When visiting Morocco in Spectre, James Bond wears a light brown jacket and slightly lighter khaki aged cotton gabardine trousers, both from Brunello Cucinelli. Daniel Craig is a big fan of Brunello Cucinelli and is often seen wearing their clothes at James Bond press events and in his personal life. It was likely his decision to dress Bond in this outfit. Tom Ford produced a khaki left-hand twill cotton two-piece suit as part of their Spectre collection, and it’s likely Bond was originally supposed to wear it in the scenes where he instead wears this outfit. Spectre has had the largest input from Daniel Craig in all of his Bond films’ wardrobes.
Since Bond is back in Morocco, this outfit recalls the tan gabardine suit that Timothy Dalton wears in Tangier in The Living Daylights. The jacket and trousers in similar shades of brown combined with a knitted tie loosely recalls the brown barleycorn hacking jacket and fawn cavalry twill trousers that Sean Connery wears in Goldfinger. The return of brown tailored clothing also reminds us of the numerous light brown suits that Roger Moore wears in his Bond films. This is the first time James Bond wears an odd jacket that’s not part of a suit since Pierce Brosnan’s navy blazer in GoldenEye.
The jacket is made from a blend of 51% wool, 41% linen and 8% silk. This blend gives the jacket durability and breathability with a slubby texture. It is has three buttons down the front with the lapels rolled over the top button. The jacket is cut with narrow soft shoulders, natural sleeve heads, a lean chest and a short length, all which give the jacket a Neapolitan-inspired look. The jacket is also unstructured without canvas or padding, for a relaxed and casual look that is light, cool and comfortable. It has a quarter lining for ultimate breathability. The jacket is detailed with double vents (the only jacket with this style rear Bond wears in Spectre), four cuff buttons and slanted pockets. The cut, style and construction of this jacket give it a casual look that pairs well with cotton trousers.
The medium-width lapels have a fishmouth shape, where the top edge of the lapel points outward and gives the lapel a narrower notch. The lapels are finished with noticeable prick-stitching about half a centimetre from the edge. This infuses the jacket with a sporty look similar to swelled edges, but the effect here is more subtle. The buttonhole in the left lapel is a keyhole shape, which is usually frowned upon for the lapel buttonhole because a straight hole looks more elegant and the keyhole buttonhole is usually a shortcut. This type of buttonhole is more functional than a straight buttonhole, and a button on the back of the right lapel signifies that the lapels can indeed close. On this jacket, the keyhole buttonhole in the lapel is not a shortcut because it is intended to be a functional buttonhole.
The khaki cotton gabardine trousers are only slightly lighter than the jacket but have a smoother texture than the jacket has. They are not, however, different enough from the jacket to prevent this from looking like a mismatched suit. Brunello Cucinelli calls these trousers “chinos”, but chinos are made of chino cotton and these are gabardine. Chino and gabardine have different weaves and finishes, and cotton gabardine is more formal. They have a flat front, a low rise and narrow straight legs. Bond wears the bottoms rolled up for a casual look. The chinos are pressed with a crease down each leg, but the crease is faded and hardly noticeable. Bond wears the chinos with a brown woven leather belt from Brunello Cucinelli. The belt has a solid brown leather tab at the end with holes for the buckle to feed through. It’s not the type of belt where the whole piece is braided and the buckle feeds through the braid.
Bond’s white shirt is from Tom Ford. The collar is the same point collar that Daniel Craig wears on his shirts with all the other O’Connor suits in Spectre, and cuffs are two-button cocktail cuffs. Double cuffs would be too formal for this outfit, but cocktail cuffs give the shirt a more special look than ordinary button cuffs would.
The tie, also from Tom Ford, is rust brown knitted silk with a pointed wide end and a straight narrow end. Though most knitted ties have straight ends, Tom Ford and others now sell knitted ties with pointed ends so the tie looks more like an ordinary folded tie. Like with the infamous pink tie in Diamonds Are Forever, this tie is too short and ends a few inches above the trousers. It’s not entirely the tie’s fault since the trousers sit too low, but ideally the tie should be a bit longer and the trousers should site a bit higher. A knitted tie is an effective choice for this casual tailored outfit, which could just as easily have been worn without a tie. The tie adds a level of class to this outfit that one has come to expect from Bond. It is tied in a four-in-hand knot.
The sunglasses are the Tom Ford Henry model. Bond’s boots are the Kenton Suede Boots from J. Crew in a tan colour appropriately named “Sahara”. Though it’s unusual for Bond to wear an American brand, these were likely a personal selection of Daniel Craig’s. They have five pairs of eyelets and three pairs of speed hooks, a plain toe and red mini-lug soles.
It’s quite a nice outfit, as all separates, but pairing a jacket so similar to the trousers as to raise doubt is something of a no-no.
A full suit, or something a little more “separate looking” might get more approval, but all-in-all I really like this outfit. I have a very similar tie, and would quite like a suit/jacket in this colour combination.
I am happy to finally see Bond in a sport coat, but the pants are simply awful. This outfit would look infinitely better with properly creased pants that sat on Craig’s natural waist. As it is they look sloppy and almost make him look pot-bellied.
“Almost”? XD
This was my favorite outfit in spectre. I Love the suiting on all the outfits, and can’t wait till I can get a better look at that last three piece check suit. I slightly disagree, I really like how close the colors are. I wish the pants were more of a mid rise or even the mid low rise. My two favorite outfits in the whole franchise are the blue flannel suit with the white shirt in Goldfinger and hacking jacket and and frogmouth trousers in Goldfinger and Thunderball. So seeing the blue sharkskin and this outfit really hit a nostalgia chord with me. Sean’s still clearly out shine these but I think these are great modern takes.
On another thought slightly off topic, I think Skyfall, and certainly Casino Royal are better films, (I love QOS but has many flaws) but the thing about Spectre is that I know when it comes out on DVD/BluRay I’ll be popping it in the player more because of the classic Bond elements and just having more fun watching it.
Allen,
You and I must have similar tastes! My favorite outfits from the entire series ar: (1) Lazenby’s grey/blue Glen Urquhart suit from OHMSS, (2) Connery’s hacking jacket and frogmouth trousers from Goldfinger and Thunderball, and (3) Moore’s DB blazer from TMWTGG. Honorable mention goes to Moore’s Donegal tweed suit from Moonraker. Cheers!
I agree with Dan. In the first photo Bond looks terrible. If this is an official publicity photo it is a shocker. He looks like a real estate agent after a long lunch. The problem is the way he is standing. The second photo looks a lot better, but the pants could be better.
I avoid using official stills here. The images are from trailers (and thus the film).
Yes I noticed Craig looked quite ‘bloated’ in Spectre. Right from the opening sequence where he lands on that sofa. Some people have speculated that it is abdominal distension caused by growth hormone/steroids . . .
Either that or he has not managed to get his body fat % as low as his other films.
Well, I guess that’s not a coincidence that Craig has not a single shirtless scene in “Spectre” (while in his other Bond films there was a lot of them!). I noticed in the final scene with Oberhausen at the bridge that Craig look really fat (despite the fact that he wear all black clothes which should cover the belly quite well).
I did not think about the steroids, but it’s really possible.
Well, in “Day Another Day” Brosnan was little overweight. In “Never Say Never Again” and — earlier — in “Diamonds are Forever” Connery has the same problem. I guess it may be the last Bond for Craig…
Craig is not overweight at all. He’s just wearing trousers which are way too tight and low rise, causing the appearance of a pot belly. By far the worst fitting business attire Bond has ever worn.
None of the tailors who’ve served me would ever let me leave their shops in such an ill-fitting garment.
Hormones? Steroids?
More likely it is just ageing. Happens to all of us, even James Bond :-)
This ties with the white dinner jacket for my least favourite outfits in the film. The main problem I have here is Daniel Craig’s choice to roll up the hems of his trousers. It looks like a conscious choice to emulate current fashions, instead of doing the normal non-Roger Moore Bond thing and going for timeless style. All the chinos need to do is have a tidy finish above the instep of the shoes and you’re all good. Something like his lighter jeans and chinos in QoS, or even the cut of the trousers in Skyfall, would have been better and just as fashionable, but more stylish.
“It looks like a conscious choice to emulate current fashions, instead of doing the normal non-Roger Moore Bond thing and going for timeless style. ” It is on Craig’s part and while he might “get away” with the fashionable sports coat the trousers are poor. I can’t imagine Roger Moore, whom you choose to bring in to the fray, wearing such a choice of trousers even during the brief 1976-1979 part of his Bond reign. His clothing from 1972-1974 and again from 1980-1985, as Bond, was, overall, very conservative and of classic heritage.
To clarify; “even during the brief , fashionable 1976-1979 part of his Bond reign.”
Although, I’ve not seen the movie yet, I’m on the side of Mr. Gibson. I can’t imagine that Daniel Craig is “fat.” Perhaps he is in somewhat less spectacular shape than he was in his earlier Bond movies. But this is beside the point. The short-jacket and low-rise trouser combination is simply an abomination. The costume designers — whoever they are — should be canned. And, more broadly, don’t the directors, cinematographers and others still review “dailies” at the end of each day’s shooting? That Daniel Craig could be made to look out of shape should have given someone pause. Did no one suggest that, “hey, we’re making this movie star wear some God-awful pants in these scenes?”
Well, because of some steroids belly can look like this http://veboldex400.bl.ee/images/steroid511182.jpg . Of course Daniel Craig is not fat-fat, but pretty sure he gained some body fat.
Even now I’m sure he has less body fat than Moore had and Connery had at times.
A current trend would be to call this jacket a ‘blazer’, even though a traditional blazer has sporty features and metal buttons. Jackets that most people would call a sports jacket are often labelled a blazer in recent times.
The look of a separate jacket and chinos is currently a proper trend in Australia, even worn to weddings, as chinos are popular because of the light weight and breathability of the cotton material, which works so well during hot Australian summers.
‘Popular trend’
It would be completely incorrect to label this a “blazer”. If we started calling all lounge jackets “blazers” (as many do now), the word “blazer” loses its meaning. I don’t plan to lower the standards of this site to follow popular trends.
“I don’t plan to lower the standards of this site to follow popular trends.”
-I appreciate this very much.
In Australia – like in California – one seems to be disapproving of formality. Due to the hot climate, of course, but to me that’s no excuse for looking sloppy. Which Craig doesn’t – the combination might not be the most sophisticated one (I would have preferred either an entire brown suit or some cream / white trousers paired with a light blue shirt) but it’s still OK.
I agree, whole heartedly Matt. It’s interesting how popular trends go with clothing labels. Daniel Craig is far leaner than Sean Connery and Roger Moore ever were in there prime. He works out more and eats a stricter diet. In fact Craig looks leaner in Spectre than Skyfall.
Simon,
Daniel Craig was quite skinny most of his live and suddenly in his late 30s. when he was preparing for the role of Bond he built a lot of muscles. In Hollywood it’s standard way to use every way to achieve the goal. In this age (late 30s.) testosteron level is not as high as in early 20s when most people with big muscles get their best physique for the first time. Bodybuilders can have still impresive bodies in their old days, thanks to their muscle memories, but you can’t start working out for the first time in your 40s or 50s and build big muscles without pills. The testosteron level at this age is very low, so it’s impossible.
It’s very possible that Daniel Craig (used to) use steroids. Hence, it’s possible that it has repercussion like this one http://www.whatsteroids.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/bodybuilder-big-belly.jpg . I can’t say that really happened, I just say it’s possible.
Still Daniel Craig looks more fit now than Sean Connery in “Diamonds”, Roger Moore in 80s. or Pierce Brosnan in “Die Another Day”.
I think you’re wrong about this. While there’s no way for us to know for certain, I believe that Hollywood trainers rely on reputation in order to gain clients, and I’m sure that they would shy away from working with an actor who was using steroids to achieve results as this could harm the trainer’s reputation.
Moreover, I didn’t think Craig looked bloated or overweight in SPECTRE. I think his appearance as being overweight above is, as others have suggested, down to the low rise and unflattering fit of the trousers on a man of almost 50 years.
“…you can’t start working out for the first time in your 40s or 50s and build big muscles without pills. The testosteron level at this age is very low, so it’s impossible.”
No.
This is just absolutely not true. I do know about this because I worked as a personal trainer at university where we studied, you know, actual *science* about the human body. In addition to the fact-based knowledge, I have seen this happen with my own eyes several times, including with acquaintances that I knew were not using “pills” even if they started in the 40s.
Of course, that doesn’t mean that Craig *wasn’t* using steroids, but given the fact that he starts training 6 months prior to a film, has access to good food and training, it’s absolutely possible for him to get into exceptional shape at his age without anything other than regular supplements.
In fact, I just remembered an interesting study (published here in the Globe and Mail about 10 years ago now, which was on the wall of my old gym) that showed how men in their 70s who had never worked out before were able to make similar gains in muscle mass and functional strength compared to a control group in their 30s (assuming the same exercises, level of exertion and resistance, nutrition, and rest).
Sorry for the non-clothing related response, but I’d hate for someone to read misinformation and believe it, and then think “Oh, what’s the use, I guess I shouldn’t even try…” One of the best things that you can do to make clothes look good on you is to be in good shape (in addition to, you know, having a better quality of life and being healthier!).
Well I guess now we can see the outfit clearly and it is a bit of a letdown. The outfit still reminds me of the Goldfinger hacking jacket but the fit is not ideal. The trousers in particular look very bad on Daniel Craig. In the first picture, he really does look like he has a pot belly! I honestly don’t think it’s because he has too much body fat or distended stomach muscles. The low rise makes the waistband look like it’s curving downward at the front which I think creates the illusion of a pot belly. And the fit is so tight that pockets bulge outwards which may make his hips look wider than they actually are.
I like how casual the jacket looks and the material sounds like it will be suitable for the hot climate. The color also seems to be quite versatile. The fit is too tight but not nearly as bad as the chinos. I’m just not sure it can be buttoned comfortably without any pulling and creasing.
Well at least it’s great that Bond has started wearing odd jackets again. and also that Daniel Craig has joined the rest of the Bond actors in wearing a knit tie.
It’s great to see that Craig has finally taken to wearing a ‘sports jacket’ or add least a more casual jacket than a full suit always. As it has been a part of Bonds look since the beginning of the series. The look of an odd jacket and separate trousers is a fast growing current trend so it fits 2015 well. The knit tie is a welcome return as is the cocktail cuff shirts.
TheLordFlasheart,
I read different things, but I believe you. It’s just what I read and it’s not my profession.
Just one thing to be clear: I didn’t write that working out is bad or useless at some age. Even if it’s harder to grow big muscles at some point of life, It’s still good for the body, it will burn additional calories, it will increase dopamine level etc.
And you don’t have to have athletic body like Daniel Craig in “Quantum of Solace” to look good in classic clothes. Cary Grant in “North by Northwest” shirtless: http://hitchcockzone.com/1000/North%20by%20Northwest%20(1959)/0864.jpg . But Cary Grant was quite skinny. The real problem is additional body fat. Of course high-rise trousers always help, but the trend to have a low-rise trousers highlights the belly.
I don’t think that Grant looks bad at all – it’s just that we have become accustomed to overmuscled, unrealistically buff leading men.
Cary Grant’s body type, like Pierce Brosnan’s in his younger days, is one of the easiest to tailor for. There aren’t any bulges (muscle, fat, hips) to smooth out or to curve around. There’s no fear of using too much padding.
Daniel Craig, on the other hand, is much harder to tailor because he’s muscular. Following modern fashions with tight jackets and low-rise trousers make things even worse.
Daniel Craig is in great shape for a man at any age. Calling him fat or saying he has a potbelly is ridiculous. I’ts the low rise that you are looking at.
Dan Ippolito,
I don’t think he looks bad either (although I prefer more athletic body type). I just said you don’t have to a lot of muscles to look good in classic clothes (well, Matt even emphasize that skinny body type is one of the best for the tailor).
Matt,
on the other hand it’s worth to mention that nowadays, especially the more casual jackets (for example cotton jackets), have soft shoulders. Jacket without padding doesn’t flatter Cary Grant psysique at all
No, jackets without padding don’t work for people like Cary Grant, but they don’t look that great on Daniel Craig either (this jacket for example). It’s much harder to tailor a jacket without shoulder padding.
I think it’s unfair to say Daniel Craig looked paunchy in Spectre. He’s probably the leanest, fittest and most muscular Bond yet. Even through everyone who has played Bond has been fit and athletic, Craig has taken it to other level. Not many 47 year olds are as fit as he is. Sean Connery, Roger Moore and even Pierce Brosnan battled a thickening waistline as they got older and middle aged in the role. But it wasn’t as common for movie stars in general to be bodybuilder and athletes in those days. If you were trim and had a good build that was more important then being really muscular. And of course having a handsome face like Connery, Moore and Brosnan helped too.
Thanks a lot for yet another fantastic post Matt.
I can’t help but feel this is a mismatched suit, despite all the very specific details you provided that prove it’s not.
The casual-ness of the jacket is not something I particularly love and feel it’s not the best match for Daniel’s build.
It all has probably a lot to do with the setting, Morocco certainly calls for some more casual style (I believe). Still, the outfit could’ve been much better in my opinion.
All the best.
The jacket/coat is designed to be worn closed/buttoned, and not to be tucked into the back of one’s (low rise) trousers. Hence, the first photo looks like a dog’s dinner with a bloated stomach effect.
Admittedly, my uncle won his first race at Brooklands in a Riley with his jacket tucked into his trousers, and then kept with it for good luck forever afterwards, but that is a different story all together and has no bearing on this particular article.
Personally, I do like a silk and linen mix. Good choice of fabric. I try to avoid deserts, as they all look the same; ‘though I have fond memories of the Eighth Army under Claude Auchinleck. He paved the way for the victory at Alamein, but I’m getting side-tracked again… Military tailoring at its best.
I kinda feel the reverse about this ensemble then I do about the white dinner jacket.
Whereas the dinner jacket looked good in the movie, but is let down by the details in reality, this looks like a mismatched suit in the movie, but I think would look a bit better in person, where the contrast between the jacket and trousers (in both color and texture) might be more apparent.
I have a tan, linen/cotton jacket that I really like, but I always pair it with darker trousers. Maybe Craig needed darker chinos, that would show more contrast. My jacket has open, patch pockets also; which give it a more casual look.
This is probably my least favorite outfit in the movie (although the first picture makes it look much worse than it is). Individually, some parts of the outfit are good: the odd jacket, which I’m sure is made of beaitiful fabric; the cocktail cuff shirt; the knit tie. But the pants are poor, and they do look a bit too close to the jacket. The shoulders also look better on the Tom Ford suits.
Are the chinos the same as the ones he wears with the Matchless suede jacket?
I believe they are.
Matt, do you think Daniel should have worn stone coloured chinos with the light-brown jacket ?. I have a similar jacket, which is great for a relaxed party or night out, but in hot weather I usually pair it with stone coloured chinos so there is a good contrast, with the trousers being noticeably lighter then the light brown jacket.
Yes, that would have worked.
Th suit really does make Craig look overweight. Strange, since it comes only a few scenes after he appears fit and trim in the polo shirt in the hotel. They must have filmed these scenes after he recovered from the leg injury and subsequent surgery. I’m sure he put on weight during the months-long recovery period.
Matt – very useful post once again, but such excellence is to be expected by now.
Would you mind letting me know where you received your information pertaining to the unused khaki Tom Ford suit meant for this scene? I’m guessing they’d also be in the O’Connor model consistent in all Tom Ford suits throughout this film. Images in the link would especially be well appreciated, considering how QoS had some really beautiful unused/deleted scene suits.
The unused Tom Ford suit was sold by Tom Ford as part of their collection for Spectre. It was made in the O’Connor style. I could not take a photo of the suit at Tom Ford.
“The khaki cotton gabardine trousers are only slightly lighter than the jacket but have a smoother texture than the jacket has. They are not, however, different enough from the jacket to prevent this from looking like a mismatched suit.”
Things like that also prevent me from praising Jany Temime for her costume designing skills. Knowing about how to match an odd jacket with appropriate trousers is quite basic and something an ordinarily-skilled dresser usually does with ease. But someone who is in the costume designing business – and she is considered to be an experienced pro – is simply not allowed to make such obvious mistakes. Moreover she or he should care about how a specific cloth / weave appears on screen.
All that – alongside with her IMO rather questionable taste in menswear (white dinner jacket combined with jeans) – does not speak in her favour as a costume designer for James Bond. “It’s all about the details” – details she apparently doesn’t care for.
Matt do you think you should mention that the jacket fits quite close on Craig ? Particularly in the chest and arms. This is particularly evident when he buttons the jacket when he arrives at Blofeld’s lair.
Ryan, according to David Zaritsky’s YouTube video on this outfit, Jany Temime actually had the jacket sleeves taken in in order to emphasize Craig’s biceps. Once again her fetish for tight clothes backfired, because in the third picture the left sleeve is quite obviously wrinkling and riding up. If Henry Cavill is the next Bond, will she put him in tight clothes as well?
Dan, as indicated in the interview with Blair Ballard, Daniel Craig was the one who inspired the shrunken suit look. She by no means has a fetish for tight clothes, as plenty of the films she’s worked on feature men in well-fitting suits.
https://www.bondsuits.com/jany-temime-dressing-daniel-craig/
Intentional or not , l think that this outfit was at least PARTIALLY inspired by Sean Connery’s Hacking Jacket outfit in ” Gold finger ” . An interesting contrast is that Goldfinger is the only Bond film where Connery chooses double cuff shirts over cocktail cuff shirts , while this outfit in ” Spectre ” is the only Daniel Craig outfit where he favours a cocktail cuff shirt over a double cuff shirt.
Matt , could the white shirt he wears here , be the same one worn with the collar pin in the funeral ?
This outfit was indeed inspired by Goldfinger.
The shirt is not the same. The pin-collar shirt has eyelets in the collar for the pin.
This outfit is a strange one.
I like it on Craig. I think it worked well in the movie. But seeing Bond fans trying it (for example, Dave Zaritsky’s YouTube item on it), it doesn’t work so well.
Then your piece on lighting got me thinking. The trousers do look very different in the movie, they look closer to the jacket, more beige, less grey, than in real life (at least based on DZ’s item). And whilst I generally like a strong contrast between separate jacket and trousers, on screen this looked like a suit (at least when not studying closely). The more grey look the trousers have in DZ’s item seems to work a lot less well, for me at least.
An outfit of two halves for me – the top half being too formal for the bottom: I think I would have ‘upped’ the boots to the Ryder/Tetbury look in brown suede, properly hemmed the trousers and ‘downed’ the shirt to a classic white oxford button down. Speaking of which Matt, what are your thoughts on classic button downs for Bond? I’m surprised they haven’t featured in the series as there’s certainly a role for them (e.g. when visiting Mathis in Talamone in QOS, Here in Spectre and possibly the washroom fight scene in CR). I’m sure in this enlightened age the button down is not considered, due to its Brooks Bros. origins, to be too American any more than the polo/tennis shirt could be considered French.
James Bond has only worn the button-down shirt in A View to a Kill, and that was when he was in America (though his English shirtmaker made the shirts). Otherwise, I’m sure it has been deemed too American and old-fashioned for Bond. For this scene, an oxford cloth shirt would also be too heavy.
It’s interesting that both Sean Connery and Roger Moore wore button down collar shirts when playing American Characters in Marney and Naked face , respectively. But their shirts are Frank Foster made , with collar stays in the button down collar. It’s not something the film producers associate with James Bond , l guess.
Foster didn’t work on Marnie. It was probably an American shirt maker.
What material would you say the man in the eye glasses ( who greets Bond and Dr. Swann) is wearing on this scene. I am just curious because I thought his outfit was unflattering along with the other guards.
A nice outfit for James Bond in a warm location. With this outfit we see James Bond dressed up while still being relaxed. Also, as said in the article the tie adds a level of class that is expected from James Bond. I like this outfit as it has a lot of significance peices of James Bond wardrobe which includes a cocktail cuff, a knit tie, a sports coat and the pleasure of seeing James Bond in light brown again!