Gareth Mallory, played by Ralph Fiennes, wears a double-breasted suit after becoming the new M in Skyfall. The double-breasted suit, however, makes him look more like Bill Tanner in For Your Eyes Only than the first two Ms. Today the double-breasted suit is a more traditional look, and that’s likely why costume designer Jany Temime dressed Fiennes in this suit for this scene instead of the more contemporary two- and three-piece suits he wears prior to becoming M. Another thing that makes this suit look more traditional is the soft, heavy navy woollen flannel cloth with soft grey chalk stripes. Heavier cloths look more old-fashioned than lightweight cloths. Since Bond has just come in from the cold and has hung up his overcoat, M’s choice of a heavy flannel suit is clearly a very practical one.
The suit jacket has the classic arrangement of six buttons with two to button, and Mallory buttons only the top of those two buttons. The jacket also has double vents, four-button cuffs and flapped pockets. This suit has the same straight shoulders with roped sleeve heads that Mallory’s other suits in the film have, but a fuller chest and wider lapels contribute to its more traditional look. It has a classic Savile Row cut: nipped at the waist and flared at the skirt. Whilst the suit is a little old-fashioned, it isn’t outdated and it looks great on Ralph Fiennes. It’s made by Timothy Everest, who typically makes more fashion forward suit.
Not much is seen of the suit trousers, but they are likely the same flat-front, tapered-leg trouser with braces he wears throughout the film. Mallory wears a mid blue shirt with a spread collar and double cuffs. His red ribbed silk tie is tied in a four-in-hand knot. James Bond has also worn a similar outfit of a flannel navy chalk stripe suit with a blue shirt and red tie, thought Bond’s suit was a three-piece suit and not double-breasted. He wears this outfit for his meeting with Sir Hilary Bray in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.
I wish Timothy Everest would dress Daniel Craig as well!
I’m not sure that would have made a difference in Skyfall. Bond’s suits were going to look the way they looked because that’s what the costume designer, and perhaps Craig himself, wanted the character to wear.
More generally speaking, I’m not at all familiar with Everest’s work. Based on what he did with Mallory, his shop obviously knows how to cut a suit. Yet Matt eludes above to the more fashionable nature of his clothes. Therefore I’m not sure he would be any better for Bond than Tom Ford. Just speculation though.
Everest is known for more fashionable tailoring, yet they also do a great job at more traditional suits as well. You could say the same about Tom Ford.
Good point. I seem to be in the minority, but I rather liked the Tom Ford suits in QoS. They were classic in most style details, but slightly updated. I wish the shoulders were roped instead of pagoda style, but alas.
Zegna (Tom Ford’s manufacturer) is more than capable of cutting suits in a more English style. It’s a shame they didn’t use those capabilities. The suits looked too American or Neopolitan for Bond’s 50th anniversary on screen.
as far as I’m concerned this is what Bond should have been wearing in the film
It’s a nice suit, but I believe Matt has commented in the past that traditionally Bond rarely (if ever) wears double-breasted jackets.
Roger Moore is the only Bond to have worn double-breasted suits. Lazenby and Brosnan also wore double-breasted blazers and Timothy Dalton had a double-breasted dinner jacket that was barely seen. Apart from in Roger Moore’s 70s Bond films, Licence to Kill and Skyfall where Bond dresses very fashionably, Bond usually has a slightly fashionable edge to his rather traditional clothes. This suit, however, takes nothing from today’s fashions and is completely traditional. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with this suit—because there isn’t—but it doesn’t follow what Bond usually wears.
Good points, Matt.
Best suit in Skyfall. Period.
Never realized that the framed image of MI6 was a painting though. The style in which it was painted doesn’t suit the character of the office, nor its inhabitant.
The rest, on the other hand, is as welcome as the suit.
-Kurt
P.S.: Can you provide insight into the symbolism of M’s onyx signet wears?
-Kurt
I’m afraid I cannot.
The black of the onyx represents the cold, dark grave you are headed for if you cross the wearer. That’s the mob significance, but Mallory is no mobster. His suit is superb – he is ready to brief the PM or Cabinet. The retro aspects are not jarring as this M clearly values tradition. In this suit, he reminds me of ’50’s PM Sir Anthony Eden, a style icon of his era.
As “slim fits” and narrow lapels and suits generally made with less fabric wane in popularity I wouldn’t be surprised if double breasted suits made a more mainstream comeback, even with Bond. Craig’s double breasted Dunhill dinner jacket (the one he wore to some award show, it was covered on this blog) looked great, particularly with the narrow wrap.
I don’t see Craig’s Bond wearing something as traditional as this (nor would I want to, I think this is well suited to M’s character), but maybe something in just solid navy or charcoal in a 6×4/ 6×2 to reflect Bond’s Navy heritage would be a welcome addition. A lot a people associate double breasted jackets with awful baggy 80’s stuff but I think as long as it had a reasonably clean chest (as much as a double breasted permits) and again a more narrow wrap, I feel like it would definitely work with the character. Would love to see another double breasted chesterfield coat as well, Brosnan’s vicuna one in Tomorrow Never Dies is probably one of my favorite outfits of the franchise, though I know a lot of people found it a bit flashy for Bond. And of course Moore’s in Live And Let Die would even work today, being 3/4 length.
I think double breasted suits definitely are making a comeback (slowly). I suspect that the single breasted suit will remain the more popular look for a while – memories of the 1990s will see to that.
I like double breasted suits and wear them regularly. That said, I’d keep Bond in single breasted generally.
Double breasted suits are present in fashion right now. A number of fashion brands make them. The question is whether they’re going to catch on en masse. GQ has heralded its return about a billion times in the last decade with no results to show for it.
Regardless of what fashion dictates, I like the style and plan to have one commissioned in the future.
I guess it would have been a step too far to have had Fiennes wear a polka-dot bow tie…perhaps in a future outing?
I hope you’ll write about the clothes in BBC America’s dramatization of Ian Fleming’s life. Fleming, unlike Bond, wore double-breasted suits and bowties. http://www.bbcamerica.com/fleming/
I second that request. I’m looking forward to watching that series.
A great suit indeed, which makes M looks much powerful -and taller too- than Bond.
That said, even if his action scenes were nice, I find Fiennes lacking the charisma of Lee’s M. He always looks sinister and gloomy
I do believe that’s the point though. This M is shown to be just as capable in a firefight as in the boardroom. Someone Bond shouldn’t trifle with.
My understanding of “Skyfall’s” remit was to emphasise Bond’s (long standing position) as a British icon. If anything Fiennes’ suiting only shows up even more starkly Bond’s weakness in this area.
I agree that a narrow wrap double breasted suit, like Craig’s Dunhill one mentioned above, would look great on Bond.
While I love the look of a double-breasted suit, it doesn’t work for Bond in my opinion. Even with a narrow wrap, it does not provide sufficient access to Bond’s shoulder-holstered Walther. As well, Fleming always dressed Bond in a single-breasted suit to my knowledge.
Agreed. A single breasted suit is better for Bond’s minimalist tastes and for drawing his pistol in a hurry. To be fair though, Fleming wasn’t always perfect in his or Bond’s style. They both dressed in short sleeve shirts with suits, something I wouldn’t do even in Jamaica. I’d sooner wear a long sleeved shirt of linen and cotton blend or with a voile body if I had their resources and needed to keep cool.
If the screen Bond dressed like the literary Bond this blog wouldn’t exist. Fleming’s quirks for short-sleeve shirts and moccasins with a suit that he passed on to Bond don’t make him such a great example.
The 6 button 2 double breasted blazer is quintessentially British Navy – Lazenby and Moore looked terrific in it. I hope it will make a comeback for the modern Bond.
Great suit!
I have several double breasted suit,and i can said that the baggy look can be avoid.if the garnment is well cut.
I like very much the Saville row clean double breasted style and try to obtain with my tailor that look (Prince Charles coat’style to understand).
Said this,i not see Bond in double breasted, but i think that the character should back to dress British bespoke,with single breasted two buttons,two and three pieces.
This. Double breasted suits unfortunately still carry a gangster or oversized ’80s suit stigma with a lot of modern audiences. I think seeing more well cut double breasted suits on screen might change that, but who knows. I rather liked the way they dressed Idris Elba in “Pacific Rim”, for example. His double breasted suits emphasized his already impressive physique, making him look even more imposing.
Carmelo, if you are looking for a jacket cut in a clean Savile Row style, do not use Prince Charles’ tailoring as an example. If I recall correctly, the Prince of Wales uses Anderson & Sheppard’s, which is known for unstructured and relaxed jackets with considerable drape. They are famous for being the antithesis of the traditional Savile Row cut.
I love the examination and dissection of the suits. What are the chances you could cover the suit worn by Daniel Craig during the “Casino Royale” press-conference? I also believe this is the suit worn when we was first announced/revealed to be the new James Bond.
It is amazing how much Ralph Fiennes has aged to resemble Peter Cushing!
I could be wrong , but the suit he wears in Spectre appears to be the same one. It has a ticket pocket.