When in La Paz, Bolivia in Quantum of Solace, James Bond wears a brown mohair tonic suit from Tom Ford. These scenes were actually filmed in Panama, which is a much warmer country than Bolivia is, and the cool-wearing properties of mohair tonic makes an excellent suit for Panama’s warm weather. The dark brown colour, on the other hand, is perfect for La Paz’s cool weather. The suiting (the cloth a suit is made from) is a 2×1 hopsack weave in light brown and dark brown that results in a subtle nailhead pattern. This 2×1 weave is the simplest of all basketweaves and is the same weave as a pinpoint shirting.
This Tom Ford suit has a three buttons on the front with the lapels rolled down to the middle button, for a button two, show one configuration. This is also known as three-roll-two. It has a clean chest with a suppressed waist and pagoda shoulders with roped sleeve heads. The jacket is detailed with double vents, five buttons on the cuff—worn with the last button open—and flapped pockets with a ticket pocket. The flat front trousers have a straight, but narrow, cut and turn-ups. Instead of belt loops the trousers have slide-buckle side-adjusters.
James Bond’s shirt and tie are also made by Tom Ford. The shirt is white poplin with a spread collar and double cuffs. It is fitted through the body with two darts at the back. The tie is made up of small squares in dark brown and tan, and it is tied in a Windsor knot. Bond’s shoes are black punched-cap-toe oxfords, the Philip model from Church’s. Though brown shoes usually match better with brown suits, black shoes work here due to the dark and muted tone of this brown suit.
The heavily suppressed wait and the "more than subtle" flare at the bottom of the coat kind of makes the whole thing look a bit strange, at least to me. Read somewhere that they added the flare to give Bond freedom to run over rooftops and fight bad guys!
Would prefer a fit that's a wee bit more relaxed(at least in the upper part of the torso) than what's going on here. Moore's suits usually had clean chests and nipped waists giving a nice fitted look, the Donegal tweed suit worn in Moonraker is the perfect example of this.
Matt, amazing blog.
Correct me if I am mistaken, but is it not wrong, when the tie/shirt is visible under the fastened button of the jacket?
You are correct, the tie should not be visible under the fastened button. The problem here is that the tie is too long, and the trousers could use a longer rise. Some may say the front is cutaway too much, but that's an acceptable style.
Thanks for your answer Matt, I have been following this blog for quite some time now. Excellent job. It would be interesting to read your analysis on the suit Moore wears in the Peninsula Hotel in the Man with the Golden Gun. I think it is very good. (apart from the linings of course)
Best regards
DB
i mean who on earth is not impressed with BOND suits and his gear …but to me its just an ordinary man with suits on …LOL..:)
and i wonder just how much this little "bling" number cost. I agree with the observations of the 2 Anonymous postings above and your response, Matt.
The suits worn by Connery and Moore never showed tie because of a superior cut (low button stance and high rise trousers) by a Savile Row tailor not a "bling bling" artist and because that kind of thing mattered to people then.
I agree with David, and especially with the first anonymous comment about the chest. Can't stand the way current fashion dictates that a suit has to bulge so at the chest and waist.
Nice fabric and colour for a suit, and fairly decent cut. Craig nearly looks the role.
Also, full thumbs up for the tie, which is wonderful.
Somehow, a few 'heresies' are committed here.
First, the one spotted above and abundantly discussed. The tie should simply not appear below the button. Neither should the shirt. Full stop.
Next is black shoes worn with a brown suit, which induces a very heavy sigh of despair.
Then, the 5-button cuff is an amusing variation, and is not disturbing per se. What comes as a shock is the last undone button, which is so ostentatious and so 'beneath Bond'.
Never before had an actor gone so low… Even Connery with the 2 upper buttons closed in DAD linen suit would go forgiven compared to that.
Then, of course, although this is a separate but still ongoing debate, the appalling miscast, which admittedly gives ample leeway to Vladimir Putin's extra-curricular activities as an actor (!) Someone more 'clothes-conscious' would have been a much needed requirement.
Thanks again to Matt for this thorough analysis. S
The suit itself, along with the rest of the outfit, is very stylish. However it seems as if the jacket is a little too snug, at least in these pictures. And I agree about the black shoes with a brown suit, that's not working.
Love the work you've done here Matt, look forward to reading every post. How about taking a look at Layer Cake some time?
Actually black shoes with brown suits are correct per Apparel Arts and 1930s Esquire mags, which are considered the authority on men's wear. This isn't well known today. Nice blog.
Tom Ford style:
The jacket is 1 size too small.
The pants are 2 sizes too small.
Nobody who wears suits on a regular basis would make those mistakes.
I have some sympathy for the charge that Bond here is "expensively dressed", as opposed to "well-dressed". That's the mistake that I felt the producers made when they changed over to Brioni in 1995 for GoldenEye, and which the seem to be repeating here.
On this occassion, it kind of works, as Bond says his cover is as a "tourist who won the lottery" (I haven't seen more than once and than was a fair while ago, so I think that's how it goes.) And in Casino Royale, he's posing as a wealthy professional gambler, so again, the expensive suits work.
But now we hear that Tom Ford is returning for SkyFall, and I wonder what situations the production team and the writers will conjure up to throw Bond into a $5,000 desiner label suit this time…
I read somewhere that 3 button suits are from the 90's but Daniel Craig only wears 3 button suits. Could you explain this?
3-button suits are classics and more traditional than the 2-button suit. That has nothing to do with any decade. As long as it's not cut like a 90's 3-button suit Craig won't look outdated.
i dont like craigs style as bond, well obviously not his but his dressers, costume staff, etc, i think they wanted to give bond a more contemporary style but for me that means ordinary, the only thing missing is bond wearing all in the same color (suit, shirt and tie) for the next movie. That new tendencies are just horrible i dont care if hugo boss or Zegna show their models dressed like that is horrible, i prefer to be classy and timeless.
This is one of the few craig outfits that i really like and find astonishing.
OH, matt and i have a question the dimple thing u speak about on the tie is well seen or its a mistake? because i have seen it also in brosnan, i kinda like it..
The dimple is there on purpose.
Hi Matt – just wondering how he managed to get a four-in-hand knot to be that big – is it all down to the tie, or is there a special way of doing the four in hand that I haven’t mastered yet, as the knot always comes out tiny
It’s the tie. For a larger knot the tie will be wider in that area and heavier. You can also wrap the tie around an extra time for a larger knot, but the knot should always be tight.
That’s not four-n-hand knot actually. There were some debates about that, but I am more than sure that it’s a Windsor knot, it’s just shirt collar that makes it look longer and thinner rather than bulky and wide.
I know this will sound absurd and ridiculous to many, but what’s the view/general consensus on wearing light brown, plain cowboy boots with a suit?
Only if you’re a true cowboy. Otherwise if you want to wear boots with a suit stick with balmoral boots or chelsea boots.
Could we say that Craig used only Windsor knots in QOS, since every tie knot is big and symetrical, like the one of this outfit ? Anyway, I must admit that a Windsor knot looks much better with a tall spread collar, like this one, rather than with Connery’s shirt collars, which had a more important spread.
They aren’t as wide as the typical windsor knot, but that may be due to the shape of the tie. Some people have suggested it could be a Pratt knot.
This suit is one of the best of the series IMO. I personally prefer the classic pleated trousers, however these flat front ones look good on Craig’s lean legs. It has the perfect silhouette (as with the other suits in QoS) but the colour as well is beautiful. I really think the done the business in this movie with the suits, shirts ties. Love the choice of knot and the Church’s Oxfords finish the outfit perfectly to keep the linez uncluttered.
Wow! So much Craig Hate! In my opinion, QoS is the bessed dressed fim in the entire “new” series (GE-SF). The complaints about his suit being to tight in this film are unfounded ad due to the photo provided. In the top photo, he’s carrying a briefcase which drags down his arm, thus wrinkling the suit at the waist where he bends. The bottom picture is much better as you can see that the suit mostly hangs cleanly, unlike those terrible suits in Skyfall, with the only wrinkles due to him holding his hand behind his back. With regard to the tie, the fact that is shows below his button is due to the fact that the trousers aren’t worn at the true waist, but about two inches lower, a cut that I think flatters most men with a flat stomach. While the tie might be slightly too long, when the jacket is worn with the arms at the sides, the tie is invisible and the jacket half-covers the lower button. As far as the cut of the jacket goes, I think it’s the best cut so far, very close to the cut of his Dinner suit in CR. The suppressed waist brings out the great physique of his chest, shoulders and abs, while the flared skirt balances out the top half of the suit. The cut of the trousers might be a bit too short, but the side adjusters are far superior to a belt, which would bulge under the slim cut of the jacket, and the flat front matches the clean, tight fit of the rest of the suit, and, as stated above, black shoes are perfectly acceptable with a brown suit, especially as Bond is a city man. Overall, the best suits in the series. A clean cut that matches with Craig’s character, but yet still elegant and traditional enough to be worn by Bond.
These are also my favourite suits in the new series. For one thing they are more consistent in style. For another, they actually do have a pretty good close (not tight) fit, not at all the two sizes too small complaint made above.
2 questions, Matt. Number one I think this is a great article, and I also personally feel like this is Bond’s best Brown suit in the series. My first question is that this suit is of course in a really dark shade of brown, of course, but how would you be able to tell the differences between dark charcoal, dark navy, dark brown and black? They all look really similar. Also, because this suit is in dark brown, why is it not considered to be a “must-have” suit? Most dark suits such as navy, dark charcoal, and black are considered to be “must-have” suits. What is the reason for dark brown not being in the same group as those suits?
In person the suit looks more brown. Black looks a lot different from the others since it’s the darkest and flattest of all. Navy is more vibrant. Charcoal and this suit’s shade of brown are similar, but charcoal is cool whilst dark brown is warm. Navy and charcoal (but not black) are “must-have” suits because they are the most formal. Dark brown is not as formal because it’s not a city colour. Brown doesn’t look as serious as navy and charcoal because of its warmer tone. It looks friendlier. Black is also not in the same group as navy and charcoal (and also medium grey). Black is more formal and thus not traditionally considered an appropriate suit colour.
When considering how big the lapels on a suit should be, how do you decide? I think that it’s mostly decided by how big your chest and upper body overall is. You said once that Craig’s chest size is 40 in, which is also my chest size. However, I am 4.5 inches shorter than Craig and my upper body is overall wider and I am overall more muscular than a lot of other people my age, even the ones who are taller. If I have a 40 in chest, what size of lapels should I get on a suit, peaked or notch? I see that the fashion-forward 2.5 in lapels have the same shrinking effect on me as the tight O’Connors do on Daniel Craig in Skyfall and Spectre. And I feel much more muscular when wearing 3 in lapels. I believe that 3 in is the right size for lapels, regardless of whether it’s a notch, peak, or shawl lapel. If you think that another size of lapel is better for me, could you please tell me?
For a balanced look, notched lapels should be slightly over half the distance to the sleeve, and they should be about half an inch wider on peaked lapels. On a 40″ chest, you’ll want notched lapels that are about 3 inches wide or peaked lapels that are about 3 1/2 inches wide. Narrow lapels can actually make a chest look stronger, if that’s what you’re after.
The best of the Tom Ford suits Craig has worn, excellent cut. the very dark brown works very well and not a brown colour that dates. I could even wear that colour; even though I have dark hair and a cool complexion. The jacket length Matt of the QOS suits are all a classic length yes ? they don’t look short like the Skyfall suits or Spectre.
Yes, they are a classic length.
Nice comments gentlemen
I too am a big fan of this combination.
The tie is fantastic.
The suit though is a little bulky at the waist and feels as though it should slim more in the lower section.
Trousers look one size too slim.
I agree, although black shoes are acceptable, a brown shoe would have finished the ensemble perfectly.