Ten years ago I, Matt Spaiser, posted my first article on Bond Suits (then called The Suits of James Bond) detailing James Bond’s first on-screen outfit, the shawl-collar dinner suit in Dr. No. I would like to thank everyone who has visited this website since over past the decade! It makes doing this so much more enjoyable.
I set out to write about every outfit that James Bond has ever worn, and I achieved this a few years ago with the exception of a few technical outfits and maybe a few other pieces.
This blog has been a tremendous learning experience for me. Though I had spent a number of years researching James Bond’s clothing and menswear in general prior to starting the blog, I learned a lot more through writing about the clothes. I would like to thank the people who leave comments here and reach out to me through email, for either sharing new information with me or asking questions that have led me to discover new things for myself.
An Evolution of Style
My opinions about clothing have evolved over the last ten years. When I first started this blog ten years ago, I was a classic menswear purist stuck in the 1930s. I had read Alan Flusser’s books, most notably Dressing the Man, and I held the belief that the standards Flusser wrote about were the be-all and end-all of menswear. I thought that if James Bond went against something that was written in that book, Bond was wrong. While I still believe that Dressing the Man is one of the greatest books ever written on the subject of menswear, the well-dressed man has the option to evolve from the standards set in the 1930s.
I now believe that it’s perfectly okay when James Bond foregoes a waistcoat or cummerbund with black tie, or it’s not the end of the world is Bond wears brown in town. James Bond may have been breaking 1930s rules, but conventions in England had changed by the 1960s, and Bond did not contravene classic menswear for him time and place. I acknowledge that menswear conventions and fashions change with the times, and that’s okay because they always have changed. The 1930s was a particularly elegant era in menswear, but while it set many of the precedents for how we dress today, it’s just one of many great eras of men’s style.
I will admit that my preferences in menswear don’t include any innovations since about 1970. Apart from a few transgressions, James Bond’s style hasn’t included much that would be a shock to a sophisticated person from 1970. Anything that would surprise a man at that time would still look like a mistake to me.
James Bond has helped me to define and understand my own preferences in menswear, and, as I’ve attempted to demonstrate over the past decade, he’s as good a model as any for learning how to dress. But we can also learn from others. I use Bond to reaffirm the choices I make when purchasing clothes or getting dressed. It’s difficult to go wrong with using him as a template.
More Experience is More Knowledge
Another change since the time I started this blog is that I now have experienced another decade of wearing clothes! Until the pandemic, I was wearing some sort of tailoring clothing to the office daily. Though it’s possible to comprehend some menswear concepts without wearing the clothes, so much of being able to understand the clothes comes through wearing them. It’s impossible to understand the cut and fit of a suit without wearing it. Being able to know what makes certain clothes or fabrics good or bad comes through wearing them.
I’ve also had bespoke clothes made for me, including shirts from Frank Foster and Turnbull & Asser and a dinner suit from Anthony Sinclair. These experiences helped bring me closer to James Bond’s classic style and helped me better understand the clothes he wears. Meeting Frank Foster in particular and wearing shirts made by him and his family just as they made shirts for three James Bond actors is an especially meaningful experience.
Thank You to A World Network of Agents
Meeting people has been the best thing about writing this blog. From the comments below the articles to meeting people in person, getting to know others all over the world who are passionate about James Bond and/or menswear has been the most wonderful part of running this website. Thank you to all those who visit and reach out to me. I love hearing from you!
I would like to give a special thanks to my friend Peter Brooker, with whom I started the From Tailors with Love podcast two years ago. Four years ago he twisted my arm to get me on the Menswear Style podcast, which I was hesitant to do. I had never done a podcast before and he opened up a whole new world to me on that front, but he’s done so much more as well. I still prefer to be able to carefully choose and edit my words in written form, but it is a lot of fun to speak about menswear too!
I would also like to thank David Zaritsky for the videos we’ve done together, the Bond events and the friendship. To everyone who has not met him, yes, he is a real person!
And another thanks needs to go to my friend David Mason, of Mason & Sons and Anthony Sinclair, for indulging so many of my tailored Bond desires! He has been a tremendous part of my sartorial education.
There are so many more people who have been a part of this journey. My beautiful wife Janna deserves credit for taking most of the photos of myself and my clothes that appear on this blog. Though I have been the sole writer of this blog — which is only ten posts away from 1,000 — many people have made this happen. It has been a tremendous journey over the past decade, and I look forward to another ten years with the stylish Bond fan community!
You did a fine job over the years and I, as many I guess, learned much. Your blog is a real teaching moment as well as a guidline for elegance…
Thank for all
Terrific work Matt. I hope they make more than two movies a decade soon.
The MR blazer outfit is terrific, and contrary to what some people have said in the past in the comments section, you most definitely do NOT look like a security guard!
Yes he looks great !
That’s funny, that outfit looks very American/ Ivvy League to me : the striped tie, the blazer not being worn with grey trousers but with some a shade lighter. I guess Bond wanted to look American here.
Terrific! The tie has British stripes, while the jacket has American shoulders. Compare the more structured shoulder on the midnight blue Anthony Sinclair dinner suit. I really like the midnight blue bow tie with the ivory dinner jacket.
The tie and blazer are both Italian. The blazer is from Canali and the tie is from Ermenegildo Zegna. The shoulders on the jacket are characteristic of a lot of Northern Italian makers, with a large amount of shoulder padding. The Anthony Sinclair dinner suit, by comparison, has very lightly structured shoulders. The shoulder expression makes a big difference. A lot of shoulders in American jackets were similar 15-30 years ago, but it’s not really an American shoulders. The stripes on the tie may be in the classic British direction, but it’s really a common direction for tie stripes outside of America.
A 100% American Ivy League blazer would have natural shoulders and no darts. As Matt points out below, he is wearing a Northern Italian jacket with padded shoulders, darts, and a nipped waist. Interestingly, Roger Moore also wore an Italian made navy blazer in MR, albeit with less pronounced shoulder padding. Ironically, even though I attended an Ivy League school, I used to intensely dislike the undarted “sack” style, but now I think it is OK for beefy tweed jackets (still not sure about dressier blazers, though).
Many congratulations! A superb blog, and one of the few that I read weekly (if not daily). You really should make a book of it!
David Mason is such a gent (as, indeed, is Elliot). Would never have discovered Mason & Sons without bondsuits.com.
What next for the blog?
Bravo! I have learned a ton from reading this blog – when I started I was far more focused on the “Bond” aspect of the posts, but now find myself perusing the archives for more general sartorial knowledge. I think being more sartorially “of my time” starting out, I find myself going in the other direction (becoming more of a purist for certain things).
Congrats!
*looks at calendar* Still expecting a new post tomorrow though, Matt =D lol jk
Congratulations to your anniversary! And thank you so much for articles. Always fun to read and really interesting as well. All the best for the next ten years!
Matt,
My congratulations on your first ten years, and I’m looking forward to seeing what you do in the future.
You’ve done a beautiful job! I still look forward to your posts every Monday in hopes of finding some new way to style myself
All the very bessssht and congrats. The big ten! Thanks for all all your diligence, your dedication and your unflinching enthusiasm for my personal favourite Bond, Roger Moore.
Many, many congratulations Matt!
I cannot thank you enough for the wonderful articles you have written, they have not only shaped my sartorial views, but have helped me in recreating some iconic suits from the Bond franchise.
Your blogs are beautifully detailed, and I appreciate the hard work you do in analysing every outfit and identifying the designer, cloth, and cut.
I wish you well and look forward to the next 10 years!
All the best! :)
Congratulations for this achievement, Matt !
I check the blog daily and religiously, trying not to comment too often sometimes !
I have learned a lot through all of your articles, whether they are about a particular outfit or something general about tailoring !
But more important, I always have fun browsing through your website, checking the results of some old survey or rereading some passionate debate between regular commenters about some actor or some outfit ! (See what I mean ? Ahah)
Thanks Matt, and thanks to them, too !
I hope someday this little community could finally meet !
Antoine T.
PS : that last picture is amazing !
Congratulations Matt! I stumbled across your blog fairly close to your third or fourth post (I think it was on Connery’s suit jackets in Dr. No), and I have been coming back regularly over the last decade. Your posts are informative and well-researched. You have provided and continue to provide a unique and invaluable contribution to the Bond community. I also greatly appreciate your introduction to Elliot Mason, who, along with Ryan, has provided terrific suits and service. Please keep up the excellent work. Best to Janna and you. Christian
Congrats Matt, and thanks for all the fantastic posts over the years. Yours was one of the first sites I discovered during my own sartorial journey (no more cheap black square-toed loafers!) and it has definitely had an influence on my personal style.
My compliments to you sir.
If you are ever in Los Angeles
The Dinner and the Drinks are on me as well as the laughs.
Dear Matt,
I just wanted to congratulate you on a fabulous ten years, and to thank you for this wonderful website. Bondsuits was one of my first forays into classic menswear, and the detail of your posts sparked in me a fascination for the outfits of Bond, in particular Connery and Moore. There was even a time where I would only buy and wear navy ties in accordance with the early Connery outfits! Like many men, my personal style continues to evolve, but I always love to come back here, to read your posts and to seek further inspiration. Ever since reading your Octupussy posts, I’ve been dying for a cream pleated evening shirt, preferably with cocktail cuffs too! One day, perhaps, but for now I’m just very grateful for you and your wonderful website-it’s been rather instrumental for me in my exploration and love of classic menswear.
Congrats! It is my favorite style blog! I have learned more about style since I started reading this blog when the pandemic started than I did during the previous 37 years of my life, although I still get things wrong as you have pointed out answering some of my questions. Hope you have another 10 years in you!
Great stuff Matt, you’ve done some amazing work in the last ten years and your blog is an important reference to any Bond fan looking to dress like their favorite Bond. Can’t wait for your next post as always.
Congratulations Matt! I can not believe that it has been 10 years since you have started this blog! I have learned so much from following this blog about James Bond and men’s style. I like to read this blog daily because of all the information that is provided here. One thing that I have learned from this blog that has changed my life forever is the discovery of the cocktail cuff. I never knew anything about it until I read this blog. Again great job and hope to see more in the future!
Thank you so much, Matt, for doing this. I can’t believe it’s been 10 years already! I remember your very first post, I subscribed and look forward to Monday’s (when I get the post here in Korea) to read your latest mission report.
Here’s to another 10 years!
Matt,
Congrats on ten years and thanks for all the advice! I dress much better now than I did even just a few years ago. Looking forward to more informative and useful articles.
Thanks!
Hi Matt, I discovered this blog eight years ago when I was around the age of 16, and I’m not exaggerating when I say that it changed my life. You taught me everything I know about menswear and opened up a whole new hobby which has been a huge part of my life ever since. Whenever friends, family and colleagues ask what got me into classic men’s style, I always tell them it was The Suits of James Bond dot com. Here’s to another ten years!
Cheers and bravo! Can’t wait to see what the next decades will bring!
Once again, Happy 10th Anniversary Bond Suits.
Congratulations on 10 years of this blog!
You are a inspiration in style for so many of us and i think now its the right time to tell you this!
Keep up the great work and cheers to you on the next ten years.
Best wishes from Germany,
Andi
Wow 10 years already!
Your blog is a true gem, Matt. Whether it is an article from 2020 or 2010, they are all superbly written and I have learned so much.
The biggest boosts to my sartorial journey have been your articles where you put many different outfits in context, such as which colors fit a skin tone, a season or other settings.
Thank you and Congrats to this great achievement!
Massive Congratulations Matt! You are a cornerstone of this community, and I have learned so much reading your posts through the years. From my standpoint, as a younger man trying to create homages to Bond’s style, I found myself scouring your articles constantly to find those technical details that really made that piece what it was! There’s literally not a single source out there that comes close to your level of detailed analysis! Cheers to the first 10, thrilled for what’s next!
Dear Matt,
Congratulations on this first decade!
I follow this blog from the start (it cannot be 10 years already, tempus fugit…) and have learned so much.
I was already a fan of blazers, cocktail cuffs and glen checks but your blog accompanied nicely my change from nice 3-button Dormeuil RTW suits to MTM 2-buttons with slanted pockets, wild linings and most importantly, trousers with buckle side adjusters. You made me discover the versatility of grenadine ties (you should try the finer “étamine de soie”), the qualities of a gun club check or air force blue (great for blazers), the superiority of an ivory shirt over a white shirt.
Of course my dinner jacket is midnight blue and I wear safari jackets, Sunspel riviera polos and camp collar shirts in the summer.
Thank you for all that and all the best for this great blog.
I wish you to celebrate it with a glass of Bollinger from my Champagne region.
Best regards from France
Congratulations Matt! My initial interest in Bond’s clothing started in 1984 reading Raymond Benson’s The James Bond Bedside Companion: “James Bond usually wears a dark-blue serge suit with a white shirt made of silk. Bond’s suits are almost always single-breasted and very lightweight. Bond likes comfortable soft leather or moccasin shoes, usually in black (he abhors shoelaces). At times Bond wears a black, knitted silk tie.” But a career as an Army officer didn’t provide much reason or opportunity to dress like 007. I discovered Bond Suits in 2012 right as Skyfall was released and your articles reignited my interest in dressing like my favorite fictional character. Over the past three years since retiring from active duty my closet has transformed from military uniforms to one worthy of 007 – informed by your insight and advice. Thank you!
Matt, congratulations on ten years! Happy to say I discovered this blog about eight years ago, and I’ve been a loyal reader ever since. Looking forward to the next ten years.
Thanks for the site Matt and congratulations wow ten years gone already,new gunbarrel for no time to die Craig’s wearing a tux can’t wait till 2089
Congratulations, Matt! Thank you for this wonderful resource! Good luck with everything!
I’ve been a fan of Bond style since I was a young lad in the mid-60s, and it has guided my own wardrobe choices ever since. I was initially drawn to your site (shortly after your first few articles) because it resonated with that early interest. But not only have I enjoyed your articles, I have also learned so much about proper (and less proper) dressing – details about which I had no inkling. Many thanks for both the entertainment and the education.
Continued success!
Till 120 (as some say)!
Many congratulations Matt.
Though I am not as knowledgeable as many other people on the finer details of tailoring, I have enjoyed and learnt immensely from your posts over the last several years.
Keep up the great work.
This blog not only set right the misconceptions and assumptions I had about Connery’s wardrobe, but set me on a different path than I was on. Turns out the American Trad look wasn’t really “me” and I was kidding myself to insist otherwise. I much prefer the clean lines and structured silhouette of English bespoke tailoring over the unconstructed, no-dart look of J. Press. I still enjoy a button-down collar or pair of chinos here and there, but my look no longer revolves around them.
Echoing some of the other replies- even though for many years I was known as “that suit guy” in whichever place I worked, it was not until stumbling across this blog that I learnt what I was doing wrong with the way I dressed and how I could improve. Without the Bond connection, I probably wouldn’t have found it; without your excellent attention to detail and advice, I might not have stayed. I would advise anyone looking to dress better, especially formally, to study this blog (and the comments too!).
Congratulations! I first visited about 5 years ago. Thank you for an informative, insightful, and entertaining blog.
Love the Moonraker homage pic. (Did anyone press you to a cucumber sandwich?)
Congratulations Matt. I’ve certainly improved my wardrobe based on your blog! Thank you! I’ll toast to you with a Versper martini for many more years to come!
Well done Matt.
My first time posting here, your writing and style of delivery has fully introduced me to another intra niche topic of interest Within the Bond universe.
Very well done.
Congrats Matt – let me add my name to all the compliments the 40+ people above me have left.
I’ve learned so much here and had fun doing it! My own wardrobe is less classic suiting, and more creative-services swish than Bond would ever consider. But there is so much here that I can still incorporate to make sure that everything I wear is on the correct side of classy.
Good luck on the next 10 years from one Upper East Side opera fan to another!
-Sanford
Congratulations on 10 years Matt Spaiser!
Matt, your blog has been a weekly source of enjoyment, education, and inspiration to me since I first discovered it back in 2012. Hardly a month goes by that I do not revisit one of your old articles about Bond’s wardrobe to refresh my recollection. There are many so-called Bond influencers who basically just do cosplay (nothing wrong with that, by the way, but not exactly groundbreaking). In contrast, you actually provide a resource.
Here’s to another decade!
That red repp tie you wear in Vaux-Le-Vicomte is a much better choice of necktie than what Bond himself ended up wearing in the Bond-arrives-in-Cali scenes.
I’ve been reading your blog over the years and also use it as an encyclopedia. Many thanks!
Congratulations! This is a great website.
Matt; I’m very late in commenting about your milestone on this page (though I did so on your FB page) and there is little to add to what the others have said above in praising and applauding what is a formidable body of knowledge on both Bond onscreen and men’s tailoring in general. While dressing in a manner of our hero (or my particular favourite incarnation of this character) since about the mid to late 1980s, discovering your blog allowed me to fine tune and finesse this character defect of mine and inflict grievous bodily harm on my bank balance as a result. You Sir, have a lot to answer for!
Cheers Matt!! This blog has always been an absolute treasure! Wish you and Janna all the best!