer in Paris so the sun does not set till around 9, but it still looks off.
By this standard there should be no black tie in the UK. Think about the implication. Should people be waiting until 11 pm?
No. Like I said black tie is fine any season of the year after 6pm. My critique here is choice made by the filmmakers. In real life, depending on your latitude, you often may find yourself in black tie with the sun still out. For example, I have been to many a wedding where this is the case (I realize black tie weddings were/are very uncommon in England). But on film they can control lighting and the time they shoot scenes. I feel it would have been better to shoot the scenes at different times or change the wardrobes.
I don’t buy into the logic that “no one else is wearing black tie, so he shouldn’t wear it either—otherwise he’ll be overdressed.” I go to the opera here in southern Germany from time to time, and about 70% of the men there don’t even wear a suit—just shirts, T-shirts, or polo shirts. I might see a single tuxedo maybe once every three visits.
If the general public doesn’t dress appropriately even at the opera, then the person wearing a suit or tuxedo isn’t the problem. On the contrary, I’ve received many approving glances and compliments when I’ve been the only one wearing a tuxedo. I love being the best-dressed man in the room, and I think a Bond should have that attitude too—it has a certain Cary Grant-esque quality to it.
(And as for the undercover aspect: In 80% of the situations, everyone knows it’s Bond anyway—I mean, he tells everyone his real name.)
Honestly, even Bond dressed in a suit at the beginning of Skyfall took me out of the movie a bit. He and his fellow agents who got shot up look very out of place there.
Right. It was only a handful of years after high rollers and bigshots regularly wore tuxes in Vegas–and even in 1971 not everyone in a Vegas casino dressed like they were going bowling in New Jersey. so really DAN’S only conceit was to let Bond be glamorous in a casino where black tie standards had only just been loosened. For Spectre however, Bond dressed in a suit in a hot climate for the occassion of a developing world country street carnival is much more incongruous.
Bond was only overdressed in a suit because of the Day of the Dead context, especially with wearing his costume over a suit. Mexico City does not have a hot climate, and temperatures are fairly mild. It’s warm in the spring, but not terribly hot. It’s quite pleasant at the time of Day of the Dead. The outfit he was wearing would have been comfortable during the day. He would need a topcoat over it at night. A suit would have been appropriate in Mexico City had it been a day of business, but I don’t imagine business would have been conducted during the carnival.
It was such a missed opportunity for him to quick-change out of it into tactical gear. Taking off the coat to reveal a black turtleneck and black trousers would have been great. It was a cheap joke that just made him look laughable instead of suave. And yeah, that yellow filter they use throughout the movie also makes the audience think Mexico City is much warmer than it is. I lived right alongside the Mexican border for a decade, it gets cool in the fall and snows in the winter.