Original article published 14 January 2011
I am in the process of rewriting and republishing old articles about James Bond’s outfits that are in need of a refresh and expansion. All former comments are preserved below.
When Bond visits Hugo Drax’s hunt to thank him for his hospitality as he departs the villain’s country estate, he is dressed in an appropriate country outfit: a tweed suit. Bond’s brown Thornproof tweed two-piece suit in Moonraker is one most autumnal looks of the series. It’s reminiscent of Donegal tweed, which is originally from County Donegal, Ireland and is woven in a plain weave of different coloured warp and weft with small coloured flecks running throughout. This medium-weight tweed is warm and hard-wearing, which makes it suitable for a hunt. The weight, while medium for tweed, is heavier than most suits and has an elegant drape. Thornproof tweed is more dense and crisp than other kinds of tweed, so it makes up well into a full suit.
Bond’s tweed suit appears to be light muted brown, which is the likely combination of dark brown and light grey with flecks of red, orange, cream and possibly other colours. The suit’s muted and cool shade of brown follows how Bond frequently wears his browns, and is aligned with his preference for muted and cool colours in general. While a golden brown would suit Moore’s warm complexion, this shade is more aligned with Bond’s usual aesthetic.
In The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker, Roger Moore wears suits by Angelo Vitucci’s brand Angelo Roma. They’re cut in a Roman style that was updated for 1970s fashions, which were quickly being replaced with more relaxed cuts and narrower lapels at the time Moonraker entered production in the summer of 1978. The extreme proportions of these suits in the lapels and trousers don’t look out of place with the absurd plots of the late 1970s Bond films, yet the suits still retain an elegance that’s appropriate for James Bond. The tweed suit in Moonraker reflects Bond’s traditional English background while looking fashionable for the 1970s. This suit in particular still has an appropriate look for both an English gentleman and playboy while also looking fairly professorial/geography teacher.
The cut of the suit is typical for the suits worn in The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker. The jacket has straight, padded shoulders with roped sleeve heads, a clean chest, a suppressed waist and a slightly long length. Its Roman silhouette is inspired by the English military and equestrian traditions, and this suit leans into the equestrian look but with added Italian drama in its sharp shoulder line. The suit jacket has two buttons on the front in a medium-low stance, lapels about 11 cm wide and deep double vents. There are four buttons on the cuffs. The jacket is trimmed with brown suede elbow patches and dark brown horn. The elbow patches reinforce the elbows for shooting, but this is not a shooting suit. Drax’s friends who hunt with him are wearing shooting suits.
The jacket is detailed in a sporty hacking style with slanted, flapped ‘hacking’ pockets and a ticket pocket. Even the breast pocket has a flap, which is a very traditional feature for English sporting clothes, and it is slightly angled up toward the shoulder like an ordinary breast pocket would be. All of the pocket flaps are a classic width and not as wide as was trendy in the 1970s. The jacket is sewn with swelled edges on the lapels, front edge and pocket flaps to give it a sportier and more casual look.
The 1970s-style trousers as worn in The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker have a very wide leg with a slight flare to the hem. They have a flat front, a high rise to the waist, no front or side pockets and are worn with a belt. Wide trousers are impractical when walking on the grass as they’re more likely to pick up dirt than narrower trousers.
The ecru cotton poplin shirt made by Roger Moore’s regular shirtmaker Frank Foster follows the style of most of the shirts that Moore wears in The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker. To complement the jacket’s wide lapels they have a high point collar with long points of about 10 cm and it is made with a firm non-fused interfacing. The cuffs are in the ‘Lapidus’ style, copying a design by French fashion designer Ted Lapidus that fastens around the wrist with a long extended tab and a single extra-large pyjama button. The shirt has placket down the front.
Moore’s tie is a brown silk knit, a classic Bond accessory. It is tied in a compact four-in-hand knot and is nicely dimpled. The tie has the knitted tie’s classic straight hem. At only about 8 to 8.5 cm wide, the tie it isn’t as wide as the other ties worn in Moonraker because it’s a knitted tie. While a tie should generally be approximately the same width as the lapels, the tie being narrower than the extremely wide lapels downplays the unfortunately 1970s trend. The narrow pocket flaps help balance the narrower tie.
Whilst the lapels, trouser legs and shirt collar reflect the 1970’s fashions, the rest of the outfit is the perfect inspiration for a classic country suit. This suit is a versatile piece, since the jacket could work well with odd trousers in wool cavalry twill, whipcord or woollen flannel, and the tweed trousers can work well on their own with knitwear.
The shoes are not visible except for a wide overhead shot. They are most likely the same black horsebit loafers—possibly made by Ferragamo—that Moore wears with almost every outfit in Moonraker, especially because it looks like an effort was made not to show Bond’s footwear in this scene. Moore’s Bond has a habit of wearing loafers with almost everything, but they’re not an appropriate choice outdoors with a tweed suit. Black shoes would clash with a brown tweed suit that has brown suede elbow patches. Bond should be wearing brogues or boots in brown calf or suede with a double leather sole or a rubber sole.
Bond’s belt is very dark and appears to be black with a rectangular brass centre-post buckle. It’s likely the same black belt that he wears with other outfits in the film. If the belt is black like it appears to be, it would be almost certain that the shoes are the same black loafers that Moore wears throughout most of the film.
Now Pay Attention
| SUIT | |
| Tailor | Angelo Roma |
| Fabric | Brown and grey Donegal tweed |
| JACKET | |
| Front buttons | 2, medium-low stance |
| Lapels | Wide notch |
| Shoulder | Straight with roped sleeve heads |
| Breast pocket | Flap |
| Hip pockets | Slanted with flaps and ticket pocket |
| Vents | 2 |
| Cuff buttons | 4 |
| TROUSERS | |
| Front | Plain |
| Support | Black belt |
| Front/side pockets | None |
| Rise | High |
| Leg | Wide and flared |
| Hem | Plain |
| SHIRT | |
| Shirtmaker | Frank Foster |
| Fabric | Ecru cotton poplin |
| Collar | Long point |
| Cuff | 1-button ‘Lapidus’ tab |
| Front | Placket |
| TIE | |
| Brand | Unknown |
| Fabric | Brown silk knit |
| Knot | Four-in-hand |
| SHOES | |
| Shoemaker | Possibly Ferragamo |
| Style | Probably black horsebit loafers |
I absolutely love this suit, and, BTW, I am an Ivy-league educated college professor!
Love this look, it is so perfect for cold weather/countryside. I agree that we should overlook the 70's cut and silhouette.
On the contrary, the 70’s wide lapel and flared trousers look very good for their time and better than any of the crap passing for current men’s fashion.
Agreed – if any wide-leg trousers from the era are to be criticized and deserve it, it should be those that are tailored narrow at the knee, over-accentuating the wide-leg at the bottom.
Otherwise, those that are tailored wide at the knee to match the flare (on the pants I own from the era, the knee is usually about an inch narrower than the flared cuff) – such as most of the trousers in TSWLM and Moonraker – are not bad at all (and are particularly suited to someone who’s upper body stands forward of their footprint).
-Kurt
I strongly agree and that strength is through the roof! :) ;)
i love the Knit tie. glad Knit ties are coming back in style now, especially with GQ promoting it more now. i own several knits and they compliment my suits and shirts and really POP when i wear them. nice blog, although im a big hater on the 70’s fashion lol
Hope it didn’t rain while they were filming these scenes. Wet tweed smells awful! Probably why most tweed wearers also favour pipes or cigars. A style guide I once looked at said British tailors would only create a tweed suit under extreme duress, as they felt it was a mismatch of a rustic cloth with an city garment. Anyway, a few folk posting to this site ask why Bond bothers wearing suits at all. My answer is simple:- a suit-wearer just gets more respect and co-operation, especially from airline and hotel staffers. Very useful when trying to save humanity from a maniac. Happy and safe 2013 to Matt & all posters.
>A style guide I once looked at said British tailors would only create a tweed suit under extreme duress, as they felt it was a mismatch of a rustic cloth with an city garment.
This comment is from 13 years ago, I know, but what? The stereotypical English tailor shop (look at photos of A&S before they moved) is full of big bolts of tweed. The suit isn’t inherently a city garment; indeed even tailcoats derive from riding clothes.
Came across this article and comments section while trying to find one of my own comments, and figured I would post this response in case anyone else had read the same style guide in the mean time.
Whoever wrote that style guide has no idea what they’re talking about, respectfully. Modern city suits evolved from the country/sporting attire of old.
Does the tie have a straight hemmed end?
It likely does, but Moore wears the tie tucked into his trousers so we can’t see the hem.
Nice re-review, Matt ! The cloth and the cut of the jacket are quite stunning. They kind of balance each other here -the classic cloth toning down the full 70s vibe a bit, which wouldn’t be the case with a louder worsted cloth for instance. Moore really wore the flamboyant 70s fashions very well. I think I am more bothered by how long the shirt collar points are -after all, the tie has a surprisingly tasteful width- rather than by the jacket lapel width, which works pretty nicely with the hourglass shaped silhouette and roped sleeveheads. Aren’t the shoulders a tad narrow for him though ?
Oh, and a suggestion, Matt. In your « now pay attention » resume, might I suggest you add the tie and lapel width when you can ?
The shoulders are a bit narrow but I don’t think they’re too narrow because the sleeves drape well. Wide lapels make the shoulders look narrower too.
I hesitate to add that information because it’s more often going to be an estimate than the real measurements.
The tie is one of the best things about this outfit. I’m not even a great fan of knitted ties (I own one in dark blue – versatile to bridge that casual-formal gap if needed) but the colour and texture here are perfect. The colour serves to ground the suit and serves as a useful anchor against Rog’s traditionally more flamboyant choices, and the rough texture works well against the rustic tweed suit. It’s probably just as well we don’t see his footwear as those dainty loafers would have been a grating look when as Matt suggests more robust skids were necessary.
His propensity for wearing loafers everywhere is both a signature style choice and a downfall.
Hi Matt. I love these article updates!
A series you used to do every now and then was “Top (00)7…” How about one for essential odd trousers? I’m redoing my trouser wardrobe right now, and I’d love to get your thoughts (and Bond’s!) on what I’d really need.
Thanks!
I’ll think about that. For now I have written two articles on odd trousers that should help:
https://www.bondsuits.com/matching-trousers-jacket-james-bond-style/
https://www.bondsuits.com/james-bonds-tailored-casual-trouser-style/
One of my favourite suits of Moore’s era. I don’t like the choice of black belt and shoes though. I agree with you that brown would look far more harmonious.
It does strike me as odd that, in Moonraker and its ostentatious budget that they would have only run to a few pairs of identical black horsebit loafers? Do we know what shoes were worn with the cream suit in Rio? Perhaps brown and I have seen stills showing a kind of two tone brown/beige loafer worn with the Iguacu safari suit. I personally don’t have a great problem with this as obviously these were the shoes Roger felt most comfortable wearing and as you have pointed out in a recent post, back in the 60s and 70s nobody envisaged a collection of nerds like us poring over Bond’s sartorial choices in the far future!
I could easily see a dark brown leather loafer working with this suit or mid to dark brown suede. Maybe not as perfectly as the choices you suggest, Matt but serviceable. Dark brown belt too.
Moore wears the black loafers with the cream suit. I believe every outfit in the film to tgat point is paired with the same black loafers. The dinner suit and safari suit are worn with different shoes.
Thanks Matt. The black loafers really would have looked jarring with the tweed suit. Very odd, considering how much money was splashed around creating this movie, that they didn’t stretch to a greater range of footwear.
I really do enjoy the Now Pay Attention section of the articles. It really does help when trying to compare different outfits and in particular different eras of clothing. Especially when trying to search for something similar for myself. Thank you Matt.
I cracked up at the “Now pay attention [007]” header for the chart. New feature on the blog?
Yes, it’s on all of the articles I have been updating, as well as a few others.
Really enjoy these re-assessments of Bond’s outfits as they really provide much more depth and information to the outfits and the context behind them.
Just as a point of correction in this line:
“While a golden brown would suit Moore’s cool complexion, this shade is more aligned with Bond’s usual aesthetic.”, as if I recall Moore had a warm complexion instead.
Keep up the great work regardless!
Thank you!