The most important shirt of the Bond series is the shirt that Sean Connery wears with his suits and blazer in Dr. No. This shirt would be the reference for many of James Bond’s shirts throughout the series, with variations on this shirt appearing in all of Sean Connery’s Bond films except Goldfinger but including Never Say Never Again. It inspired some of Roger Moore’s shirts, even before he was James Bond. It also inspired some of Daniel Craig’s shirts in his last two Bond films.
A few makers have been mentioned in relation to making Sean Connery’s shirts for Dr. No, but Turnbull & Asser have shown what would appear to be the order form for Dr. No, and the shirts are consistent with their style. The Turnbull & Asser order form includes 1 voile dress shirt, 1 ‘Turnbuline’ shirt, 2 cotton shirts and 2 silk ties. ‘Turnbuline’ is a label they put on non-poplin shirts like twill, herringbone, royal oxford and possibly others, but it doesn’t appear to have a specific definition.
Connery wears shirts in light blue and white. The light blue shirt is the most significant shirt, which he wears with a dark grey flannel suit, a black-and-white plain-weave glen check suit and a navy blazer. The white shirt plays a much smaller role in the film’s wardrobe, and he wears it only with a light grey mohair suit. Both shirts are made in the same style. The blue shirt gives Bond a gentler look than white does, and it shows up better on screen. Both are classic shirts that an English gentleman would wear.
There’s a quote from Sean Connery’s cutter Paul Cuss in Turnbull & Asser Made In England 130 Years by James Sherwood that states he thinks the first order was for 72 shirts made from Sea Island cotton, with six shirts for each scene. This is a more realistic number of shirts than what the order form states for a production in Jamaica where Connery would have frequently sweated through his shirts. Frank Foster told me he made extra shirts for Dr. No, which would likely have been needed if Turnbull & Asser indeed made only three shirts in addition to the voile dress shirt.
Turnbull & Asser currently offer a blue Dr. No shirt that comes extremely close to replicating Connery’s original shirt, but it’s not 100% accurate. I do not have the modern version from Turnbull & Asser, but I have handled the shirt and I own other shirts from Turnbull & Asser that were made over the past three decades.
The Cloth
The shirts are made of very fine cotton, either true Sea Island cotton or Sea Island quality. This silk-like cotton is soft, lightweight and has a gentle sheen, but it tends to wrinkle easily.
Connery’s blue shirts are made of cotton poplin, and the close-up shot of the shirt at Miss Taro’s home when Bond waits for Professor Dent shows that the shirt is semi-solid rather than solid. Subtle stripes are visible on the placket, which at first suggests a hairline stripe, but a closer look reveals that the shirt is end-on-end. End-on-end is semi-solid poplin—cotton that is woven in a 1×1 plain weave with subtle crosswise ribs—where the warp yarns are white and the weft yarns alternate between white and a colour, which is blue in this shirt. The blue yarns in this shirt are medium to light blue. End-on-end is often called a weave, but it’s just a pattern. Because the cotton is so fine, the cloth appears to be plain on screen. End-on-end shirts wear and coordinate no differently than plain poplin, but they offer an extra level of interest with its subtle visual texture. While lighter solid poplins tend towards sky blue, end-on-end blues of a similar overall shade can look more periwinkle because the blue yarn they use is a darker and cooler blue.
If the white shirt is the single ‘Turnbuline’ shirt that’s on the order form—which would be plausible since Bond wears his white shirt far less than he wears blue shirt—it must have a texture that isn’t visible on screen. While a twill or herringbone shirt would be impractical in Jamaica’s heat, the shirt could be royal oxford or another fancy weave.
The Spread Collar
Sean Connery almost always wears a shirt with a spread collar as James Bond, especially because it’s one of the most classic English collars. Sean Connery’s shirts have a different collar design in almost every Bond film, with only the collars in From Russia with Love and Thunderball appearing to be the same as each other. All of Connery’s collars are spread collars, but they vary in the degree of spread, the point length and the height.
The Dr. No collar is a wide spread collar, the most quintessentially English collar, and it’s Connery’s most dramatic collar of the 1960s. The spread angle is very similar to that of Turnbull & Asser’s ‘Regent’ collar, but it may be a touch narrower. The wide spread is flattering to Connery’s strong jaw and angular face. The collar is wide enough to comfortably house the full Windsor knot that Bond uses in this film—going against the critical remarks that Ian Fleming had for it. However, the collar’s stand is low enough that a four-in-hand knot would fit in it just as well.
For approximate dimensions, the points are about 3 1/8 inches long, and they sit about 5 3/4 inches apart so the ends are tucked under the lapels. There is about 3/8 inches of tie space. The point length is slightly longer than the width of the lapels, but they’re close enough that they balance each other. As Connery’s lapels became slightly narrower in subsequent Bond films, his collar points also shortened.
The band is about 1 1/8 inches high in front and curves down at the front; it’s not cut with an angle. The outer collar is about 1 3/4 inches high at the rear, if measured unfolded. It sometimes looks shorter because it’s not folded down all the way. The points are longer than the points of a typical English collar to balance Connery’s large neck and frame, and the collar’s height is also slightly higher than typical English shirt collars, especially of that era. This collar has a larger difference between the point length and the height at the rear than that of the modern version of the Dr. No collar, which is also known as the ‘New Regent’.
The collar is made with a weighty sewn-in interlining to give it body, but unlike the modern Turnbull & Asser shirts there is no stayflex to stiffen the ends of the collar. The collar has removable stays to keep it in place. The collar is shaped with a fair amount of spring to give it a roll. It is stitched 1/4 inch or slightly less from the edge.
The Cocktail Cuff
The cuff is the most unique part of the shirt. Turnbull & Asser often call it the ‘two-button turnback cuff’. Tom Ford calls their variant the ‘Dr. No cuff’, referring to the original version that Bond wears. It’s a button cuff that folds back over itself like a double cuff, but fastens around the wrist in a barrel manner like an ordinary button cuff. The turned-back part of the cuff is cut away to reveal the cuff’s buttons. It looks similar to a club collar.
The cuff is shaped with one simple, continuous curve, so it is designed to not have a specific place where it must be folded back. The amount it’s turned back varies throughout the film, but it’s usually turned back more than halfway so the cuff seam is hidden. The cuff measures about 5 1/2 inches unfolded, and about 3 to 3 1/4 inches can be turned back. The cuff rolls back more than it folds, giving it an elegant and natural shape.
This design works with both buttons or either one of the two fastened because of the simple shape of this particular cuff’s design. In Dr. No, Connery can sometimes be seen wearing only the second button closer to the hand fastened. In latter films Connery fastens only the first button and lets the cuff roll more for a touch of sprezzatura.
The version of the cuff on Turnbull & Asser’s modern Dr. No shirt more or less accurately replicates Connery’s cuff, but they place the buttons slightly closer together than on the original. The stitching at the base of the cuff is also different. The shape and size of the cuff appears to accurately replicate the original. They did not have Connery’s patterns from the original Bond films when they designed their modern Dr. No shirt.
The cuff has a sewn-in interfacing, but one that is lighter and softer than the collar’s interfacing. This kind of interfacing is important to how elegantly the cuff can roll back and stay in place.
The sleeve’s fullness is gathered into the cuff, a traditional English detail that few shirtmakers still do, other than Turnbull & Asser and Frank Foster.
Other Details
The front of the shirt has a classic English-style raised placket, which can be found on shirts from a few other shirtmakers on Jermyn Street and around London. Classic English plackets are typically narrow, but what sets them apart from ordinary plackets is that they’re stitched further than 1/4 inch from the edge, ranging from 3/8 to 5/8 inch. This allows the stitching to run under the buttons and places a visual focus on the centre of the shirt. The Dr. No placket is around 1 1/4 inches wide, so it’s about the same width as or slightly wider than a modern Turnbull & Asser placket. It appears to be stitched slightly further from the edge than their modern placket, at around 7/16 inch. Unlike the modern placket, the Dr. No placket is soft with no interfacing.
The rear of the shirt has a split yoke and side pleats for fullness and ease of movement over the shoulders. The shirts all have white stitching.
White mother of pearl buttons adorn the shirt. The buttons have a double-rim design, and they have a slim profile so they don’t get in the way. The front and cuff buttons are 18L and the collar is slightly smaller at 16L.
The Fit
The shirt has a full cut, despite being a bespoke shirt. This is how English bespoke shirts traditionally fit during this era, focusing on aspects of the fit other than how close it is to the body. Apart from collar size and sleeve length, the other key areas that the bespoke fit needs to tackle are the shoulder slope and collar position to ensure a clean drape, and the cuff size so that the sleeves can have a little extra length for movement and the cuff stays in place at the wrist without falling over the hand. The shoulders on Connery’s shirt are a little bit wide and the chest, waist, hips and sleeves all have plenty of fullness.
The shirt is intended to be an undergarment to wear under a jacket, so the fit is optimised for this purpose and for comfort, but the proper fit in the shoulder slope ensures the shirt looks neat under the jacket. Wearing the shirt with high-rise trousers contains much of the shirt’s fullness compared to modern mid rise or low rise trousers, which are unable to control this amount of blousiness.
For more on the Dr. No shirt read:
Anatomy of a Turnbull & Asser Shirt
The Dr. No Blue Cotton Shirt with Cocktail Cuff from Turnbull & Asser
While I appreciate the effort to get this ‘right’ in terms of re-developing the original cocktail cuff shape, I was initially quite puzzled as to who’d buy the RTW version (because, for any who aren’t aware, full priced RTW at T&A and other bespoke shirtmakers costs the same as their bespoke).
But then a recent encounter made me realise what a knowledge bubble we’re in on this site. Out of curiosity I went into a Bond fan and collecting discussion, where a guy was showing all the stuff he already got, and asking if anyone knew what this shirt was (with a link to it). I told him T&A makes great shirts but if he’s ready to buy a bunch of it, he may as well get it made bespoke. He was convinced that it’s only the real “Bond shirt” if it’s RTW, even though the ones in the films were bespoke!
That’s crazy, because going bespoke would actually allow you to have it closer to the original shirt. Requesting things like no interfacing in the placket, no stayflex in the collar, and end-on-end poplin fabric. Plus, they’d be able to adjust the collar shape to your face. Connery’s collar obviously wouldn’t look as good on me as it does on him. I’m better served with a taller band for my long neck and narrower spread, longer collar points for my round face.
I think sometimes people are so obsessed with having the official logo on something that they miss the better option right in front of them.
Kamal, going bespoke at T&A is still more expensive than RTW (about 50-100$ more). And don’t forget there’s a minimum of 4 shirts. That what… a minimum of 2K you have to put on the table. Lucky for you and for others if they have them. I don’t, and I am actually happy they offer RTW shirts, which I usually buy when they’re on sale. The regular RTW price is sometimes similar or more expensive than a local shirtmaker anyway (I live in Europe). Going to a local bespoke shirtmaker instead can be a wrong good idea, some are talented and some will promess anything and then deliver a product which doesnt come to your expectations. Not any shirtmaker can reproduce a faithful turnback à la Connery.
Their bespoke costs more than that. My T&A bespoke experience was a very positive one, and I got shirts that I don’t believe could be made anywhere else.
Matt, I got these figures from a friend who is a bespoke customer at T&A. Could you be more precise in your assessment ?
Bespoke costs about 50% more than ready-to-wear. The basic ready-to-wear shirt costs $425, while bespoke starts around $700.
I guess the program has changed. When I was quoted, it was essentially the cost of the same shirt in RTW except for the six minimum.
Maybe when they reduced the order minimum, they raised the price of bespoke shirts as well?
Another great post Matt. I do own the current RTW version of this shirt. I had to get the sleeves shortened to fit (a common problem I have) but it does closely resemble the one in the film. The fit is very full as per the original which I can live with – but you are spot on about the wrinkling. It creases more easily than any shirt I’ve ever owned. Fine in the days when everyone kept their jacket on – not so much in a modern air conditioned office! Pair it with a navy grenadine tie though and you effortlessly achieve the timeless Connery look.
Are Connery’s shirts in From Russia With Love also end-on-end or are they just a plain poplin? And does anyone know why Turnbull And Asser calls shirts that aren’t poplin Turnbuline?
The From Russia with Love shirts appear to be poplin, as do the shirts in Thunderball and Diamonds Are Forever. The shirts in You Only Live Twice may be some sort of voile, as they drape better than Bond’s other shirts and have less sheen.
I love this breakdown! Would you recommend the spread and dimensions of this collar for someone much smaller than Connery? They seem to be just a little larger than a lot of off-the-rack shirts, so my gut says yes.
Yes, it’s a good collar size for a man of almost any size, but spread angle has to suit your face. It looks best with a narrow face.
Poor Quarrel only got to wear a red t-shirt…
Several years ago I had 6 bespoke shirts with Turnbull and Asser, the minimum order for bespoke at the time. They are expensive but quite superb and fit like a glove, a little more waisted than Connery’s. Mine have traditional French cuffs which I think look much better than the cocktail cuffs but that is purely a matter of taste as I like to wear cufflinks with the shirt.
“Paul Cuss states he thinks the first order was for 72 shirts made from Sea Island cotton, with six shirts for each scene.” Yet, the actual order states total 4 shirts!. For a production in the tropics?? I know that the budget would’ve been tight for this first Bond movie but 4 shirts just isn’t plausible. Plus, Frank Foster produced a few “back ups”. All rather odd…..
The real number of shirts used was probably in between (maybe 20-30 ?)… I would not be surprised if Young being a good friend with Dawson asked him to bring his own shirts (at least for the card game and club shots). Same thing for other small roles such as the governor or Bernard Lee. Foster may have been called in emergency to do a few extras later, be it for Connery or for other actors. Dawson seemed to wear Connery’s shirt for an interior scene (the sample from Crab Key). Maybe there was a costume accident in the morning and this was the only solution, the actor not having extra shirts available. It works but its a pity, since the other two shirs worn by Dawson seemed to have a good fit and were probably bespoke.
I’m not certain if Dawson’s shirt was one of Connery’s shirts (he wears it at the Queen’s Club too). The fit and style would suggest it was made for Connery, but the cocktail cuff has a different design. I suspect that Frank Foster may have made this shirt for Connery, but they gave it to Dawson instead.
That’s what I am talking about. The Queen’s club shirt has a pretty good fit around the neck and wrist. If it was a shirt first made for Connery, I don’t think the cuff would fit that well, it would be too loose. Dawson was much lighter than Connery. That’s why I think this shirt was probably Dawson’s own or maybe something made for the movie. The lab’s shirt however, it’s obvious it’s not a shirt made for him. But we will never know for sure !
I own the version Turnbull & Asser currently makes, and I always feel a little subversive wearing it under a suit or blazer since the cocktail cuff style is so out of fashion ( Simon Crompton likens it to cosplay).
My only challenge with it is getting the cuff pressed correctly. The assorted dry cleaners I have taken it to don’t even bother. They return it to me with the unpressed cuffs extended a la French cuffs. And then when I get out my iron, I struggle to get the perfect line.
Advice welcome on how to achieve Bondian symmetry!
The cuff was never truly in fashion, so it can’t be out of fashion. It was fashionable for those who could afford bespoke shirts in London or Beverley Hills in the 1960s, but that was just for a small group of elite people and not the mainstream. It’s simply not to Simon Crompton’s taste. If you like the cuff, wear it proudly. It’s hardly noticeable enough to be cosplay, especially when wearing it under a jacket.
The cuff should not be pressed with a fold, so your dry cleaners are doing it properly. In my experience, cleaners who press it with a fold always press it in the wrong place. The cuff needs to be able to roll at the ends so it looks natural. The turnback portion should overlap the base of the cuff by at least 1/8 inch, and this cuff has the ability to turn back more. Just fold the cuff back to your desired position when you put the shirt on.
Thank you for both the history (I like Compton but don’t share all of his tastes even as he doesn’t share all of mine)—and for the instructions!
Crompton seems to take a pretty dim view of Bond style. I think awhile back he was asked and said he wasn’t interested in covering it on his site because it was really up to the whims of the current costume designer and not really a defined style.
I would put very, very little weight on Crompton’s proclamations (which, in any case, change dramatically year by year.)
And anyway, wearing classic menswear of any kind will get you weird comments about dressing up, in this day and age, even if you’re wearing something as simple as a navy blazer.
Crompton’s blog was decent during its first few years, but then he went (within the span of weeks) from explaining that he couldn’t justify Savile Row bespoke unless his salary tripled to getting two free bespoke three pieces from two of the most expensive shops. Even leaving aside the issues with free bespoke, the bigger matter is that this essentially froze his process of learning about tailoring, because now all he does is go to any shop and demand free suits, which he wears once for a photo shoot.
Cocktail cuffs are far less flashy than many of the things he promotes.
Still waiting for him to discover a jacket that will complement his shoulders.
I saw in wearing an Anderson & Sheppard suit in person that looked perfect on him. Just the right amount of structure and width.
Incidentally, with all of his bespoke wardrobe, I am still waiting for Mr. Crompton to wear a jacket with a flattering shoulder line… it seems to be quite the sartorial challenge ahah
Honestly, who gives a flying f… about what Simon Crompton thinks ?! Like several other « famous » influencers and bloggers, he is just there to get free bespoke in exchange of a good review…
In Crompton’s defence, he does excellent reviews and is one of the best sources for information about bespoke tailors and shirtmakers. I don’t often agree with his taste these days, but I find him to be fair and reasonable.
I have both the RTW Dr No shirt and a made to measure Connery inspired shirt from T&A. Both are great shirts, the RTW has quite a full fit but works great when worn with under a jacket or with braces which nip the back in a bit more. My MTM version is a tailored fit in light blue end on end with the older regent collar (Dr No collar wasn’t available in MTM at the time) and the Dr No cuffs (now called 1960s turnback cuff). I thought it looked closer to the movie version than the RTW once I received it. Now you’ve pointed out the original was end on end Matt, that’s probably why. The colour on the RTW is a hair darker but they are quite close. They did offer a true sea island cotton version for a time but that one is currently not available in RTW, although I’m sure they could do it in MTM.
A very thorough article ! The very light blue has a stark contrast with the navy blazer, I think prefer it worn with the grey flannel or lighter grey suits. The Thunderball shirt worn with the blazer was a bit more liveIy. The almost white blue color looks very elegant though. You could almost mistake it for white if you don’t pay that much attention to clothing I guess. Collar and cuffs are really beautiful and complimentary (the cuff roll has something of a spread collar -with rounded corners obviously- when you see it under a certain angle).
I have however another theory concerning the end on end shirting. The shot in which Matt identified the shirting being an end on end is a close up shot, shot obviously in studio, its possible they were in haste and just used the end on end (maybe Turnbuline ?) shirt for it. That close up of the shirt cloth has a drier texture and less silky look than the others. Maybe the sea island poplins shirts were all in need of an ironing at the moment, who knows. Being late on their shooting schedule would also explain why they -unintentionally I guess- forgot the grenadine tie which is also a continuity problem quite obvious when you watch the movie. Even the gun used onscreen isn’t a PPK , but a FN model 1910, but thats another story.
I am still puzzled by the ridiculously low amount of shirts they ordered from T&A. Didn’t they realize Jamaica was quite warm ?! Maybe they ordered duplicas later ? From both T&A and Frank Foster ? They certainly had an important budget regarding the wardrobe. They could have done the whole movie with just the dinner suit, one or two grey summer suits and the blazer. They had enough money to get a bespoke overcoat from Sinclair which had about 30 seconds of screentime, so money wasn’t probably an issue.
There are other shots that suggest and end-on-end shirt. When the cotton is as fine as Sea Island cotton, the end-on-end pattern is not going to show up as readily. The two-tone look can also contribute to the sheen. When the blue is this pale and this cool, it usually means end-on-end rather than plain poplin. Turnbuline doesn’t apply to poplin shirts, which end-on-end is. The lightness of the shirt varies considerably throughout the film, but so does the lighting in the film.
May be voile, the white dress shirt with the light grey mohair suit?
The white shirt doesn’t look like voile. It’s too opaque and shiny, and it doesn’t drape like voile. It’s the dress shirt with the dinner jacket that is voile.
I don’t have the 4k version, but there is a good shot of the shirt collar when Connery is sitting down at the club in the evening and asking Leiter questions. I remember you could spot details of the grenadine weave and the lapel buttonhole even in a 1080p resolution, so I guess it would be easy to identify the shirting as well now.
The Dr. No 4K shows little more detail than the Blu-ray, unfortunately. I looked at those moments in the film frame by frame but couldn’t see anything. The other films are a bit more crisp.
I assume it’s some sort of oxford cloth.