Let’s celebrate the 100th blog entry on The Suits of James Bond with black tie! In The World is Not Enough, Bond visits Valentin Zukovsky’s Baku casino wearing a single-button midnight blue, wool and mohair blend dinner suit from Brioni. Cool-wearing wool and mohair blends are popular for dinner suits because the subtle sheen of mohair gives off a more formal look. This cloth is provided by William Halstead. The dinner jacket has midnight blue grosgrain silk peak lapels, jetted pockets, four-button cuffs, and a traditional non-vented back. The buttons are covered in midnight blue silk. The matching trousers have a darted front and stripe down the side.
Bond’s white dress shirt has a marcella spread collar, marcella double cuffs and a marcella bib front. The collar and cuffs have 1/4-inch stitching. The shirt has a more formal plain or “French” front, meaning it doesn’t have a separate placket. The shirt is worn with mother of pearl studs and round cufflinks in gold and mother of pearl. The shirt is from Turnbull & Asser, and it has their style of double cuffs, with the buttonholes closer to the fold than most shirts have. Bond wears a midnight blue silk bow tie with lengthwise ribs but no waistcoat or cummerbund here. The x-ray glasses are made by a Blue and the model number is MOD No.9048 ANT BLUE 50X19. The blue lenses were put in afterwards. It’s just a coincidence that the company’s name is Blue.
Some readers have suggested that Bond should have worn a white dinner jacket in this scene. I disagree because, even through it’s a dry place, Baku in wintertime is too cold for a white dinner jacket. Only four men are seen in the casino wearing white dinner jackets, and if Bond wore one he would be standing out more than he should. The last time Bond wore a white dinner jacket was in A View to a Kill.
Thats interesting about the glasses. I seem to remember there being some promotion with Calvin Klein at the time this movie was released. I always thought the glasses were Klein.
The glasses in Bilbao and the sunglasses in the ski scene are both from Calvin Klein. The x-ray glasses here got the shortest amount of screen time but are by far the most memorable, which I'm sure upset Calvin Klein.
I was under the impression that the glasses in the ski scene were made by Persol?
They are the Calvin Klein 2007 model.
Very nice look; Brosnan's best dinner suit I think. The proportions seem better than in the first two movies.
This is a pretty sweet black tie rig. Not a fan of the blue sunglasses though… one of the most pointless gadgets of the movie IMO.
I agree that the x-ray glasses were pointless, but unlike so many of Bond's gadgets, this one wasn't used as a cop out. These were simply used to make the viewers wish they could see under girls' clothing too.
Is it permissible to wear rather slim fitting trousers with no pleats with a dinner jacket?
Every image image I've seen of people modeling dinner jackets are wearing potato sacks down there.
Trousers should be proportionate to the jacket and your body. Pleats are not necessary, though you can still have baggy trousers without pleats and slim trousers with pleats. The trousers worn with a dinner jacket are cut just the same as any suit trousers. They match the jacket (whether black or midnight blue) and have a silk stripe or braid down the side. Properly, they should sit at the waist, not at the hips. The width of the legs depends on your body type and the fit of the jacket. A very slim fit is only proper if you are very slim. The trousers should not be or look tight. The leg needs to be wide enough to balance out your upper half. Your legs shouldn't look like toothpicks.
^ For a good example of this, look at Connery's dinner suits. The early '60s did the tapered-but-not-tight look best, something that eludes all of today's fashion designers.
What colour is the dinner jacket worn by Zukovsky?
Stuart, I would describe it as light taupe with champagne facings.
Is this the same suit as the one at the end of the film?
Yes, it is the same dinner suit as at the end of the film.
I have saw people wearing black tie with a tailcoat. IS this acceptable? (I thought tailcoats are for white tie)
A black tie with a tailcoat is fine if you're a waiter or butler. Otherwise no.
They are for white tie. You might discreetly give those people a card with this URL on it: http://www.blacktieguide.com
I noticed the bowtie in this scene looks different. Is it the bowtie itself or the way the bowtie is tied?
What does it look different than?
Apologies for not writing sooner:
It looks to me as if the bow tie appears to have the dimples in it arranged differently. Is it the fabric that is creates that sort of of puckering or is it the way the bowtie is tied? I myself do have bow ties from turnbull asser which I do tie myself and I can assure you I cannot get that type of look.
This is quite a wide bow tie, and it looks like it’s fairly heavy as well. That may contribute to what you are seeing.
Can any skin complexion wear a midnight blue dinner suit? My cutter has voiced to me that he prefers me in straight black?
Anyone can wear midnight blue. It’s hardly distinguishable from black.
When I’m living in California my wife and I really run out of places to be dressed in black tie. We used to dine at the queen mary back when the dress code was enforced but according to management people were threatening to sue the restaurant claiming it was discrimination that they would be dEnid service based on what they were wearing. We do try to dine at restaurants that do enforce the dress code but we fund that the dress code is rarely enforced, (I know it’s California), however when we enter a somewhat upscale restaurantm they are alays pleased to see us which I strongly think it’s because of the way we are dressed so my question is may I wear black tie even thought it’s only a upscale restaurant?
If you pretend you’re going to the opera after dinner, then you can wear black tie!
Do you think the trousers are worn with braces or do they have side adjusters?
I don’t believe the trousers have either.
Is this the same Outfit he wore at the end of the film when new year starts?
Yes, it’s the same.
Hi Matt,
Did this dinner suit or the shirt ever sell at auction?
Thanks,
S
It has not.
Hey, Matt, have the cufflinks for this suit ever been identified? Upon rewatching the movie I noticed they were round ones, not much dissimilar to the DAD S.T.Dupont pair. The only thing I’m reasonably certain is that they’re not the Alfred Dunhill worn elsewhere in the film. Any insight?
They are dunhill.