For dinner with Goodnight in The Man with the Golden Gun, James Bond wears a charcoal suit in a mini-herringbone weave that is indicated by its narrow tonal stripe. It has a sheen that would suggest a mohair blend. The cut and details are exactly the same as the other single-breasted suits in the film, all made by Cyril Castle.
The colour of the suit looks charcoal in the best-lit shots, but sometimes it looks black and sometimes it looks like it could be a very dark, cool brown. When compared to the waiter’s black clothes and Bond’s black tie, the suit looks lighter than black. And since the shirt’s stripes undoubtedly look grey, a brown suit likely wouldn’t have been paired with such a shirt.
The jacket has two buttons on the front, soft shoulders, slanted hip pockets with flaps, long double vents and link-button cuffs. The shirt is white cotton voile with grey stripes but the same in style to the other Frank Foster shirts in the film, with a spread collar, a front placket and two-button cocktail cuffs. The tie is black satin silk, more appropriate for his dinner with Goodnight.
When Bond gets back to his Bangkok hotel room he takes off his suit coat and we get a better look at the shirt and trousers. The shirt is well-fitted but not too tight. The waist of the shirt is taken in at the back with a dart on each side. The sleeves are made with extra slack so when the arm moves around the cuff stays in place. For this to be effective the cuff needs to be sized correctly so it doesn’t slide down the hand. The gauntlet (sleeve placket) is fairly long and without a button. The voile shirt fabric is sheer and helps make the Bangkok heat more bearable. Like most of Bond’s shirts, this shirt has a front placket. The rigidity the placket gives the front of the shirt is necessary with such a lightweight fabric. However, the placket has no interfacing for a soft feel, and it’s stitched close to the centre to allow the place to flare out a little.
The trousers sit around the natural waist, much higher than is typical today. The trousers sit just under the top button of the button two jacket, which creates a smooth, continuous look from jacket to trousers without the interruption of a tie or shirt in between. That’s the biggest problem with wearing low-rise trousers with a suit, as is often seen in today’s fashion. A belt also breaks the flow from jacket to trousers, but the belt with this suit is covered well by the jacket so that’s less of a problem. Like on Roger Moore’s other suit trousers in The Man with the Golden Gun there are two button-through back pockets and large coin pockets on both sides of the trousers accessed from just below the waistband, but there no side pockets.
Moore wears black socks with this suit to match the shoes. His black belt and black horsebit apron-front slip-on shoes are from either Ferragamo or Gucci.
Christie’s sold a suit from The Man with the Golden Gun that they claimed was this suit, but it was most likely the black suit on Scaramaga’s James Bond dummy rather than this charcoal herringbone suit.
And how about the closet in Bond’s hotel room? He sure doesn’t pack light. But those are not his suits. All of Bond’s suits had link button cuffs at the time and these coats have cuffs with three buttons. They aren’t even all the same size. Nice try. Gucci, who made Moore’s shoes and belts for The Man with the Golden Gun, also made the suitcase that can be seen on the top shelf of the closet.
Is the knot a four in hand or a half windsor?
That’s a four-in-hand knot.
How high should one wear their trousers? It looks like Sir Roger hit the perfect mark.
Happy new year !
Happy new year! One should wear their trousers above their hip bone.
Whats your opinion on satin worn with herringbone?
Regardless of the time of day shouldnt satin be worn with worsted?
The satin weave of the tie and the herringbone weave of the suit go very nicely together. The suit is indeed worsted wool, blended with mohair and/or silk. Worsted wool is a fibre, which can be woven in many different weaves and finished in various ways. The satin silk tie goes beautifully with the sheen of this suit.
New year resolution: be more educated! Unfortunately medical school never taught me this
Thank you again