Casual jackets are among the most popular items of James Bond’s wardrobe simply because practically everyone wears them. The jacket is the most important element of a stylish casual outfit, with the power to elevate the otherwise most basic casual outfits. Bond has casual jackets for every season, and for him they’re more than just style. Bond frequently wears a jacket to conceal a handgun and to have pockets at his disposal. His casual jackets are frequently in the blouson style, a jacket that has a tight waistband but has fullness above the waistband, which has extra room for concealment.
Bond’s short casual jackets started in Ian Fleming’s novels with a ‘faded black wind-cheater’ in 1959’s Goldfinger. Though Bond only wears a jacket that specifically fits this description on screen in Quantum of Solace, he wears many short, short, waist-length casual jackets throughout the series. Here are seven of his best casual jackets.
001. The Golf Jacket in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
Bond’s unusual golfing suit features his only short casual jacket of the 1960s. As a matching suit of a blouson and trousers in light brown, it’s a precursor to 1970s leisure suits and isn’t particularly stylish today. The orange polo neck doesn’t help either. However, the blouson alone is a uniquely stylish piece. The front has a zip with bold ring-style zip pull and flapped patch pockets, the waistband has side buckles, and the rear has action pleats at the side for golfing and other kinds of activity. The jacket is made of what looks like a wool-polyester blend. Polyester was a popular fibre during this era, and while it provided durability for a sporty outfit like this, it would have felt far from luxurious. Still, polyester has remained popular for casual jackets.
002. The Shearling Blouson in For Your Eyes Only
The 1980s was the decade for Bond’s blousons. In wintry Cortina d’Ampezzo, Bond wears a very warm shearling blouson in a style similar to a flight jacket. This jacket is luxurious but it’s also a tasteful classic. The outside is light brown suede sheepskin and the inside is brown lambswool, which shows when the collar is folded over. The jacket has a zip front, two pockets on the front, and brown ribbed-knit cuffs and hem. Bond wears this outfit in a similar way to how he wears his golfing suit in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, but this one is improved with trousers in a different material—wool cavalry twill—and a polo neck in a more tasteful bronze colour.
003. The Navy Blouson in Octopussy
After Bond wears a classic blue bomber jacket in For Your Eyes Only, he wears a far more interesting blue blouson in Octopussy. The navy blouson is made of either cotton, polyester, nylon or a blend. It is styled with a zip front with a fly, a fold-down collar and shirt-style pointed button cuffs. The front has a welt pocket on each side of the chest and square patch pockets below with buttoned flaps. There is an unusual front yoke with pleats coming out of the bottom of the yoke. The back of the jacket is made with a yoke and four pieces, pleated three times at each side into the waistband. Paired with navy cotton trousers and a white cotton voile shirt, Bond looks both stylish and ready for action in India.
004. The Dark Brown Leather Blouson in A View to a Kill
For one of Roger Moore’s more rugged looks as James Bond, he wears a refined, polished take on the leather jacket from Leather Concessionaires. Moore could only be so rugged, but it’s an appropriate choice for dressing down for sneaking around at night. The blouson has a zip-front, and there is a strap down each side of the front of the jacket under the front yoke, ending at vertical welt pockets. There are straps on the shoulders that button down to shorter straps attached to the sleeve. A strap continues lengthwise down the sleeve to about six inches from the base of the sleeve, where another strap starts and buttons to the cuff. The jacket has a stand-up collar with an extended tab on the left side to close over the other side. The back has unusual inward-facing side pleats below the yoke. Bond wears the jacket with a light blue oxford button-down shirt and dark flannel trousers for a sophisticated smart casual look.
005. The Navy Harrington in Quantum of Solace
Bond never wore a classic Harrington jacket in the 1960s, the decade that popularised the style, but he should have. The Daniel Craig era saw a renewed interest in 1960s classics—inspired by Steve McQueen—and a return to a variety of short casual jackets but in trimmer cuts. Tom Ford made a dark navy cotton zip-front jacket for Bond to wear for action in Bolivia that was inspired by the Baracuta G4 Harrington. The jacket has slash pockets on the sides that close with buttons, as well as cuffs and a waistband that adjust with buttons. Bond wears it with a navy polo and dark blue jeans for a stylish monochrome look that cleverly combines textures.
006. The Cashmere Jacket in Spectre
In snowy Austria, James Bond wears a navy cashmere jacket from Dior Homme. Cashmere is lightweight and luxurious but it provides a significant amount of warmth. Though this an expensive jacket, it is also practical and has a classic style with a few unique and interesting details. The front of the jacket has five buttons covered with a fly. There is zip to close the fly, which is offset like the zip on a biker jacket. The zipped fly keeps the jacket warmer. The sleeves taper to the cuff and follow the shape of the arm, but to fit the hand through the opening the cuffs have a long zip. The jacket has a turn-down collar which can be flipped up and closed with a throat latch. There are set-in pockets on the front with straight flaps that fasten down with poppers. The jacket has a black quilted lining inside. Bond wears it with a pale grey cashmere cable-knit polo neck, grey trousers, a navy knit cap and black leather gloves. The fit is a little too snug, but this will be an outfit that stands the test of time.
007. The Tan Suede Jacket in Spectre
Taking after the classic tan bomber jacket that Bond wears in Morocco in The Living Daylights, Bond wears a more modern and fitted tan suede jacket when revisiting Morocco in Spectre, again with a navy polo and similarly coloured tan trousers. Matchless made this jacket and called it the ‘Craig Blouson’, but it is not a blouson-style jacket because it doesn’t blouse at the waist. The jacket has a zip front, a turn-down collar that can close with a hook, side pockets and an ecru viscose rayon lining. The two-piece collar has a hook to close. Bond wears the collar turned up up in back to protect his neck from the sun but folded down a little in front to keep it away from his face. This jacket stands out due to its seam details on the sleeve and back. Suede is a sophisticated alternative to leather, but some types of suede cannot withstand rain.
Which is your favourite James Bond short casual jacket? Was it left off this list?
QoS Harrington easily the best. A classic style, he looks tough and ready for action, and so does the jacket.
It’s also highly practical for daily use, in a temperate climate, most of the year.
The OHMSS one is dated. 2 and 4 are old-man looks (although I’m not far from the age Moore was then!) The Spectre suede one looks great in the film, but isn’t going to suit as many of us, or be as practical, as the Harrington.
I agree. I would have easily placed it above everything else here, with the Levi’s leather jacket a close second.
I like the Levi’s, certainly a lot more than the too-shirt leather jacket in Casino Royale.
I see others below have referenced it, and Matt has explained he went for the AVTAK one over it.
My personal view is that, the Levi’s looks more like a leather jacket should, than the AVTAK one. A leather jacket to me should look a bit worn, a bit bashed-up. It’s a jacket for going through things, literally and metaphorically. Moore’s one in AVTAK just looks a bit too manicured.
That’s not my issue, I don’t really care what condition a leather jacket is in. I just am not overly fond of the blouson style.
I like the way Roger wears a casual jacket with a quite formal shirt and trousers in AVTAK. It’s quite an unexpected combo but it looks really good on him
I agree. It’s funny but I remember when Matt first posted about that outfit there was a lot of criticism around the trousers being too formal for the jacket. My take was that, it looked great on Moore, as you say here and had he worn a casual trouser such as chino with it in the film, it would’ve been jarring and at odds with Moore’s established Bond look. Tim could’ve worn it in that way had he been Bond in this movie and such a look would’ve worked for him overall but not with Roger
The sage green blouson in For Your Eyes Only has always been one of my favourite looks, and inspired me to get a similar one for myself.
I’m very surprised that this didn’t feature in Matt’s favourites here, to be honest.
Controversial leaving out Craig’s Armani and Levi’s jackets!
I thought it would be controversial, but I never cared much for them and I thought the A View to a Kill jacket is a superior leather jacket. I don’t like the pockets on the Armani, and I think the Levis is great for Indiana Jones but not Bond.
Given that Sir Roger Moore wore the look only a year or two before – and working with much the same creative team – it’s quite surprising that Mr Timothy Dalton never really wore a jacket in this sort of style.
It certainly occurs to me that this look would have suited his Bond (and might well have been easier for the actor to accept than anything more formal).
Tim did wear a bomber jacket in The Living Daylights. Matt covered it on the blog and provides a link to it here under the Tan Suede Jacket discussion.
The Harrington for me personally is the best. It is timeless, stylish, so versatile and most importantly practical.
It looks great with a polo, t shirt, shirt or layered with a sweater. With jeans, khakis (my favourite) and grey trousers – it never looks out of place.
Also it looks equally good worn open, zipped a third of the way (another favourite) or button up at the collar.
Practically it is superb, as it is not heavy and bulky but no so light it is of no use. Of all my garments, not just jackets, this is my ‘go to’.
Looking at all these outfits which have definitely stood the test of time, (except for the ohmss one, but it’s mostly due to the ugly orange polo neck, the blouson itself looks nice) I realize this kind of casualwear is a safe bet and can’t really date the movie, while ironically some tailored clothing easily can if the fit is off or if some details/design are too much of its time. I would have instinctively thought the opposite was true. I guess it depends of the decades and of the costume designers. In some decades, the 60s for example, its the casualwear that made Bond’s wardrobe look dated the most. In the 2010s it was definitely the tailoring.
The Harrington for sure. I agree that it’s seems counterintuitive that Bond didn’t wear on in the 60s. Maybe EON thought it was too obvious or not luxurious enough.
The EON producers, I am not sure. But I would not be surprised if it was Terence Young who decided against a Harrington, maybe thinking it was either too American (James Dean, Steve McQueen…) or too common/not refined enough for Bond.
I’m surprised the For Your Eyes Only jacket didn’t make the cut. It’s a classic style, a great look for Roger and also very accessible.
Love the Harrington but the material is great for rainy GB sometimes.
Great article!
I should have said ‘isn’t great’ for rainy days.
Love this kind of article. More please!
Great article, Matt.
I’d also include the navy linen Giubbino shirt-jacket Craig wears in Matera in No Time to Die. It’s so summery and relaxed. I’ve just had a version of it made by my tailor, without the drawstrings.
I enjoyed seeing how James Bond’s casual jackets changed across different films while still keeping that classic style. The leather and suede options especially stand out because they look good without feeling overly flashy. It’s interesting how a simple jacket can become such a memorable part of a character’s look.