In Venice in Casino Royale, Bond wears a blue two-button, jersey-knit cotton long-sleeve rugby shirt. What makes this shirt a rugby shirt instead of a long-sleeve polo shirt is its self-collar and a hidden-button fly placket. Polo shirts typically have a softer ribbed collar instead. The rugby shirt has a close fit and narrow shoulders for a modern look.
This shirt was not made by Sunspel like most of the other knit shirts in the film. However, the grey crew-neck undershirt visible underneath the rugby shirt is by Sunspel. The trousers are navy cotton twill chinos. Bond’s trainers are the Nike Air Articulate II model in (what appears to be) dark grey.
This is a perfect example of what makes most of today's casual wear so inelegant, and a horrible outfit for Bond.
Despite the pleasant fact that the Bond stylists have been involving a traditional British company like Sunspel who is known for their craftsmanship and not their marketing budget, a t-shirt under anything with a collar is not a good look and looks like a desperate try to make the rest of an outfit more "casual" and "modern".
The main problems here are however the trouser length (looks too long to wear with dress shoes) and especially the poor choice of footwear. In my opinion, a man (especially in his forties like Craig) should not be seen in sneakers unless for sporting or beach side activities. This might sound strict to some but there is such a variety of proper casual shoe styles available there really is no excuse to look sloppy if you can achieve an elegant look so easily. The amount of different loafer styles available today for example is nothing but stunning, from horsebit to driving shoes, from suede to sharkskin leathers, and all these look better than a sneaker. Plus Bond is supposed to be an extraordinarily elegant dresser; if you really insist on sneakers, make it something grown up like Common Projects or Doucal's and not some cheaply made Nikes.
This was Bond at the beginning of his career as 007, so you are wrong when you assume he’s in his forties. He wasn’t. In 2005/6 Craig was 37, turning 38 in March 2006, so what do you suggest he wears? Grey slacks and a cardigan? You clearly cannot have ever watched the film either, since he has resigned from the Service, so he can wear whatever he likes.
Are you sure that this trousers are navy blue? I guess their midnight blue or even black. And I've always thought that are jeans.
Anonymous, you have to remember the context of Bond situation — he's just become a 00 agent, he's started to feel what is elegant (famous Vesper's dinner jacket scene and Bond strolling to the casino) and he wants to quit it and starts carefree life. In QoS casual clothes are more dandy (famous white levis for example — and their lenght ain't too long) and more elegant (chukka boots and polos, not sneakers and t-shirts). We'll see what Bond is going to wear in the next movie. Craig said that he's sick & tired of suits and now he prefers t-shirts ;p.
And, I have to say this, remember what horrible, just horrible, stylization wore older Bonds: Connery's Crab Island all-blue "uniform", Daltons's baggy shirts, Lazenby's orange turtleneck, Moore's high-wasted pants and vest and more https://www.bondsuits.com/tag/casual-wear/ . In my opinion Craig and Brosnan have the best casual outfit of all Bonds.
Not a good look for Bond.
Anon 2, if you see how Bond's hand goes into the pocket you can see they aren't jeans. The pockets are slightly angled. Don't base the colour off of the dark picture posted here. The trousers are indeed navy, though true navy is a very dark colour anyway that will easily look black in certain lighting. There was a costume card produced of this outfit.
Anonymous 2, I understand what you are saying about the character development although I must admit that this is neither something I am interested when watching a James Bond movie nor is it an excuse for the sloppy on-screen-dressing here, in my opinion. I really agree about the at times disgusting casual outfits of the past Bond actors. Still, both Moore and Connery did have their moments with casual suitings or the black and tan outfit, and the Goldfinger golf or all black outfits respectively.
I agree that having the t-shirt showing under the polo doesn't look great, and the choice of footwear leaves something to be desired.
Other than that, doesn't strike me as inappropriate for Bond. Connory wore polo shirts (both long and short sleeved) on a number of occasions, and at least Connory and Dalton wore chinos or other smart (i.e. non-denim) cotton trouser styles.
As I've said on this blog before – Craig's casual wear, for the most part, are modern adaptations of Bond's existing casual wear preferences.
There really is nothing like "Daniel Craig" and "casual wear" in the same topic to animate a discussion. I like this look. The t-shirt underneath the slim polo makes for a nice layer in the often cool Venice weather. The colors are simple and basic, as typical of the literary and the 1960s Connery Bond. The pants do seem a bit long. I understand why some dislike the Nikes, but I think it looks fine (it isn't like they are loudly colored with a prominent swoosh). The shoes also match Craig's age/generation, and the timeframe and place of the film. And they are perfect for the action sequence that immediately follows the above screen caps. I don't see this as sloppy dressing at all – if only men wore this more often rather than the sweats, sportswear and bowling shirts that are dominant in the United States.
I've heard this excuse about Bond "just becoming a 00" so many times. What on earth does that have to do with personal style? The man is nearing 40 (Craig's Bond in CR). I cannot believe that for the first four decades of his life Bond was ignorant about any sort of style sensibilities and only knew of the world of trainers and t-shirts.
It's almost as bad as the excuse for Bond being so reckless as a new 00 agent in CR and QoS. Again, the man is almost 40 years old – it isn't as if he's been trapped in a cave his whole life. Being in the military myself, it would seem very odd to use that as an excuse.
Is this shirt a polo or a rugby? I know rugbys usually have white collars, but you occassionally find them with self collars–I've seen them occassionally at LL Bean. Screen caps usually make the shirt appear mid-blue, but in the top photo is comes off as a faded navy.
I could be wrong, but I think it's a polo. Sunspeil has some similar-looking polos listed on their website.
I've always admired this shirt. I could do with a tighter collar fit around the neck (probably would help if he'd button it), but I really like that the bottom ends almost exactly at the waist. I have trouble finding polos that don't go all the way down to the hips.
Does anyone else feel like the shirt would have been better matched with a lighter-colored trouser? The competing shades of blue remind me of someone trying to match a suit jacket with a separate pair of pants.
Finally, while agree with the comments on the poor choice of footwear, I always wear a contrasting-color t-shirt under my polos and sport shirts. I'm very pale and I feel like my neck looks strange under a collar with nothing to hide it. The colored tee also gives me another way to complement the color of my shirt and trousers.
However, I'd be willing to give the tees up if someone has a better solution.
A crap look in my opinion but hardly a surprise by now as we know the direction the producers are determined to take the franchise. I agree with Cody's analysis. The shirt is actually ok by itself, it's the rest of the ensemble that is uninspiring but nothing as bad as Craig's ensemble for Madagascar which Matt featured a while back.
If Craig has said he is tired of suits I'm sure this will chime with the producers and the modern audience but as I stepped out when he stepped in I couldn't care less about the franchise as it stands now
Yeesh, who peed in your coffee?
While I'd agree that a pair of boots would probably dress this up a lot, consider the scene that we are about to witness and the amount of running, jumping, swimming, and physical activity we are about to see. It's not like they put him in a pair of white trainers with shock absorber bottoms or neon colors as we see so often today. Also consider that Bond has just resigned from his job to aimlessly sail around Europe with his new girlfriend (who among us hasn't had that dream) and this clothing suits that particular lifestyle. His pants are too long, but I think the shirt is great. And what is the big hangup about undershirts?
Finally, a word about Bond's casual wear in general, remember James Bond is a spy and though he should always look put together he should never stand out. He shouldn't look sloppy (like Dalton did in LTK), but if he wore a suit at all times he'd never blend in, especially in today's casual world. While I too long for the days of a more refined, early 1960's style of dress, that's gone. These films aren't period pieces, and we should be thankful that Bond isn't wearing an Ed Hardy t-shirt, untied sneakers, and jeans that hang off his arse because sadly that's all too common today.
Agree with Kyle 100%. And Matt probably has these numbers, but I think that Craig wears a comparatively high number of suits in his two films.
Kyle's right. I'm all for smart casual wear, but at some point you have to consider the spy thing isn't actually glamorous…
I agree with the last couple of posters. Also remember, too, that Bond has just got out of bed after a session of love-making with Vesper, so he has obviously just thrown something on in order to go out in public. It's actually pretty impromptu.
Isn´t it a John Smedley?
The look is perfect. This is Bond, real Bond.
The fit of the navy chinos suits Craig a lot better then some of the slim fit styles he has worn since 2006. Looks like a straight leg, but not that wide either. Comparing the outfit as a whole to Pierce Brosnan’s terrible blue baggy linen shirt and draw string trousers in Vietnam not that bad.
In this case, he could definitely dispense with the sneakers. In TND, at least it wasn’t Bond’s clothing. A pair of desert boots would have suited this outfit well. I also don’t care for the grey undershirt. Not certain why he wears one here but not with the Sunspel polo from earlier.
I agree re: the sneakers, number one there not Bond’s style, desert boots have a long history of being a Bond casual staple. Brosnan wore chukka boots in Die Another Day only a few years beforehand which also would have worked. It could have been much wore as they could have had Craig in indigo blue jeans or something. Re: the undershirt probably to keep out the wind maybe, then again he could have worn the brown Armani leather jacket and that would have worked well. Especially seeing he only wore it in one sequence.
It would have been a better look if the trainers were a pair of black and white Adidas Gazelle.
Vans are far better trainers.