James Bond has always followed fashion trends and made an attempt to look current. Fashion has many meanings. Fashion is often defined as the popular trends that come and go. Fashion statements are often the strongest expression of these trends, but they can also just be bold stylistic statements that have little to do with what’s popular.
James Bond makes few bold fashion statements throughout the series, and when he does they’re usually related to a fashion trend. Fashion statements generally have negative connotations because they’re often tasteless and don’t stand the test of time. However, fashion statements can be good and look good for years to come when they’re well designed with balance or purpose.
Here are seven of James Bond’s more fashion-forward looks of the series that still look good today. Tastes will vary, but these are all outfits I would happily wear myself. I avoided picking anything from the 21st century. While it’s possible to predict what recent fashions are likely to date, it’s impossible to not be biased as to what current fashions may no longer look good with the passage of time.
001. Matching the Pastel Polo and Trousers in Dr. No (1962)
Matching casual outfits was a trend in the 1950s through the 1970s, especially in pastel or bright colours. If this were black or navy it wouldn’t be making a statement, but Bond’s outfit of a light blue cotton pique polo with light blue cotton poplin trousers in Dr. No stands out. It’s an outfit that looks at home a tropical island, where the shirt and trousers recall the sky and sea. Because of the appropriate setting the outfit still looks good today.
002. 1960s Minimalist Tailoring in Thunderball (1965)
James Bond’s tailoring in Thunderball is when it’s deepest into the tailored fashions of the mid 1960s. Bond does not wear Mod suits, but there’s an influence of Mod in the style and the cloth. The two-piece suit in shiny black-and-white contrast mohair at the Junkanoo is Bond’s ultimate 1960s suit. The lapels are very slim, and the jetted hip pockets and lack of rear vents play into the minimalism of the look. The cut is trimmer than the cut of the suits in Connery’s earlier Bond films but still has plenty of fullness where it needs it. A very narrow dark, plain grenadine tie is keeping with the modern aesthetic. Bond does not wear pocket squares in Thunderball, following the minimalist look. Minimalism and clean lines will always be cool, and Sean Connery’s manner doesn’t hurt either.
003. A Touch of Peacock for Black Tie in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969)
James Bond rarely ventured into the peacock fashions of the late 1960s and kept to more classic styles. George Lazenby’s two frilly dress shirts with his dinner jacket in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service are some of Bond’s boldest fashion statements of the series. Where Bond succeeds in wearing them is in how he keeps the rest of his black tie ensemble classic and traditional and allows the shirt to be the outfit’s only statement.
Bond wears two such shirts from Frank Foster in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. The dress shirt at the casino has the quintessential ruffled front of the late 1960s and 1970s. It’s rather flamboyant for Bond but as the outfit’s only concession to contemporary fashions it’s well done. The shirt that Bond wears with his dinner jacket in the film’s opening scene is the superior shirt that makes a more subtle and elegant fashion statement. It has a traditional pleated front but places strips of frilly lace between some of the pleats for a touch of peacock fashion. The shirt ends up being the focus of the outfit when Bond removes his dinner jacket, bow tie and trilby. Unfortunately, the artistry of the shirt is soon masked after Bond gets it soaked.
004. Sensible Safari Style in The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)
Safari gear is a staple of the Roger Moore Bond films. Though safari shirts and jackets were popular fashions in the 1970s, they began as military garment in the 19th century. Bond wears both a tailored safari jacket in ecru and a lightweight safari camp shirt in The Man with the Golden Gun. The former is a poor example of 1970s safari trends, but the latter made by Hong Kong tailor Jimmy Chen is a practical warm-weather shirt with a clever design. The four large flapped patch pockets on the front of the shirt are why its a statement piece. The half belt and side vents are what separate it from a traditional safari shirt-jacket. However, these updates are sensible in addition to being fashionable.
This shirt is a rare example of Bond wearing green. Earth tones were trendy in the 1970s, but green is also a classic safari colour. This is the easiest of Bond’s safari styles to wear today because it has separate trousers instead of being a matching safari suit. It’s just as practical as it is fashionable.
005. A Tasteful Take on 1970s Tailoring in The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)
The Man with the Golden Gun saw Bond deeper into 1970s tailoring trends than in the first two Bond films of the decade, but Cyril Castle’s tailoring makes a statement that remains elegant and sophisticated. The lapels are wide but not excessively wide, so they are bold without overpowering the look. The pocket flaps are the same. The bootcut trousers hint at the flared fashion of the time in an elegant way. Flashy linings were bold trend of the era but since they’re mostly hidden it’s a good way to add some individuality. The shirt from Frank Foster has a scaled-up semi-spread collar that perfectly balances Roger Moore’s head, neck and overall body. The wide tie balances the look.
The checked jacket that Bond wears on Scaramanga’s island is the biggest fashion statement of the film, owing to its bold pattern and silk or silk-blend material. The jacket maintains a basic colour palette of black, light grey and red, keeping it under control. Red is strong but classic, while the rest of the outfit sticks with neutral solids to not compete with the jacket. While Bond only wears such a loud jacket because it was 1974, the check follows English traditions that started long before the 1970s and continues to be an important part of English style today.
Fox Brothers created a cloth inspired by this one called the ‘Hayward’ check a few years ago, and they sold out the run, so others must have appreciated it 50 years after Roger Moore first wore it. The cloth was significantly different than Moore’s but it retained the same character with similar colours and a similarly scaled pattern. They also named it after one of Moore’s other tailors, not the one who made this jacket.
006. The Brown Leather Jacket in Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)
Bond starts Tomorrow Never Dies wearing a statement leather jacket from costumiers Angels & Bermans. I don’t know what leather jacket trends were in the 1990s, but this is a striking jacket that looks just as wearable today as it did almost 30 years ago. The fact that it’s a hip-length jacket rather than a waist-length jacket is what makes it so powerful. Its four front pockets and belted waist give it a military look, while its rich brown colour and large collar strengthen its impact.
007. The Luxurious Overcoat in Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)
Bond’s cashmere overcoat from Brioni when he arrives in Hamburg continues the theme of brown outerwear in Bond’s wardrobe in Tomorrow Never Dies. This coat is a true statement piece without being a fashion trend. Though this coat was not out of place in the 1990s, it’s heavily inspired by classic menswear of the 1930s. Historically inspired fashion statements that don’t look like period costume and are practical are most likely to stand the test of time.
It stands out due to its warm dark fawn colour that resembles the colour of vicuña, one of the most exclusive types of wools. The colour is unique for Bond, but it pairs perfectly with his navy birdseye suit and cream shirt, and it matches the copper-coloured tie. The double-breasted coat has a dramatic cut with wide shoulders, wide peaked lapels and a long length below the knee. Bond wearing it open only adds to the drama.
I recently got a replica of Moore’s green safari shirt made (as close as I could get it to being screen-accurate, as I absolutely love it), and I must say every time I’ve worn it I’ve received compliments. Evidently it’s stood the test of time (although so far no-one’s recognised it from TMWTGG).
As a sucker for 70s tailoring (particularly Roger Moore’s style throughout the decade), I’ve always wanted to replicate one of his suits from that period (perhaps once I have enough money!). Do you think it would be unwise to have a slight boot-cut on the trousers, à la Cyril Castle? Personally I love the way they look and move, and I’m always up for a bit of dandiness with my clothes, but they seem to have quite a bad rap these days.
With wide leg trousers coming back into fashion for men, I think you can get away with the boot cut if you want it!
Music to my ears, Matt! I’m glad I’ve got into tailored clothes after the worst of the shrink-wrap suits of the 2010s have subsided.
I’m very curious as to where you got the safari shirt made, Alex? I’m with you on 70s tailoring and in particular Roger’s wardrobe. Not many could carry it of with such polish and panache!
Cad and the Dandy, on Savile Row. They also have shops in New York and Stockholm. It was my 18th birthday gift a few months ago.
I’d say the process was a little tricky, as they’re better suited for people with less specific tastes than mine (!), but I also had a dinner shirt made from them with cocktail cuffs, and a blue/white striped shirt with tab cuffs, which turned out ell (albeit with a couple of revisions as they didn’t get the specifics right). They’re a decent price for being bespoke – their shirts start at around £200.
Hell yeah, some love for the frilly shirts! I see it said so often that these are terrible and date the film and whatnot (just recently, I saw a rewatch video where the guys mixed up the shirt and the jabot and thought the jabot was the frilly shirt front T_T), but tbh, they’ve grown on me over the years. I certainly prefer them to the button two jackets, notched jackets, and shrunken fits of other films (although those are all things that go unnoticed to the untrained eye). And Lazenby looks so charming in those scenes, the frills just add to that likable look.
Some really good outfits in this compilation. The early 70s lapels are, frankly, my favourite width; I like my lapels a little wide. Nothing wrong with a wee bit of flare, too; certainly better than those bags he calls trousers in The Spy Who Loved Me.
And that overcoat is just… *chef kiss*. I own a very similar one and it instantly makes any outfit look 100% more dramatic (not to mention being damn warm!).
To carry off a frilly shirt you really need to be George Lazenby – I.E. you need to look like a thoroughly dashing and dandy cavalier.
Is there any particular reason men dislike flared trousers so much now? Boot cut jean AND suit trousers were back in fashion for men in the mid-2000s and I’m a bit disappointed they didn’t stick around.
Splendid article and agree on all fronts except personally:
“Bond wears both a tailored safari jacket in ecru and a lightweight safari camp shirt in The Man with the Golden Gun. The former is a poor example of 1970s safari trends”
I really like that Safari jacket, though I agree the contrast stitching is unnecessary, but other than that it looks great to me!
I like the concept behind that safari jacket, but the stitching, the collar shape and the pocket flap shape all look bad to me.
With my love for flares and leisure suits, I think I was born in the wrong decade! Personally I love the ecru safari/leisure jacket, although that being said Roger Moore can make any clothes look good.
The safari jacket seems to be having a fashion moment at present. I suppose it predates the current trend for the “shacket”.
What, no Dalton??
His clothes that still look good aren’t fashion statements while his fashion statements haven’t stood the test of time.
Both the film *Seven* (1995) and *Mission Impossible* (1996) featured main characters (Pitt, Cruise respectively) in tailored leather jackets that fell below the waist (I don’t know what to call this but I’m sure you do.) This kind of car coat in black leather was very trendy then (I had one from Banana Republic that I ended up giving away) though Brosnan’s is more belty/strappy than the ones I’m imagining.
Not quite convinced that that jacket from TMWTGG has stood the test of time…
Agreed. Ditto the dreadful frilly evening shirts.
Rod, you’re nuts! I love them, especially when the rest of the outfit is restrained.
I personally disagree. It’s been a personal favourite of mine for years, but I happen to look good in red and often use it as an accent colour, either boldly or more subtly. I’d buy it in a heartbeat.
(This is assuming we’re speaking of the red check jacket, right? The safari outfits I still like, but am less partial toward)
What does it mean for something to stand the test of time though? Here are two options – (i) in retrospect, it looks good in its historical context; (ii) it would look good now.
Craig’s children’s size suits fail both tests. They were fashionable at the time, but they didn’t look good then, and they don’t look good now, either in Spectre or on a.man in 2025. IMO Connery’s 60s suits pass both tests, but this is a very high bar. Rog’s jacket in TMWTGG might be a case of passing (i) but not (ii). The 70s was a different world aesthetically – we can now see that in that context it worked (whereas perhaps the safari suit didn’t), even if it wouldn’t fit in with any coherent style in 2025.
(I’m offering all this purely for the theoretical interest – I don’t even wear suits.)
I believe these outfits all fit both options. Roger’s jacket certainly works today, especially within current trends. It’s not so different than the trendy jackets coming out of Naples, Italy, except it has an English flair to it and an English colour palette. The cut isn’t even dated, and the lapels aren’t even that wide. But I’ve thought it looked good ever since I first saw The Man with the Golden Gun in the 1990s. It’s bold but nothing about it is exclusive to 1970s trends, and that’s why it works.
Good catch, about the Dr. No outfit matching the location perfectly. On the picture the two blues blend completely with the blue of the sky and the sea. Probably why it looks so good. Wearing this combination in the city or the countryside probably would not work at all.
Oh, and the belted leather jacket looks particularly cool. The whole outfit is utilitarian while being stylish (while some outfits like the all black one from TLD or Goldeneye are a bit too utilitarian and a bit boring onscreen) thanks to this center piece. A badass look for a badass scene.
The other tailored pieces you mentioned here are so timeless I hardly find any of them fashionable, except maybe for the leg width, but at least in both cases it matched the lapel, so its coherent.
Having been confronted with what I consider an unconscionable Crime of the sort one feels ought to be reported to the Fashion Police, might I please ask the experts to confirm that it is indeed Just Not Done to wear a white dinner jacket in in Swinging London? (I was looking at some videos of the FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE video game and was almost immediately confronted with the sight of Sean Connery’s younger self committing an offensive that I suspect wouod have had Mr Terence Young in absolute FITS).
Am I correct in this belief?
The white dinner jacket is meant for a warm climate and not for cities. London has its hot summer days now, but it doesn’t have the atmosphere for a white dinner jacket.
That game always makes me laugh. It’s clear to me that it’s a love letter more to Connery’s whole tenure rather than really just being From Russia With Love. The first mission has Bond climbing out of his Aston Martin from Goldfinger, wearing his iconic white dinner jacket and ends flying around Big Ben with the jetpack from Thunderball. Little care for context beyond ramming as many references in as possible, and honestly I wouldn’t have it any other way!
An eminently fair opinion – it’s quite amusing to wonder what a similar game
the likes of Sir Roger Moore or Mr Pierce Brosnan might look like (Actually, I’ve sometimes wondered if one could borrow a leaf from 007 LEGENDS and make video games based on what a given Bond movie might have looked like remade with a different actor – I.e. LIVE AND LET DIE with Mr Timothy Dalton in place of Sir Roger Moore and a rather darker, less ‘Blaxploitation’ slant on the story (Or perhaps DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER with George Lazenby/Bond out for Vengeance instead of Sir Sean taking nothing personally).
Definitely not something that would have been done by a man like him back then, particularly since it’s supposed to be New Year’s Eve. The only other justification I can think of is that they wanted something different than the black (midnight blue in the original film) dinner suit the Connery-lookalike wears for the hedge maze.
The Lazenby shirt and Brosnan coat selections in this list are the superior choices. I would gladly wear any one of these.
Bond was timeless but also supposed to be very much part of The Establishment. For example, he doesn’t really look like the 60s until Thunderball. His suits in the previous three films look more 50s to me. By the time Lazenby or Moore were in their frills and checks, the cutting edge had been wearing them for some time. But I think they both work in the films because they looks so good in period context – when the movies were made. On the other hand, Craig’s suits are distracting for all the wrong reasons because of their ridiculous tight fit, which was not the fault of the Tom Ford company at all, but which they will always get some blame for nonetheless.
I have my father’s Brioni cashmere overcoat that he bought in Italy in 1991. It’’s black not the golden beige Bond wears. The tailoring is superb. I still wear it. The kudos I get are amazing. Not until now did I know that Bond wore one! In fact, my father bought it at a Brioni outlet store (or so he said) near Venice and Padua/Abano. The hotel he used to stay at, the Abano Grand, now has a bar called, fittingly, “James Bond Bar.”,
That’s a cool item. The Brioni double breasted overcoats always had a grand, regal look (until the 2010s arrived…). Do you know what kind of cashmere they used ? Loro Piana, or something different ?
What a great story and a nice item to treasure from your dad. Full length overcoats just have such a great presence when the weather is cold enough. Arguably, black is less versatile in a man’s wardrobe outside of accessories and footwear. But I don’t really mind it as much for outer coats. I have some men’s topcoats and overcoats because, frankly, it’s difficult to get any women’s ones to fit my wingspan. In other words, I’m envious of your coat!