Trains feature heavily in the James Bond films, not only as a means of transport but frequently as a backdrop for fine dining where Bond can sit down for a conversation while still in motion, or for a dramatic fight sequence in close quarters where nobody can escape. When Bond chooses to travel by train—opposed to when he suddenly finds himself aboard or on top of a train—he usually travels in luxury. For a first-class train experience, he must dress the part.
Bond’s on-screen relationship with glamourous train travel begins on the legendary Orient Express in From Russia with Love, as part of his escape route after stealing the Lektor decoding device. He wears a dark grey pick-and-pick suit from Anthony Sinclair with a pale blue shirt and a navy grenadine tie, an outfit that would still be equally appropriate today for first-class travel. Bond has a private sleeping compartment, but to Tatiana’s dismay, they take their meal in the restaurant car. The restaurant car is a high-class, wood-panelled dining room that demands being elegantly dressed. In such a restaurant today, a man should at least wear a jacket. Bond wears a suit and tie, his daily business uniform, so his attire is not particularly special, but it’s more than suitable for dinner.
In Live and Let Die, Bond wears a double-breasted dark grey silk suit from Cyril Castle for a train trip that’s purely for the experience of travelling by train. We only see Bond in his compartment aboard the train—which is far less elegant than his compartment aboard the Orient Express—wearing his suit with his tie loosened playing cards over a nightcap. We can assume he wore the suit for dinner with Solitaire, possibly in the restaurant car but more likely in their compartment. In preparing for bed, he changes into a luxurious windowpane dressing gown from Sulka. Only the best for Bond, especially when he’s aboard a train.
In The Spy Who Loved Me, Bond returns to his compartment after a ‘delicious’ dinner in the restaurant car, dressed in a brown silk suit from Angelo Roma with a tan striped shirt and brown striped tie, matching the train’s updated 1970s wood veneer panelling. The brown suit is less formal than the previous two suits, but Bond still shows train travelling the respect it deserves.
Bond dresses up in a dark multi-stripe suit from Brioni, white-on-white-striped shirt and discretely patterned tie for a fancy lamb dinner aboard a modern high-speed train to Montenegro in Casino Royale. This restaurant car looks less like a luxurious restaurant than the one in From Russia with Love, but it’s a 21st century first-class dining experience. The dining passengers are all dressed up, either travelling for business like Bond is or on a luxurious holiday. The passengers provide far more atmosphere than the modern train design does.
Bond rides the most elegant train of the series in Spectre in Morocco, wearing a tan suede jacket with a light blue casual shirt as well as a light brown linen-blend jacket with a white shirt and brown tie, but for dinner he changes into something more special for dinner. This small train, like a luxury boutique hotel, has a valet to press Bond’s dinner clothes before their grand reveal. It appears that this train’s beautifully appointed restaurant car has a black tie dress code, and costume designer Jany Temime chose an ivory dinner jacket from Tom Ford for Bond to wear in Morocco because of Humphrey Bogart’s ivory dinner jacket in Casablanca. It was time for Daniel Craig’s Bond to wear the classic ivory dinner jacket, and he helped its return to fashion. From casual to black tie, Bond’s attire takes his train trip in Spectre from accessible to aspirational, everything modern Bond train travel should be.
Bond finds himself aboard trains in other films, including You Only Live Twice, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, Octopussy, GoldenEye and Skyfall, but these are not purposefully glamourous experiences for Bond, even if some of the trains include luxurious carriages. While Bond is dressed appropriately for a first-class train ride in some of these, in three of these he’s in disguise—wearing stolen Japanese shoes, a tweed Inverness coat, a circus jacket, a knife-thrower uniform or an unforgettable gorilla suit.
Interesting theme. Would you consider creating a post covering Sean’s outfits in Murder on the Orient Express (1974)?
BAMF Style did a great job writing about some of those outfits already:
https://bamfstyle.com/2016/11/18/motoe-connery-houndstooth/
https://bamfstyle.com/2017/08/25/motoe-connery-plaid-norfolk/
Can an ivory dinner jacket ever be worn with anything else than a black bow tie, such as a black necktie? I’asking for a friend.
If you’re wearing it for a black tie occasion, it should be worn only with a black bow tie.
If your ivory dinner jacket is of the traditional variety without silk lapel facings, I find that it can work as an informal summer jacket with an open-neck shirt (preferably not in white), but again, not with a tie.
maybe also with an open-neck shirt and a cravat or neckerchief?
I have midnight blue strides to wear with my ecru dinner jacket and prefer a midnight blue bow tie. Black just seems harsh against the warmer tones of the ecru jacket, and midnight blue seems to just take the edge off that harshness.
Matt, I really enjoy these posts that get me thinking. In this case, it gave me two fairly disconnected thoughts.
First, the contrast between Bond in FRWL and Felix in LALD is stark. Bond’s narrow tie and lapels and properly proportioned collar make him appear tall and fit. His outfit’s subdued colors give him the look of seriousness. On the other hand Felix’s oversized collar, wide thick tie, and, to a lesser extent, wide lapels make him look like a child who is trying to wear adult clothes. And the tie’s loud pattern distracts from his face. It’s a great example of how fashion can help someone or hurt someone.
Secondly, your point about Bond dressing to respect traveling struck a chord. When it comes to traveling, I fear we too often now focus solely on the destination and forget the journey. And I mean that literally not metaphorically, traveling should be an enjoyable part of the experience. Yes, sometimes traveling really is simply a means to an end, but it would be better if that was not the default assumption.
And your first point is why I view the seventies as the decade that style forgot and why we should never go back there despite the best efforts of the current ‘powers that be’ in men’s fashion.
As a reaction to the slim fits of the early to mid sixties it was inevitable that the pendulum would not only start to swing away (see OHMS), but as usual go waaaay past the mid point into the realms of ridiculous wingspan collars, shoulder-brushing lapels, kipper ties and bell bottoms.
We’re experiencing something similar right now – as a reaction to the sausage skin suits exemplified during Craig’s tenure, the pendulum has once more blasted past the mid point and sloppy-hemmed bell bottoms are coming into fashion. Today I got an email from Suitsupply – previously notorious for slim-fitting strides although I never had a problem with them and I don’t skip leg day – with flared strides on display. Just hideous, but if that’s what the kids want and the sheep jump on board the bandwagon in their droves …