GoldenEye Looks to the Golden Age of Menswear
James Bond: Pierce Brosnan
Director: Martin Campbell
Costume designer: Lindy Hemming
Tailoring: Brioni
Shirts: Sulka
Ties: Sulka, Simpsons of Piccadilly and others
Footwear: Church’s
Overview
James Bond was successfully reinvented for the 1990s. Pierce Brosnan, after having to back out of the role when he was originally cast in 1986, played a new kind of Bond who focused on physical action stunts. The Bond films started to become modern action films in the Dalton era, but the action became a larger focus of the Bond films starting with GoldenEye. This would alter Bond’s costume needs.
A new costume designer was hired to reinvent Bond’s look: Lindy Hemming. She enlisted Brioni to make the suits, not only for their style and versatility but also for their ability to produce a tremendous number of duplicate suits for the action sequences. The intensity of the action scenes in GoldenEye was never seen before in a Bond film, and Hemming put Bond in a suit for one of these sequences.
GoldenEye not only redefined what Bond could be after the Cold War, it also redefined what James Bond style meant: Brioni suits. For the first time, Bond’s suitmaker paid to be used in the film and was vocal about their involvement. Everyone knew what it meant to dress like James Bond, even if it was considerably different than how the character previously dressed.
Formal Wear
Lindy Hemming is a traditionalist when it comes to menswear. While Bond’s tailored style in GoldenEye was appropriate for the 1990s, it takes after 1930s styles. Connery, Lazenby and Moore wore contemporary English bespoke black tie styles, but Brosnan’s black dinner suit goes back to the 1930s. The jacket has peaked lapels and the trousers have double reverse pleats. The dinner suit has a waistcoat, a first for Bond. It has a traditional low opening with a four buttons and lapels.
This is Bond’s most traditional dinner suit of the series, and that’s not a bad thing. The 1990s offered no decent progress for black tie fashions, and Hemming did well by looking to the past, and to what is arguably the most elegant era for black tie. But the dinner suit also recalls Bond’s 1960s looks by being made of mohair.
The shirt has a pleated front with a concealed placket, another first for Bond. Traditionalists argue that buttons shouldn’t show on a dress shirt with a dinner suit, and that studs and a concealed placket are the only legitimate options. Bond only showed buttons on his dress shirts for the first 15 films, but the fly front here works well for the character, as studs seem a bit too fussy for him.
Though this introduces new black tie styles for Bond, it’s historically informed while also appropriate for the character.
Lounge Suits and a Blazer
Brioni suits became the definition of James Bond style in GoldenEye. The strong Roman shoulders gave Brosnan the presence he needed for Bond, but many English tailors could have done the same. An English tailor or brand should have been who suited Bond, but Brioni had the capabilities, the budget and the quality that could properly clothe Bond. Brioni was not the first Italian to suit Bond; ex-Brioni employee Angelo Vitucci tailored Roger Moore for The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker.
Brosnan’s fits are characteristic of the 1990s. The suit jackets have a very full cut and a long length, but unlike in the Dalton films, Brosnan’s suits have a neat fit. The trousers have double reverse pleats but a moderately trim leg, so they don’t look baggy. The cut is typical of Italian suits of the era, dispelling the current myth that an Italian cut is always a slim cut. However, I find that the fit is too full for Bond. The suits move elegantly on Brosnan, but they look too cumbersome for action scenes.
While the silhouette isn’t English, Hemming gave most of the suit jackets slanted hip pockets, ticket pockets and double vents so they’d have a hint of Britishness to them. So while Bond has been turned into a continental with Italian suits, there’s still a hint of Britishness in their style. The cloths are also English, from William Halstead, Schofield & Smith, and Bower Roebuck & Co. I appreciate that even though Bond is now tailored by an Italian brand, he hasn’t left Britain behind entirely.
The first suit is a two-piece button-two Prince of Wales check in navy and sand that Bond wears to M’s office. It has a neutral appearance but with a hint of warmth. However, I find it has a town-and-country look that makes it a bit too informal for the office compared to how Bond typically dresses for the office. This is mainly due to the colours and the check. A single vent adds an additional country touch, but a single vents isn’t necessarily inappropriate for a city suit.
This outfit, with an ivory shirt and a blue-and-gold tie, introduces a common theme through Brosnan’s Bond wardrobe of mixing warm and cool colours, specifically blue with shades of brown. Instead of black and white, mixing blue and brown still looks neutral but has more richness to it. These colours were possibly chosen to blend in with the set, and they do so beautifully.
The following suit for both Q’s lab and for Bond’ arrival in Russia is a charcoal sharkskin with a blue windowpane. The windowpane is a bit flashy for Bond, but I think it’s a stylish choice. This suit is more in line with what would be expected for an office suit than the previous suit is. This three-piece suit introduces Brosnan’s button-three jacket, which would be the dominant style throughout the Brosnan and Craig eras. Bond had occasionally worn button-three suits before, particularly for his more formal suits, but starting in GoldenEye it became Bond’s main style. It’s a classic style, but here it also plays into what was trendy in the 1990s. The suit has a low button stance, which I think looks good on Brosnan.
Brosnan wears a luxurious navy overcoat with this suit in Russia, but I find it too boring. The style is too simple without any British details like a fly front and velvet collar. The button stance is much too low for an overcoat. By revealing so much chest, the coat would fail at keeping Bond warm if he had buttoned it.
The defining suit of the film—and possibly of Brosnan’s tenure—is a navy birdseye two-piece suit. While Bond’s navy suits in the past were mainly flannels with the occasional chalk stripe, Brosnan’s signature was a worsted navy birdseye. It’s an elegant take on the classic navy suit, the original Bond suit from the books. The outfit is again a mix of warm and cool colours that makes the outfit look rich and is flattering on Brosnan.
The final suit is a briefly worn tan cotton suit that looks a bit slouchier due to the cloth. Swelled edges also give the suit a more casual look. This suit is perfect for the weather in Cuba and looks wonderfully relaxed with a white cotton-and-linen open-neck shirt. The classic Persol sunglasses are the perfect choice. In a later scene on the beach he wears a different linen shirt with what is likely the suit trousers. The outfit looks perfectly elegant but relaxed for the beach.
GoldenEye marks the blue blazer’s last appearance to date in the Bond series. He wears it by the sea in Monaco, which couldn’t be a better place for it. The brass-buttoned blazer is a beautiful classic button-two, show-three model with double vents, similar to Moore’s blazer in For Your Eyes Only. I like that Brosnan wears it with an open-neck mid-blue checked shirt, and I like that the check is so fine that it’s hardly visible—it’s the most Bondian kind of check. I don’t like that he wears the blazer unbuttoned; it’s looks sloppy when a double-breasted jacket flaps around. I also don’t like that he wears it with triple-reverse-pleated trousers. Triple pleats are always excessive and end up making the trousers look sloppy.
The shirts in GoldenEye are from Sulka, and while they are appropriate for Bond, they don’t look particularly special. The collar is a bit too ’90s, with a spread that is too narrow for Brosnan’s face and points that are too short. This also marks the first time since Goldfinger that Bond wears double cuffs and cufflinks with his suits. Cufflinks contribute to the luxurious look of Brosnan’s wardrobe. I feel that button cuffs are a better choice for Bond, with the occasional, calculated appearance of cufflinks. Button cuffs are much more practical for the character, and they’re a good compromise when Fleming’s original literary character wore short-sleeve shirts with his suits.
The ties are from Sulka and Simpsons of Piccadilly. They’re in busier or bolder patterns than Bond is known for wearing, and I don’t think they are in the spirit of the character. I think they’re the worst part of Brosnan’s look in GoldenEye.
The shoes in GoldenEye are from Church’s and are oxfords in brogue and semi-brogue styles. These are traditional English styles, but brogues weren’t typically previously Bond’s style. For a character known for wearing basic slip-ons, these shoes are the opposite. Nevertheless, the shoes are beautiful, and after years of Moore wearing Italian shoes it’s nice to see Bond in English shoes again.
Military Attire
GoldenEye‘s wardrobe is bookended by two military looks: a black modified American M-1965 field jacket for the action start of the film and a green tactical outfit for the action at the film’s climax. The black outfit gives Bond a tough look for the beginning, while the green outfit is perfect camouflage for the jungle scenes at the end of the film.
Both outfits give Bond the tough look he needs for the new action focus of the post-Cold War Bond series. Bond looks prepared and ready to take on whatever comes at him when dressed in these tactical clothes. Though I don’t think Bond should look as soldier-like as he does in these outfits, I concede that they are necessary for the situations. I think that Daniel Craig’s Bond did a better job at finding more sophisticated casual looks for intense action scenes. I like how his Bond wears outfits that are mostly wearable in civilian life. Brosnan’s two action looks are much more difficult to wear that way.
Casual Attire
GoldenEye has little in the way of casual looks, but the first one is one of the best in the Bond series. It’s a navy crew-neck cable-knit jumper, a blue checked shirt, tan moleskin trousers and a green day cravet. He’s dressed as an off-duty naval officer would dress, except for the cravat. It’s more James St John Smythe than James Bond, but Brosnan pulls it off. It’s mostly hidden under the jumper, so it’s not distracting. The rest of the outfit is perfect.
He also wears a pair of basic black swim trunks with a classic, trim fit. They are simple and utilitarian, but entirely appropriate for the character.
Other Characters
GoldenEye is a dark and drab-looking film, and Bond stands out as being the most elegantly dressed man without any competition. Robbie Coltrane’s character Valentin Zukovsky is the only other man with an interesting outfit. He wears a green three-piece suit with a flashy waistcoat made by Soho tailor Mr Eddie, and it has the right amount of flash for a crime boss. It’s a shame his scenes are so dark that the suit isn’t easily visible on screen.
Well Done, James
It’s a joy to see Bond returning to traditional styles in GoldenEye, even if many styles are more traditional than Bond had previously worn before. Bond is dressed elegantly and to luxurious standards that Fleming would have appreciated. The suits are all made of lightweight cloths, which Fleming also would have liked. I like how Lindy Hemming worked to incorporate English styles despite the suitmaker being Italian. The balance between English and Italian is commendable.
I love that Hemming put Brosnan in a suit and tie for one of the major set pieces of the film: the tank chase. It was a moment that portrayed Bond doing Bond things while dressed in a classic navy suit.
Not Perfected Yet
I find that the fits are just a little too full in GoldenEye. They cross the line from adding a needed bulk to Pierce Brosnan to overwhelming Brosnan. The gorge is too low. This kind of silhouette was on trend in the 1990s, but it could have been dialed back a little.
The three ties are some of the weakest parts of GoldenEye‘s wardrobe. The patterns are too bold for James Bond, a character known for his solid ties. Much of the wardrobe moved away from the restrained styles that defined Bond’s wardrobe over the previous four decades, and simpler ties could have effectively brought the wardrobe closer to the character’s origins.
Brosnan frequently wears his suit jackets unbuttoned. It’s too sloppy for Bond, a naval man, and it doesn’t portray the beauty of the suits as well as buttoning them would.
Verdict
GoldenEye effectively established a new Bond actor, a new approach for the series and a new style for the character. The new style was mostly a success, but it left behind too much of what defined the style of the character before. While the outfits are well-chosen and appropriate for the scenes, it went too far in making Bond look like a successful international banker of the 1990s. The outfits draw just a little too much attention to themselves. However, the navy birdseye suit, the three-piece dinner suit and the cable-knit jumper are standouts of the series that stand the test of time.
Rating: 7/10
Do you agree or disagree with my assessment? Leave your comments below.
Ah, finally we’ve reached the Brosnan era, which is my favorite, overall! The best actor, the best adventures, the best special effects. Goldeneye was the first James Bond film I saw as a ten year old back in the 90’s and I still remember the impression it left on me. The 90’s, in general, were the golden age of action cinema and Goldeneye is one of the greatest action-adventure films ever made. A true masterpiece. And on top of all that, Brosnan happens to wear some of the best suits in the series!
I actually also really like most of the ties he wears in this film, particularly the green one he wears in the tank chase scene.
I think I am in the minority of those who don’t like the GoldenEye ties. They’ve reached iconic status now. The tank tie has no green in it! I believe it is navy, gold and ivory (which matches the ivory shirt). Like the M’s office outfit, this one is also a mix of navy and pale shades of brown.
I imagine many of the folks who like the ties from Goldeneye, may feel that way based on the film/actor/era they were featured in. I know you’ve mentioned this before Matt, but many of Brosnan’s ties were well made and impressively woven, though a bit outside of the established Bond character’s look.
I think a good approach to use regarding Brosnan’s ties, especially to stick with a more Bondian look, is to invoke but not emulate. For example, I have a tie in blue and bronze with a similar enough but more subtle design than the one in the tank scene. If I wear it with a blue birdseye suit, you can certainly see the inspiration, but it’s, to me at least, more comfortably toned down.
https://mubi.com/en/us/films/goldeneye
If you look at the photo on the website I’m sharing above, you can see that the tie definitely appears as an olive green, although, if one inspects it under a microscope, then he’ll find out that indeed there is no green in it. I’ve looked through some close up images of it and I see that yes, you are right. But when different color combinations coexist in an intricate pattern, an entirely new color may appear from a distance. Some Hermes ties, with their busy patterns produce such effect. You look up closely and you see red and blue, for example, but from a few feet away and on most photographs the tie may appear purple or pink.
Also, the way colors appear on film and on photos we find on the internet may be quite different from how they look in real life. That’s why I’m always a bit skeptical when you so confidently describe shirts as “ivory” and not white, or dinner suits as “midnight blue” and not black. More often than not, it’s impossible to tell merely by studying film stills or watching the film copy online or on DVD. All that being said, I always respect your analysis and consider you to be absolutely the best expert on the topic.
There are often ways to tell one colour from another based on comparisons between colours on screen. To determine colours I use as many sources as possible, not only the Blu-ray but also the older DVDs, stills, behind-the-scenes photographs, and auction listings. There are ways to determine similar colours apart when there are known colours on screen for comparison. I’ve also seen numerous Bond outfits in real life. So while nothing is foolproof, including seeing a colour in real life, I’m confident in most of my colour choices.
I do have such suits and ties myself where multiple colours come together to create the impression of a different colour. However, this tie’s pattern from GoldenEye isn’t so fine that you need a microscope to see individual colours.
I also thought the tie had some green because there’s a scene in which we discover the tie has a green lining. It seemed the lining was echoing one of the colors of the tie, but maybe it just echoed the gold of the tie
In isolation, I would give this film an 8 or 8.5; but overall I would say 9/10 for what it did in returning Bond to a classic and considered style (after TLD and LTK), and also for setting a very consistent look Lindy Hemming felt confident to use and refine across the 4 films. Brosnan’s Bond looks like a character who has one unified wardrobe (similar to Connery), whereas Craig’s era felt very haphazard. I imagine his version of Bond sitting in his lonely barren apartment thinking of ways to adjust his suit/shirt fit and details for the 10th iteration. There may be some valid reasons for this (different costume designers, run over a longer time span), but none of which endear me to their choices.
If nothing else GOLDENEYE definitely allowed Mr Brosnan to establish himself as Sir Roger’s leading challenger for the ‘Suavest Bond’ trophy (This being Bond, James Bond we’re talking about the competition is FIERCE, but I genuinely feel Sir Roger Moore and Mr Pierce Brosnan are the 007s most convincing as secret agents – emphasis on ‘secret’ – in that they are the ones best able to fool the audience and the opposition into thinking they’re not lethally dangerous, right up until the opposition abruptly stops breathing).
Great article Matt about one of my favourite James Bond films. Btw, I work in the City of London and a single went suit is completely appropriate and is actually preferred by some of my older colleagues (I work in a Law firm). Traditional menswear shops like Cording’s still offer their City suits with single vents, in fact I’m wearing one now :-)
I too have single vented jackets and blazers from Cordings, as I like the fit and the style. Back in the day, and in more conservative institutions, did it used to be single vent for SB suits and double vents for DB suits?
Well back in the day single breasted suits were single vent as default, while DB were normally ventless, just see the movies showing 20s,30s,40s suits. Both vents come from the old cavalry tradition as it was important for jacket to fit properly while riding a horse. Single vent is older tradition ,double vents a bit newer but both are very English.
Great review Matt.
The character shouldn’t wear anything flashy or luxurious. No cufflinks, no pocket square, no loud patterns, no jewellery (no gold hardware, dare I say). This is a guy who wears button cuffs and who buttons his suits. Naval background, no fuss. Nothing that screams “rich”.
Brosnan looks great but draws too much attention to himself, something a secret agent would never do. I remember some interviews in 2011 with Gary Oldman and Tomas Alfredson where they talked about George Smiley’s character: would he wear a watch? Which one? Cufflinks or cocktail cuffs? Just ordinary barrel cuffs. A pocket square? Too flashy for someone who lives in the shadows. A different type of film, but I think the previous films at least cared about details and were coherent to the ethos of the character. This time, Bond is just Remington Steele or some backbencher in the House of Lords.
This attention to detail is missing from GoldenEye onwards. They are just marketing and advertising. These movies aren’t just a product: they sell products.
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That being said… I like the clothes on a personal level.
The Sulka shirts are just meh, and all the collars look bad on Brosnan (the ones with no tie space in particular).
You’re spot on about those collars.
I do have to disagree a bit regarding George Smiley. In the books Smiley is described as a poor dresser, but I think that is more due to ignorance than some attempt to blend into a crowd. It’s mentioned he does wear expensive, though bad, clothes and given the poor fit and how many notice and comment on it, I’d say they probably make him stand out. Also consider how flamboyant Toby Esterhazy is described as dressing.
I am with you on having mixed feelings on the way they dressed Brosnan. I don’t really think the film makers could have gotten away in 1995 dressing him like say Connery was and LTK showed how dressing Bond in a drab and forgettable manner also doesn’t really work. So I think they just went with the banker look as they knew it would work for the actor they had cast.
It was great to read John and Lee’s comments on Smiley’s attire as I am as much a fan of the Smiley books and films as I am Bond. Whilst strictly outside the Bond remit, a review by Matt of Alec Guinness’s attire in the two BBC productions would be a treat. Bond actors Michael Lonsdale, Curt Jurgens and Vladek Sheybal all played roles in Smiley’s People (1982), as did Lucy Fleming, Ian’s neice – so there are plenty of links!
I agree with the OP but I think that it boils down to something a bit more fundamental – Brosnan is the kind of man who, whilst being undeniably as handsome as any 007, rather does personally fit the ‘dandy’ image, which ISN’T necessarily the best image for Bond (Moore got away with it ‘cos his tenure as Bond was almost just one great big wink at the audience). It’s hard to imagine Brosnan as a near-humourless and sartorially minimalist Bond in the tradition of Dalton.
The way I understand is that Brosnan was always dressed as a dandy by different costume designers and didn’t choose to dress as a dandy. Brosnan said he enjoyed the moments in Remington Steele when he didn’t have to wear a suit. We’re so used to seeing him dressed as a dandy that it’s difficult to imagine him dressed differently. But when he wears the grey sharkskin suit in The World Is Not Enough, he pulls off the classic Bond look as well as Connery. I might have to find a minimalist Connery-Bond-like suited look from Remington Steele to compare. This is the closest I’ve written about, but it’s closer to 1980s Moore: https://www.bondsuits.com/remington-steele-a-classic-charcoal-three-piece-suit/
Am gonna disagree about the grey suit in the office. I think it looks fantastic, and appropriate. Helps, of course, that Brosnan in Goldeneye had a frame on which it would be hard to make a suit look bad.
I defo prefer the two-button look to the three-button that we see so often in the Brosnan movies.
If the office suit were grey, I would have been slightly more positive about it.
I understand it’s a navy and sand check, but it reads as a fairly neutral mid grey onscreen, maybe because of lighting. If you don’t see it as mid grey, what color would you say it is ? Taupe ?
Yes, I think taupe is an appropriate way to describe it. It’s a warm neutral. I have a similar suit myself, and in practice it wears much differently than grey because of the warmth.
I’ll blame my dyslexic reading of your description.
In mitigation, it does look grey.
Excellent review Matt I have been looking forward to it! I thought you actually might have ranked this higher. Looking at the photos the clothes have aged very well and don’t seem outdated. I agree the suits are on the fuller side but Brosnan carries them off.
I think Lindy Hemming did a fantastic job with Brosnan’s costumes by making them relatively timeless and still contemporary for the 1990s. I think the choice to go with Brioni was the best option under the circumstances as it kept Bond in bespoke suits, even if Italian rather than British.
While I don’t disagree with any of your criticisms, I feel that the bottom line is that Brosnan’s Bond looks elegant, even if in a different way to previous Bonds. He doesn’t look bad in any of the outfits in this film. After Dalton’s uninspiring tailoring and some of Moore’s more dated 1970s looks that’s a positive step.
It’s a great film and Pierce is an outstanding Bond, on a par with Roger for his suavity as has been noted. Personally I like the fuller 90s fit, but I notice Pierce’s suits, though nice, never look as special as the bespoke Savile Row tailoring of Roger and Sean. I notice that Pierce wears silk handkerchiefs in his breast pocket with most of his suits. Along with the pattered ties, are these a Brosnanian rather than Bondian, touch? It seems a bit Remington Steele to me, as does the cravat, which Pierce wears with great aplomb.
7/10? For England, Matt? :)
Goldeneye must have Bond’s highest body count, at least of civilians thanks to his tank rampage in broad daylight. Great movie, great clothes, and one of the all-time best heavies with Xenia. But it’s also Bond at his most unhinged. It’s foreshadowed at the beginning of the film in the Aston Martin scene, but it’s quite amazing how far EON lent into this angle.
I would personally give this one 8/10. It could have been a 9 but for a number of issues which you have addressed Matt. The navy blazer should have been buttoned and I agree that Bond looks too much like a soldier in the tactical outfits. Dark knitwear and possibly a casual jacket both in a weight to suit the climate would have worked better in those scenes. The suits are on the full side but I think they look good on Brosnan and I have no issue with the length of the jackets which look infinitely superior to the short jackets of today. I would have preferred a narrower trouser leg but again Brosnan looks good in them. The ties and silk puffed pocket squares are a bit loud and flashy for Bond and improvements were made in the subsequent Brosnan movies (broadly speaking). I personally don’t find the overcoat boring, I think it’s beautiful but would look better buttoned. Nice to see Bond back in English shoes too which are beautiful. A shame it didn’t extend to British bespoke suits but Brioni was a good compromise. I agree with your picks on the best outfits Matt.
I agree with most of the comments, and would have gone with an 8/10 myself. Consistency to the wardrobe was one of the positives contributions of Mrs. Hemming. I think she got the tie style right starting from TWINE -or TND if you forgot the busy diamond patterned brown tie. I think the suits are fairly timeless. The checked suit when buttoned looked good, not too roomy, a full cut with still a little shape, a bit like Connery. All Others were worn unbuttoned so yes, too many coats flapping around maybe. The button stance seems fairly balanced regarding the jacket length. The Hayward suits, on the contrary, have an even lower button stance that does throw out their balance a little.
I liked the casual and assault outfits which were perfectly appropriate for the occasion. The all black combat gear can be seen as boring but it doesn’t have that many screen time and is quite appropriate, like Dalton’s one in TLD. The khaki colors work on Brosnan and are perfectly appropriate for a jungle infiltration. Only outfit I didn’t like was the blazer with beige trousers. It looked more like what a wealthy WASP person would wear on a weekend near the sea than what Bond would wear.
I agree. I’ve mentioned in another comment before that I find the button stance in GE to be pretty balanced. It might be a bit lower than in subsequent movies but we’re not talking 1980s low.
https://media.gettyimages.com/photos/irish-actor-pierce-brosnan-1995-picture-id158681788?s=2048×2048
I agree with the assessments in this article but would have made the final mark 8/10.
Unfortunately for me, though the ‘90’s and movies like ‘Goldeneye’ informed my opinion of what an ‘ordinary’ and ‘generic’ (and therefore ‘proper’), suit should be – three buttons with a single rear vent – by the time in Auckland / New Zealand I had SOMEWHAT of a budget to play with and to begin kitting myself out in suits (decent NZ suits = Canterbury or Rembrandt), it was already the millennium mid-00’s and the trend had shifted to two buttons with double vents. I lamented that at the time because dual vents reminded me of a duck’s ass-hiding tail flap or even a hillbilly’s ‘easy access’ pajamas.
Nowadays I prefer the two button + single vented silhouette as I now understand that three buttons won’t flatter a man of my ordinary nothing-to-write-home-about height but my own initial naïveté does still amuse me.
You make an excellent point whereby, excluding some excellent exceptions such as Barbour and Massimo Alba, Craig’s tenure as Bond basically failed in regard to his more formal habiliments (in regard to their cut and fit), and yet he was the best ‘utilitarian’-outfitted Bond yet (as I suppose the Barbour and the cords ultimately corroborate).
I realize that this isn’t the case, but if you want an in-universe explanation of why Bond is wearing Brioni: by the late 1990s and throughout Brosnan’s tenure, the UK was very involved in the European Union. Bond was now dressing like a continental because the nations of Europe were coming together in many ways and of course the single market in theory was bringing more Italian style to Britain and vice versa.
Very true, those were the days of Tony Blair, Cappuccino, Brioni, and Italian football players like Ravanelli in teams like Middlesbrough, Vialli in Chelsea, etc. Universal Exports indeed.
I think the low gorge does a good job giving Brosnan’s chest more presence, yet you can still notice how tall he is. Like Gary Cooper for example who had a similar silhouette.
I’ve always feel very strong vibes of 30s-40s Cary Grant around Pierce Brosnan, both for Remington Steele and for James Bond.
These clothes are a wardrobe that Cary Grant could wear in many pictures of 40s ( for exemple “Notorious”).
I agree that the cut is a bit full for Bond,and that a British firm would have done well (Gieves & Hawkes for exemple).
But the Brioni clothes are stunnings,very classic and elegant.
I would have liked see in the movie the two double breasteds that Brioni cut for the movie but were used only for publicity shots…i know,i know,the double breasted is non the ideal for Bond,but were suits so beautifull….
What is the other promotional double breasted suit ? I remember only the charcoal grey striped suit
If the Bond Producers can figure out the direction of the next Bond, then maybe they can get back to British tailoring.. A one button Richard Anderson suits would be nice. What was the color of the mole skin pants that Brosnan was wearing with Navy blue jumper? Thanks Matt
Brosnan’s moleskin trousers are tan. They’re lovely, and I hope something similar returns in a future Bond film.
What would be some other examples of an off-duty naval officer look?
I think the more classic example would be a sports coat and tie.
The issue with the military wear is that Bond is a secret agent, not a soldier. He should be dressing so that with little adjustment he can leave a mission and walk down the street.
I agree. It would also have been an opportunity for Brosnan’s Bond to wear some cool casual wear that could also be worn in every day life. There wasn’t enough of that in his movies in my opinion for the time period in which they’re set.
Were Brosnan’s trousers tapered at all? And how do they compare to Connery’s in DN (which I know were also tapered)?
Yes, Brosnan’s trousers were also tapered. They had a fuller leg than Connery’s trousers, but Brioni called these trousers ‘Snello’, which means slender. They were supposed to be a trim look, at least by 1990s standards.