The last time we saw Bond wearing blazer was on Pierce Brosnan, 16 years ago in GoldenEye. The navy wool hopsack, double-breasted Brioni blazer in their “Plinio” model has six brass buttons in a button-two, show-three configuration. It has flapped pockets (in some shots the flaps are tucked in), double vents and four overlapping buttons on the cuffs. The wide pointed lapels have a button hole in each side.
Bond wears the blazer open for the whole scene. Double-breasted suits and blazers are typically worn closed all the time and there are a few logical reasons for this. When walking around with the blazer open as Bond does here, the front flaps around more than it does on a single-breasted coat. And whilst single-breasted coats can be unbuttoned when seated, buttoning and unbuttoning a double-breasted coat involves using not only the outside button but the jigger button as well. Dealing with the jigger button in public is awkward and thus is a good reason not unbutton your double-breasted blazer or suit in public.
The beige tropical wool trousers have triple reverse pleats and turn-ups, and they are not from Brioni. Triple pleats were popular in the 90s, and back then one could even find trousers with four pleats on each side. The purpose of the third pleat is only to add bulk. Though trouser pleats are currently out of fashion, nobody can deny their practicality. The main pleat serves to expand when seated because as we sit our body changes shape. The second pleat gives ease to the main pleat so it stays closed when standing. Adding a third pleat generally serves no practical purpose on men. Women’s trousers may often have more pleats because they help shape the trousers over larger hips. Bond wears his trousers with a brown belt with a gold buckle.
Bond’s shirt is French blue end-on-end with a fine white grid check. The shirt has a moderate spread collar, a placket front and one-button rounded cuffs. Bond wears the collar and first buttons open. Bond’s shoes are brown full-brogue oxfords from Church’s in either the Chetwynd or Burwood model.
Thank you to Raccoon007 for identifying the blazer’s material as hopsack and for confirming that the trousers are not from Brioni.
The shoes are of monk model and according to my boot maker they are, surprisingly, Crockett & Jones Handgrade model Savile.
http://www.crockettandjones.co.uk/handgrade-savile.html
Regards
Alex
I agree about the jacket being left open. This would work better with the single breasted version but this look (uncharacteristically for Brosnan) is a little sloppy.
What's the thinking on why Bond has never worn one since Goldeneye, the longest in the series we've never seen this Bond staple? It seems to me that they've simply fallen out of popularity (as with a lot of sharp, classic clothing).
Alex, there was a deal in GoldenEye for Bond to wear shoes by Church's, so I highly doubt that Bond is wearing a shoe by Crockett & Jones. I can tell you that they are lace-ups for sure, not monks. There's one point where the laces can be seen. Earlier in the film Bond wears brown Church's Chetwynd brogues, and these may be the same.
David, Brosnan wore a lot of double-breasted suits and blazers in Remington Steele, and they were always kept buttoned, except occasionally when lounging around the office. Brosnan knows how to wear a double-breasted jacket, so I don't know whose problem it is here. Blazers are often seen as old man-ish, probably why Bond hasn't worn any recently. But no sports coats either.
Thanks for this!
Thanks for this blog, Matt. Really enjoying it (even though I was never much of a blogger before).
We agree about why blazers aren't seen in Bond movies anymore and you know my opinion on the current incumbant from previous comments so suffice it to say that I don't think we'll see either these or sports coats etc for the forseeable future.
Shame as these clothes have a traditional British/military heritage and I thought Bond shared this heritage. Obviously, Madam Broccoli doesn't shre my views!
I think Bond wears a blazer at M's house in Casino Royale.
The 6×1 style was also popular in the '80s and '90s. Triple pleats are excessive and, I think, quite ugly. One pleat too many.
I have a 6×1 double breasted suit. I don't even bother with the jigger when I know I'll be sitting down and standing up a bit (such as at a play). Double breasteds from before a certain point didn't even have a jigger button, much like modern pea coats still don't. Call it sloppy, but I think it looked fine on Edward VIII and his contemporaries. A sort of relaxed, insouciant quality to it.
Excuse me, but are fixed about the fabric of suit and shirts! Do you think the blazer fabric was serge or flannel?
I’d have to look closer, but I’d say serge. I’m pretty sure it’s not flannel. That wouldn’t make any sense in the context.
Is it just me or does this jacket look way too long ? (Knowing that the film’s other jackets were already longer than usual)
It looks longer than the others but I don’t think it is. Because the double-breasted jacket isn’t cut away in front, that can make it look even longer. The length is also more noticeable because of the contrast between the jacket and trousers, which emphasises where the jacket ends. But still, you’re right. The jacket is too long, as are all of the others in the film. This one just really stands out.
“But still, you’re right. The jacket is too long, as are all of the others in the film.”
I would disagree with this. They are exactly as long as they were supposed to be, which is what was appropriate for the time. Having recently rewatched some TV and movies from this period it’s in line with what others were wearing.
Just because it was intentional and is what other people were wearing doesn’t mean it’s still not too long. Trends do not make fit problems acceptable, and Brosnan would look better proportioned with a jacket that’s an inch shorter.
With a few adjustments this look can still work today. I like the combination of a navy jacket and beige/tan or khaki trousers. Matt do you think a double breasted blazer, be it one with more shape and maybe different buttons would work well today? I think the french blue shirt that Brosnan wears is very timeless.
Sure, this kind of blazer can still work well.
I may be wrong , but l do believe that the same blue shirt is worn with his Jumper.
Yes, it is the same shirt.
That makes it the first checked shirt Bond ever wore with a blazer/sports coat/ or even suit jacket, correct Matt ? Too bad we don’t see it that much onscreen . I am sure the pattern is tasteful. After all, Mrs. Hemming choose it :)
If you count the Sir Hilary Bray outfit, that’s the first.
Matt do you think the blazer was made bespoke for Pierce Brosnan or off the rack? On a side note I think the blazer also has some shape through the waist if gentle waist suppression. Because he wears it open it’s hard to tell. The shoulders are a good width and don’t look over done. It really hasn’t aged that badly.
I’m sure this was made for him, like everything else.
You would think so, there are a couple of shots in the film where you see him standing almost full length wearing the blazer on the yacht. The blazer looks like there is some shape through the waist. It is a perfect fit for Brosnan’s tall lean frame, though it is obviously less fitted then what is fashionable today in 2018, though that’s not a bad thing.
I liked the update on a Connery’s navy blazer post. Great detail. Do you think you’ll do a bit of an update on other post’s like this one?
Probably not so much.
I have found out that the blazer is Brioni’s Plinio model and the beige wool trousers are the Snello model. If you think those facts are of note Matt.
I have had that information for over a decade, but I didn’t post it because I don’t believe it to be accurate. It came from an Italian article published with a few inaccuracies. The author of that article spoke with Brioni in the 1990s, and I think he was provided with ready-to-wear models that closely matched the screen-worn items. First of all, Brosnan’s clothes are bespoke, so a model name is not exactly relevant. Second, I am not convinced that these trousers are the “Snello” model anyway because that name means “slender”. These trousers are full-cut with triple pleats. Hardly slender, I’d say.
Pleats….it’s like driving a new mercedes with two hood ornaments.
The blazer is probably based on the Plinio model but bespoke like the suits, which were based on the Augusto model. I think your right about the trousers especially seeing snello means slender in Italian.
I would say Brosnan left the blazer open to look more casual, it was also a habit he had in Remington Steele with double breasted jackets. Ralph Fiennes as M leaves the jacket of his dark grey check suit in Spectre open when walking around in Japan. The fuller cut of Brosnan’s blazer does make it less flattering.
My Goldeneye suit and my Bondgirl. Mission complete!
Regards from your Brazilian Bondbrother.
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I personally think the suits Brioni makes look boxy compared to the English suits other actors have worn or the Angelo Vitucci suits Roger Moore wore.