The James Bond actors usually dress in a Bond-like manner for the premieres of their Bond films, but five years ago today Daniel Craig wore something more creative for the premiere of Skyfall, the highest-grossing Bond film of all time, at the Royal Albert Hall. Rather than wear a traditional dinner suit, Craig opted for an updated and creative take on the dinner jacket to wear with an otherwise traditional and Bondian black tie outfit.
Esquire reported a simple breakdown of the head-to-toe Tom Ford outfit Daniel Craig was wearing that night:
sharpened diamond jacquard shawl-collar evening jacket, evening trousers, cotton voile shirt, black grosgrain bowtie, black grosgrain cummerbund, while silk pocket square, and evening shoes by Tom Ford.
This Tom Ford dinner jacket is the same “O’Connor” model as Daniel Craig’s midnight blue dinner suit in Skyfall, just in a different fabric. The navy blue “sharpened diamond jacquard” fabric is possibly a silk and cotton blend, which other similar Tom Ford jackets have been made from. The intense sheen from the jacket would certainly suggest silk, and the textured diamond pattern woven into the fabric contributes to the sheen.
Daniel Craig wears this unusual dinner jacket in a similar manner than one would traditionally wear a smoking jacket or ivory dinner jacket; he pairs it with traditional black trousers and classic accessories. Through wearing a bold and unorthodox dinner jacket while keeping the rest of the outfit classic, the outfit stays balanced and tasteful.
The dinner jacket is mostly classically detailed, with a single button on the front, a medium-width shawl collar, a welt breast pocket, jetted hip pockets and three buttons on each cuff, with a longer last buttonhole and button worn open. The only detail that breaks from tradition is the single vent at the rear, which follows what Craig’s dinner jacket in Skyfall has. A single vent is simply too sporty for a dinner jacket.
The dinner jacket’s cut and details match those of the O’Connor dinner jacket in Skyfall. The shoulders are straight and lightly padded with gently roped sleeve heads, and the cut is close to the body with a slightly short jacket length. Even more so than the jackets that Craig wears in Skyfall, this dinner jacket is too tight. The sheen and rigidity of the fabric emphasises the poor fit more than the worsteds that Craig wears in Skyfall do. Silk and cotton do not have the same give that worsted wool has, so in this fabric a too-tight fit it is even less forgiving.
The silk trimmings on the jacket are black satin silk, which can be seen on the shawl collar, covered buttons and pocket jettings. Dinner jackets in unusual silk fabrics, like what this jacket is made of, often have lapels and other details made from the same material as the body, but this jacket is trimmed in the way a typical black or midnight blue jacket would be. While satin silk lapels are typically the shiniest part of a dinner jacket, the body of the jacket has even more shine than the satin lapel facings have. This reverses the typical look of the dinner jacket when the lapels are shinier than the body is.
The jacket is worn with black wool and mohair-blend evening trousers, since making up a suit in trousers that match such a bold jacket would look clownish. This jacket needs to be toned down with classic black trousers, Craig knows that. Midnight blue trousers would not be an option with this jacket since they would clash with the blue of the jacket.
In the dim light of the evening, the contrast between the jacket and trousers is very subtle, but the shiny texture of the jacket and the matte texture of the trousers provide the necessary contrast. The blue and black of the jacket and trousers, respectively, would not provide enough contrast on their own, but here there is just enough contrast of both colour and texture for the outfit to work. The outfit was likely put together in a well-lit room, where the contrast between the jacket and trousers would have been quite obvious. If the jacket was a slightly lighter blue, like a royal blue, the outfit would have been better.
The black trousers have satin silk stripes down the side of each leg, which match the trimmings of the dinner jacket and thus tie the two pieces together. The black trousers overall connect with the black facings of the jacket. The trousers have a flat front and a narrow, straight leg and are supported by slide-buckle side-adjusters.
Craig’s white cotton voile dress shirt has a cotton marcella collar, cuffs and a bib. The collar is what appears to be Tom Ford’s “small collar”, which is a traditionally scaled spread collar. It’s not small compared to collars that are popular today, but it’s also not as large as the shirt collars Tom Ford is known for. The shirt is detailed with double cuffs and a plain (French) front.
Three round black onyx studs in silver casings down the front of the shirt are visible above the jacket’s button (a button is visible below the three studs when the jacket is unbuttoned), and matching cuff links secure the cuffs.
Craig accessories the outfit with a black grosgrain batwing bow tie with crosswise ribs and a matching black grosgrain cummerbund, both clashing with the satin facings and trimmings of the dinner jacket. The bow tie and cummerbund should traditionally match the jacket’s facings, though if the cummerbund is not black it does not need to match. A white silk pocket square puffed in the jacket’s breast pocket breaks with James Bond’s folded pocket square look but goes well with the flashier look of Craig’s dinner jacket.
The shoes are black patent leather cap-toe oxfords on a chiselled last from Tom Ford. While every part of Craig’s black tie outfit in Skyfall was provided by Tom Ford except the shoes, even here the shoes are from Tom Ford. Tom Ford has provided almost every type of clothing imaginable for James Bond, but they have never given James Bond a pair of shoes.
Daniel Craig may have a different approach to black tie here than James Bond does, but, ignoring the poor fit of the jacket, the outfit is put together is an interesting and mostly successful manner.
Black Tie Guide previously wrote a short post about this outfit.
Copyright Disclaimer: All photographs are used in this post under fair use for the purposes of education, comment and critique, consistent with 17 USC §107.
It is interesting and fun but the texture makes him look like a lizard.
I hate this tightness in the chest. The lepel-line breaks because it is too tight. And this is even in a pose where he is completely still. If he tries to rise up his hands, it will look even worse.
Resemblance with Putin and the tastes of his flashy, new-money oligarch friends is increasing now ;)
Interesting colour-wise, but texture-wise hideous. Not to mention the fit..
At least he had the decency of having black trousers, and not in the same material.
“Resemblance with Putin and the tastes of his flashy, new-money oligarch friends is increasing now”
V.P. would never wear something like that – and it would not suit him because he is a completely different type. NO resemblance whatsoever.
Thanks, Matt for the write-up. The details of this outfit are creative and interesting. We can all see that it doesn’t fit properly, so you were right not to dwell on that detail. I like the idea of creative black tie, even if it’s not something I’m likely to try personally. This works on Craig for the premier because the pattern is so subtle.
“The outfit was likely put together in a well-lit room, where the contrast between the jacket and trousers would have been quite obvious. If the jacket was a slightly lighter blue, like a royal blue, the outfit would have been better.”
I wonder if the outfit was put together with the red carpet in mind, rather than a more underlit premiere gala. Assuming he would be lit up with camera flashes that accentuate the pattern and contrast of the jacket and pants, pick up the shine in both, and also create a shallower depth of field that emphasizes his presence, it makes sense to wear a dinner jacket and trousers that have those characteristics, especially with grosgrain accessories that dull under intense light and make the main fabrics pop even more.
Also, it may be an illusion created by the fabric pattern, but it looks like you can see the outline of flaps tucked into the hip pockets in the third photo. Why not have those cut off, or even better, have the jacket made without them?
There’s no outline of pocket flaps; just creases from a poor fit. The outline is not in the right place for where tucked-in flaps would be. I don’t think I’ve ever even seen a Tom Ford dinner jacket with pocket flaps. Jackets similar to this one but in different fabrics did not have pocket flaps. The pockets on Craig’s jacket are still sewn shut from the factory.
Renard, read correctly please:
Sartorial ressemblance applies to what some “new-money… friends” would wear, not to what Vlad’ would wear.
As for any physical resemblance between Craig and Putin, well, you know my opinion, but it does not belong to this blog.
But feel free to over-react.
Dear Stan, meanwhile I’ve grown accustomed to your preferred kind of humour, so no need for me to over-react :-)
Best, Renard
Atrocious.
Dear Renard,
I am glad to hear that. By reading your numerous and rather quick if not instantaneous reactions to most posts, the concept of over-reaction could indeed have occurred to me, I must say. Thanks for accepting, and maybe appreciating my sense of humour.
Now, getting back to the jacket itself, it is sad, as the texture reminds me of Kanaga’s purple suit.
Sad too, as I think some difference and creativity should be welcome. For having often worn a velvet jacket (dark blue ‘aubergine’ colour) and also an ivory one, albeit with satin lapels (to Matt’s great dismay !) as a variation to my dinner jackets, I do appareciate some variation. However, some trespassing just can’t be done.
In my opinion, what Craig wears belongs to the above.
I’m curious, do the satin lapels on your ivory DJ match the base fabric or are black? Neither are my cup of tea, personally, but I am interested.
It is unfortunate that the poor fit and single vent detract from an otherwise decent dinner jacket here. I do not mind the fabric so much. One of those things that looks good on others but I wouldn’t wear myself. A dark blue velvet dinner jacket with turnback cuffs a la Kingsman would look great on Daniel.
The trouble with any post which you feature after about 2007 is that the poor fit of the suit overrides anything else and without commenting on this is akin to the “elephant in the room” scenario.
The worst thing about this awful trend in menswear is that it makes the wearer appear juvenile rather than the commanding presence which correct tailoring confers. This error is especially glaring for Bond whose tailoring (1989 and 2008+ aside) always assisted with this.
While I wouldn’t object too much to the flashy material (he’s not wearing it as Bond, after all) this outfit shows creativity in the same environment while keeping things more tasteful;
https://www.bondsuits.com/velvet-dinner-jacket-private-dinner-diamonds-are-forever/
Here’s a blue evening ensemble which matches classicism, perfect tailoring and just a touch of fashionability;
https://www.bondsuits.com/the-double-breasted-dinner-jacket/
With this outfit it’s a perfect storm of bad fit and flashy material though, as you point out, to Craig’s credit, the trousers, shirt etc. do tone it down as much as possible
The expected poor fit has been covered well enough here.
The textured jacket wouldn’t be my choice but I could excuse it due to the fact that these people have to wear dinner suits repeatedly for various premiers, openings, awards shows etc and as Bond the opportunities to do so are likely further increased so it’s inderstandable for Craig to want to shake things up a bit.
I’m not keen on the mixture of silk textures here – there’s a reason for the convention of going either ‘all satin’ or ‘all grosgrain’ for bow tie, lapels, cummerbund and trouser stripe.
My Mam told me as a boy that it’s bad manners to put your hands in your pockets!
Also I don’t mind wearing a sports watch with a suit, but wearing such a chunky watch with a dinner suit doesn’t work for me. Perhaps Craig is doing so as part of a contractual obligation for Omega?
Slightly less break on the trousers would be an improvement too.
Dear Jovan,
The satin lapels are not black. That would be a little far-fetched;) You can probably have a look here:
http://gofile.me/2Evgi/4haGCeWvM
http://gofile.me/2Evgi/f1ygGjcDb
I fully agree with your idea of a dark velvet DJ à la Kingsman.
Stan, the images aren’t working. Can you try http://postimages.org/?
All right, I did not know this system. Thanks for expanding my hortizon.
I hope this works ?
https://postimg.org/gallery/17ahp2gu4/
He’s dressed to look like a movie star at a premiere, not some perfect example of classic menswear we all obsess about :-)
Correct Simon, and Who said classic menswear had to be boring. In my opinion a sober dinner jacket would be like the one he wore to the SPECTRE premiere, and a flashy one would be more like some of the brightly colored, velvet ones Tom Ford has on their website. This lies somewhere in between. Flashy enough to get noticed, but not overbearing.
I personally would get one in a better, cleaner fit, but nonetheless, well done Craig!
Matt, maybe you could cover all premieres and see who was wearing what, just to see who pulled it off. I remember some debatable sartorial choice by Pierce Brosnan at one the events of The Worls is not enough:
http://pbfiles.net/twine/twine-premiere2.html
Again, it seems that nobody has the monopoly of bad taste :)
I think that outfit is best forgotten!
Wow! I’d never seen this. This is certainly something else.
As insanely inappropriate and terrible as it is for the event, Brosnan doesn’t look horrible in it. I’m not making excuses, it truly is bad, but at least he looks better than Robert “wearing my dad’s rent-a-tux” Carlyle!
Oof! Both men are dressed pretty terribly, but very much like I remember formalwear rentals of the time. While the style details are generally better right now (thank you, Tom Ford), the short and tight fit dominating the red carpet isn’t much better.
Quite. He must have been very tired