The navy birdseye suit is favourite of costume designer Lindy Hemming to dress on Pierce Brosnan. She put Brosnan in a navy birdseye suit in GoldenEye and designs an almost identical suit for Tomorrow Never Dies. This Brioni suit is a three-piece suit with a three-button jacket, five-button waistcoat and double-reverse-pleat trousers. The jacket has a full cut cut with wide, straight shoulders and roped sleeve heads. Compared to the standard Brioni Augusto model on which this suit is based, the waist is less suppressed and the button stance is lowered. It has double vents, slanted pockets with a ticket pocket and four-button cuffs. Brosnan leaves the bottom button of his five-button waistcoat open. The trousers have double reverse pleats and turn-ups and are worn with a belt.
The birdseye cloth for this suit is made by Holland & Sherry.
The shirt and tie are made by Turnbull & Asser. The shirt is cream royal oxford and has a moderate spread collar and double cuffs. The tie is bronze floating ribs with blue squares on alternating ribs. Brosnan’s shoes are black brogues from Church’s. Over the suit, Brosnan wears a Brioni vicuna-coloured cashmere overcoat.
The shirt and tie were sold at auction at Bonhams in Knightsbridge on 16 June 2009 for £1,320, in a lot including other items.
Hey, alright! Thanks, Matt, for covering this selection. I was rewatching TND a couple of weeks ago and really noticed this suit for the first time. I think it's quite a nice look for Brosnan. I had no idea it was navy birdseye, but that makes sense since I've always admired the style (if not necessarily the cut) of the birdseye suit in Goldeneye. And unlike some on the site, I like the tie choice in GE and here as well.
Is birdseye available anymore, or at least stateside? I've never seen it at the places I shop, but my budget keeps me from browsing the truly fine stores.
Thanks for the great work!
The button stance is so low it looks like a 2-button in the first picture… or is it a 3-roll-2?
For the most part I liked Brosnan's suits, but his ties tended to be pretty dire. This is no exception.
WM, Brooks Brothers occasionally sells birdseye suits. Even Jos. A. Bank often has some. I have an older one in grey tones from Polo Ralph Lauren.
Sean, the lapel rolls a little over the top button. The middle button is around the 4th button from the top on the waistcoat, putting it slightly below his waist. It's a more natural placement than today's fashionable high 2-button suits that would place the top button almost as high as Brosnan's top button here. Traditionally the buttons here would be only about an inch too low. The same with the breast pocket. Roger Moore's suits in The Saint in the 1960s had a very similar button stance, but with a more suppressed waist.
I agree completely with anonymous regarding Brosnan's ties.
Nice suit, however.
I don't understand why some people on this site criticize Brosnan's ties; they had color and "graphic punch", as opposed to Craig's nondescript mini checks. A tie should provide some contrast and some interest to an outfit.
Thanks, Matt. A Brooks Brothers just opened near me. I visited them recently and didn't see any Birdseye, but I could ask. And speaking of button stance, while I was at BB, I tried on one of their 1818 suits in the Fitzgerald cut. It's a very "Mad Men" cut inspired by JFK. The button stance seemed very low to me (just below the navel). Is that too low, or is that, in fact, the traditional stance and it just seems low to me by modern standards?
Very nice selection. One of the few Brosnan era ties that I would wear myself. And the overcoat he wears in Hamburg is spectacular.
WM, Brooks Brothers doesn't seem to have a birdseye suit this season, but they've had them in the past. The Fitzgerald really isn't cut that much like JFK's suits, and it's actually more reminiscent of American suits of the late 60s. The lower button stance is more traditional, though are you sure the suit wasn't too long? I've never tried one on but I'm really surprised the button stance was that low on you because that's not how it fits the models on their website. But since the trousers have a modern, low rise, the low-button stance better matches with that.
Brooks Brothers is the best American suit manufacturer, in my opinion. They are timeless, durable, and elegant.
I've always admired Brosnan's style, perhaps because he was the Bond that I grew up with. TND was the first Bond film that I saw in theaters and I've been hooked ever since. It seems that some other posters on this blog have a similar affinity for Moore, as he was the 007 that they grew up with. Every generation has their guy. For this reason I place Pierce Brosnan second only to Connery as my favorite Bond actor.
Dan, I agree with you regarding Mr. Brosnan's ties. I am particularly fond of the blue one with the circle pattern that he wears in DAD during the Underground and virtual reality scenes. I was lucky enough to find one at Harrods last year, along with the one he wears in Hamburg in TND and they have since become the pride of my collection. Paired with solid shirts (and an Omega and a Walther perhaps) I think they look great.
Brosnan is always immaculately dressed in his films. Though his trousers in Goldeneye may have been a bit on the baggy side, everything is put together well. He also dresses appropriately for the occasion– impeccable Brioni for meeting Swiss bankers, casual beachwear for Cuba, battled dress for taking on Carver on his stealth boat.
Apologize for the lengthy response, just very pleased with today's post. Keep up the good work, Matt.
I personally really like the tie. I think the bronze/copper colour is beautiful and makes for a smart combination with the navy suit.
Dan,
As my post above and elsewhere reflect, I am a critic of Brosnan's ties. My view is based on three things. First, as a matter of personal taste, I don't care for loud, 1990's geometrics.
Which brings me to the second thing, which is that I find ties generally date a suit the most. And the tie selection for Brosnan often seems determined to be as not-timeless as possible.
Finally, While I don't expect the film character to wear a navy suit and black knit tie exclusively, I do believe that Bond's look owes some fidelity to the character's literary roots and established screen look. James Bond is supposed to be fairly non-descript; indeed, Fleming selected his name as the most boring possible. Connery and Lazenby's solid ties, Moore's striped regimentals, and Craig's subtle patterns reflect the character's heritage. Of course, there are exceptions (Moore certainly had a few, and nothing matches Connery's short pink tie from Diamonds for sheer awfulness), but contrast, color, and graphic punch are, to me, not in sync with the character. I know from prior posts others will have their own takes, but that's my approach and view.
That's an interesting point, and a fair criticism. However, I don't think Brosnan's fashions are as bad as they could have been, considering the era in which his first to films were made and what was in vogue at the time, such as double-breasted suits with a comically low buttons stance with only one to close and trousers cut so wide they look like they belong on MC Hammer. Not to mention the loud, wide-blade (Think Niles Crane.)
Seen in this light I think Brosnan, and Lindy Hemming especially, deserve some credit for dressing their interpretation of Bond in a way that was both timeless and of the moment. I can see where you and others may take issue with some of the bolder-patterned ties that Brosnan wore, (like the Thames chase tie from TWINE. That one is a little excessive!) but this one here is very subtly patterned and complements the rest of the ensemble well, I think.
I think you're right, Christian – ties do date a suit more than anything else, but they are also the easiest way for a man to express his own personal style, so therefore – as you say, there will always be a divergence of opinion. I personally like this tie and the one paired with the Birdseye in GE, but I hate the one Brosnan wears to MI6 in TWINE.
Matt – to answer your question, the Fitzgerald jacket may have been too long, or I may have been somewhat incorrect about the button stance. I know it was around the navel. It could have been right on it – I have trouble remembering – but I know it was lower than I'm used to and not very much above my buckle (which I wear fairly low.)
The seemingly very knowledgeable attendant put me in a 41 Long. I'm right at 6 foot tall, but I've always worn 40 or 42 Regulars. The 41 fit my shoulders perfectly, but perhaps a Long is too long.
Kyle – You're absolutely right. BB is awesome. I'm very pleased to have a local store now. I just need a raise so I can visit them more often.
Sorry for the long comment. Great site. I really appreciate it.
Kyle: By the time of Goldeneye, the fashions you cite weren't really in vogue anymore or at least were rapidly disappearing. Those were mostly from the '80s and carried over into the early '90s.
I should refine my comments a bit. The main thing I have against this tie is that I don't like the way it looks with this suit. Going through Brosnan's suits, he often has quite subtle ties. The problem is that he also, more than once, he has 1990s-geometric tie paired with an incredibly nice-looking (and expensive looking, which is topic for another time) conservative suit (the TWINE MI6 tie is the most egregious example). And because of his at-times more conservative choice of ties, I am less willing to write it off as a nod to the fashions of the day. Anyway, just my take. Great post, Matt.
A bit digressing, but I would like to point out that Brosnan wore monkstrap shoes in TND. Was it Church's Presley, the same model he wore in The World Is Not Enough? When you carefully watch the scene in which Bond infiltrates into the office of Carver Media Group Network to snatch the GPS device and destroy the communication satellite, he is clearly seen to wear monk strap shoes. Correct me if I am wrong.
The shoes when Bond infiltrates Carver's headquarters are most definitely oxfords. I cannot tell whether they have a cap-toe or wing-tip, but they are proper closed-laced oxfords.
Matt, forgetting the waistcoat of course, how is this suit any different (if it is !) from the navy birdseye suit in Goldeneye ? Is it the cut, or the cloth ? Or after all, could it be the same suit used twice ?
Thanks !
This suit looks a little darker than the GoldenEye suit. Also, the GoldenEye suit was actually made with a waistcoat, but the waistcoat with the GoldenEye suit was made with six buttons rather than the five here.
Thank you Matt ! You really have the answer to everything !
Is this tie the same as the one when he arrives in Hamburg?
Yes, it’s the same outfit.