Roger Moore’s suits in The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker changed in style from his first two Bond films to something more in tune with 1970’s fashions. The more extreme proportions of these suits reflect the more ridiculous plots of the Bond films. For now we will skip over The Spy Who Loved Me since most of those clothes are only appropriate for warmer weather, and right now I just want to stay as warm as I can. Sorry to the readers living in the southern hemisphere.
In Moonraker, James Bond wears a warm, heavy and sporty tweed suit made by his tailor at the time, Angelo Vitucci of Angelo Roma. The cloth is a heavy, light brown Donegal tweed with brown suede elbow patches. The brown has a rose cast to it, and whilst it is flattering to Moore’s complexion, a warmer golden brown would look even better on Moore’s warm complexion. The buttons are dark brown horn. The cut of the suit is typical for the suits worn in this film and in The Spy Who Loved Me.
The suit coat has a button two front, extra wide lapels and deep double vents. The straight shoulder with roped sleeve heads, clean chest and suppressed waist and made in the Roman tradition, which in inspired by the English military cut. The sleeves have a traditional four-button cuff. This coat in particular has swelled edges, which are present on the lapels and pocket flaps and is a traditional feature for casual suits and sports coats. The pockets are slanted with flaps, and even the breast pocket has a flap, which is a traditional feature for true sporting clothes. The breast pocket is also slanted up toward the shoulder. Except for the outdated lapels, the suit coat has a very traditional military cut.
The trousers are still similar to those worn in Roger Moore’s first two films but starting in The Spy Who Loved Me the legs got wider, and this continued on in Moonraker. The legs are still flared toward the bottom but still not very pronounced since the whole leg has been made wider. The wider leg complements the wider lapels. This, however, still causes the trousers to look dated. The trousers have a flat front, traditional rise and sit at the natural waist, and these are worn with a belt.
The Frank Foster shirts in The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker also changed from the styles they were in Moore’s first two Bond films. The cocktail cuffs were gone and now replaced with a “Lapidus” tab cuff, named after the cuff’s inventor French fashion designer Ted Lapidus. The collar spread has gotten narrower and the points have become longer. The shirt here is a pale ecru cotton poplin. The tie is a brown knit, probably wool, tied in a small four-in-hand knot and nicely dimpled. Since the tie is knit it isn’t as wide as the other ties worn in Moonraker. Whilst the lapels, trouser legs and shirt collar reflect the 1970’s fashions, the rest of the suit is pure classic and is a great inspiration for country wear.
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 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.