Questionable taste is often the sign of a villain. Emile Leopold Locque, played by Michael Gothard in For Your Eyes Only, wears a suit that’s just as suspicious as his octagonal-framed glasses. Locque’s light grey flannel double-breasted suit looks too warm to be comfortable where people alongside him are pleasantly swimming and sunbathing. The suit jacket has four buttons on the front with two to button, and the button stance is low, following the 1980s trend. The shoulders are straight and narrow, and the chest is clean and closely-fitted with a little give over the shoulder blades in back.
The most questionable part of the suit is the fishmouth “cran Necker” notch lapels, a style that’s rarely made by tailors outside of France. There is nothing wrong with the lapels themselves, but notch lapels of any kind don’t traditionally belong on a double-breasted jacket. Notch lapels on a double-breasted jacket are not the most balanced look, and, combined with the jacket’s narrow shoulders, they give this suit an emasculating look. Double-breasted jackets with notch lapels were trendy in the late 1970s through the mid 1980s. Roger Moore wears a double-breasted blazer with notched lapels two years earlier in Moonraker.
Locque’s suit jacket also has the unusual, sporty feature of three patch pockets—two hip and one breast—with safari-jacket-style, buttoned pocket flaps. This is another element that puts this suit into unusual taste. The jacket also has deep double vents and three buttons on the cuffs. Though the style of the jacket is odd and not in the best taste, the jacket fits quite well. The back and sleeves drape cleanly, though the low button stance causes some fit issues in the front. The trousers have slightly flared legs with a lapped seam running down the outside of each leg.
The clothes that Locque wears with the suit, by contrast, are very tasteful. The pale blue shirt has a moderate spread collar, square two-button cuffs and a front placket. The black knitted silk tie, tied in a four-in-hand knot, is the literary James Bond classic and is a good complement to this somewhat sporty suit. Locque’s socks are grey to match the suit, and his shoes are black.
I do like the grey blouson Locque wears in the warehouse sequence. Very 1980s!
The grey blouson is a nice jacket!
I would not wear the jacket button all the way up because it looks suspicious to me, which certainly fits his character.
Is there any chance you could cover the grey blouson.
Those octagonal glasses scream “stop sign” to me.
As this entry briefly mentions this assassin’s footwear, is there a “Locque’s socks and two smoking barrels” joke here, somewhere?
I’ll get my coat.
Matt, your opening sentence puts me in mind of Stendahl’s famous quote that “bad taste leads to crime.”
Thanks a lot for this article! I have waited for you to cover this suit. And while I do agree some details are a bit odd, I actually think it works. What saves the suit is the good fit, traditional colour/fabric and classic shirtand tie. If the suit had been made of a flashier material or paired with some gaudy acessories it would destroy the look. Loque is one of my favorite villains. Unlike other villains, I feel the reasons he seems so creepy is because of the fact that he doesn’t look creepy at all. He doesn’t look like a thug or murderer, he looks like a corporate executive (on a ski-trip). The fact that I find him so chilling is because he just seems to be capable of doing anything, a true unreliable psychophath, wich is more scary than someone who obviously look very violent or brutal (Oddjob, Gobinda, Grant etc).
Though I agree with you about Locque, I disagree that Red Grant looked obviously violent or brutal. He pulls off the “old boys’ club” Englishman quite well, enough to fool Bond at first.
Well, you are right, but Grant is more physically menacing and could easily be a murderer and more of a match for Bond. Locque is so unsettling because he looks nothing like a brutal murderer, yet his cold stare through those awfully geeky glasses can chill you to the bone. Locque should be in a cell next to Hannibal Lecter himself.
…not to mention that the two-tone Samsonite briefcase complements his necktie and shirt.
Going to disagree with you here Matt. I quite like this suit from a tailoring perspective and style wise I like it as well, very French, possible YSL?
A nice example of fashion tailoring for someone with enough cash to flash that he doesn’t care too much if it would look “odd” in a corporate setting.
In the years since writing this I’ve come to appreciate it a little more. I found out this that Robbie Stanford in London made this suit.
Locque’s suit was fashionable in 1980-81, looks dated to that era looking at it now. I think a lighter material would have fit the locale better. I think Topol’s dark navy double breasted blazer also made by Robbie Stanford is much nicer and timeless.
My biggest issue with it is the notch lapels. Peak lapels would be a big improvement.
Fun fact, both Doug Hayward and Dimi Major worked for Robbie Stanford. According to Ronnie Corbett, in his book High Hopes, he met Doug Hayward who “worked as the sort of front of house man” for Stanford. Hayward introduced Corbett to Major who was an out-worker for Stanford, and later Major became Corbett’s pretty much exclusive tailor during the Major Hayward years and after. This didn’t seem to bother Hayward, as he and Corbett remained friends afterwards.
That’s fascinating! I did not know that.
Great Bond connection there. Thanks, Comsol!
Funny how the striped shirt with pockets is Olebar Brown’s Newman stripe shirt rotated 90 degrees.
The shirt looks white in the lighting to me.
Take a closer look.