Original article published 12 August 2011.
I am in the process of rewriting and republishing old articles about James Bond’s outfits that need a refresh and expansion. All former comments are preserved below.
Sean Connery’s most iconic suit from his return to the role of James Bond in 1983’s Never Say Never Again is the one he wears in the Bahamas. Few looks can top how cool Connery looks in a suit in hot weather. The suit is an unusual creamy beige colour. It’s darker than cream but creamier and yellower than beige. The colour is appropriately bright for the tropics. The cloth is a very lightweight superfine wool with a bit of a sheen.
An auction at Lyon & Turnbull confirmed that Douglas Hayward made this suit for Sean Connery. They sold his suit—with two jackets—on 23 June 2021 for £5,250. The trousers have a label with a production date of 21.7.82, which means it was made at the right time for Never Say Never Again. The auction listing incorrectly states that it was possibly worn by Sean Connery while filming Five Days One Summer, which was filmed in 1981, according to IMDB Trivia.
This suit has the same cut and style as all of the suits in Never Say Never Again. Hayward also tailored Roger Moore for James Bond at the same time, and the style is largely the same for both men, with the most significant difference coming from the two men’s different physiques.
The jacket is cut with soft shoulders, natural sleeve heads and a little drape in the chest. There are two buttons on the front in a low stance, which was both a signature of Hayward’s style and a trendy look at the time. The notched lapels have a subtly bellied shape and a high, straight gorge, giving them a very long line. The lower foreparts are cut fairly closed. The double vents extend to slightly above the top of the flapped hip pockets and are cut with an outward flare from the back so they drape straight down at the sides. There are three buttons on the cuffs, and the jacket is trimmed with tan horn buttons. It has a tan lining.
The suit trousers have a flat front, slanted side pockets, one rear button-through single-jetted pocket on the right that is worn unbuttoned, and a straight leg with a plain hem. The trousers have belt loops, which are the height of the waistband and do not extend below it. The rear pocket has a mid brown horn button.
The style of the suit is extremely pared down and presents little excitement apart from its bright colour. Hayward was not interested in making flashy suits and preferred to keep his clothes simple. The style has little to peg it to this era, almost to its detriment. The fit is pretty good, but the sleeves and trousers could benefit from more shape. The suit as a whole lacks the shape of the suits Anthony Sinclair made for Connery in the earlier Bond films, and it suffers a little by comparison. Connery himself also lacks the shape he had in the early Bond films, but he’s still in excellent shape for a man of 52.
While tailor Anthony Sinclair did not return for Never Say Never Again, Connery’s main shirtmaker from the earlier Bond films, Turnbull & Asser, did return. The shirt is made of periwinkle cotton poplin, likely in Sea Island quality, and its saturated colour contrasts nicely with the pale-coloured suit. It’s this contrast that makes the outfit, and Pierce Brosnan’s Bond would later wear a similar combination with a darker shirt in The World Is Not Enough. Poplin, however, isn’t the most practical choice for the tropical climate, and it looks rather formal for this suit. Cotton voile or cotton-linen would be better choice.
The shirt style is different than what Connery usually wears in the earlier Bond films. The collar is a variation on their ‘Classic’ collar of the era, rather than a wider spread. The collar is low but has long points. It is stitched 1/4 inch from the edge and has about 1/2-inch of tie space to give it a wider spread. The cocktail cuff has returned and retains a similarly rounded shape, but this time it fastens around the wrist with only a single button and the turnback buttons down. The shirt has a wider front placket than is usual for Turnbull & Asser, but it retains their typical 3/8-inch stitching. The rear has shoulder pleats and darts. The shirt has a slightly full fit. There are pads sewn into the armpits to mask any underarm sweating in the heat so the shirt looks neat, but it’s unusual that they wouldn’t give Connery a shirt without the pads for the scene where he removes the shirt. It humanises Bond in a way that the audience would never see with the sweat-less Roger Moore.
The tie is light grey, in a darker value than the shirt, and has a subtle texture. It has thin, widely spaced mid-blue stripes that ascend to the right, which coordinate with the shirt. The tie’s maker is unknown, but like the shirt, it may be from Turnbull & Asser. It is tied in Connery’s preferred Windsor knot. The tie is not the best tie for this outfit, if Bond is to wear one at all. The tie presents him as a British professional, and it still makes sense for him to wear it during this era. The light colour of the tie keeps the outfit looking airy for the Bahamas, but a darker tie in navy would have been a better choice for Connery’s high-contrast complexion. A tie with more texture, like the grenadine ties Connery frequently wore in the earlier Bond films or a Fleming-esque silk knit tie, would have been a better choice for the setting
Connery wears the suit with a mid-brown belt and mid-brown shoes. The belt has a rounded buckle with a built-in metal keeper, suggesting it’s a reversible belt. The shoes, pictured under the bed in his hotel room, are three-eyelet derbies with a handsewn moccasin toe and single leather shoes. The shoe is like a lace-up alternative to loafers because of its moccasin toe, and thus it takes on the lower formality of the loafer. This shoe is rather unattractive and would have been better as either a plain-toe derby or a mocassin-toe loafer. It’s no loss that the pairs gets blown up in Bond’s hotel room.
Now Pay Attention
| SUIT | |
| Tailor | Doug Hayward |
| Fabric | Pale beige tropical wool |
| JACKET | |
| Front buttons | 2, low stance |
| Lapels | Medium-width notch |
| Shoulder | Soft with natural sleeve heads |
| Breast pocket | Welt |
| Hip pockets | Straight with flaps |
| Vents | 2 |
| Cuff buttons | 3 |
| TROUSERS | |
| Front | Flat |
| Support | Belt |
| Front/side pockets | Slanted side pockets |
| Rise | Medium |
| Leg | Medium, straight |
| Hem | Plain |
| SHIRT | |
| Shirtmaker | Turnbull & Asser |
| Fabric | Periwinkle cotton poplin |
| Collar | Spread |
| Cuff | 1-button button-down cocktail |
| Front | Placket |
| TIE | |
| Brand | Unknown |
| Fabric | Light grey with thin blue stripes |
| Knot | Windsor |
| SHOES | |
| Shoemaker | Unknown |
| Style | Brown moccasin-toe 3-eyelet derby |
Thanks for featuring this Matt.
It's a beautiful suit and it would be very interesting to find out definitively who made his suits for Never Say Never Again. It does look, certainly, very similar to the Hayward style. What do you think yourself?
Very nice suit! Thanks for posting!
The only redeeming quality NSNA has is Connery's wardrobe. He looks better in this, both physically and sartorially, than he does in Diamonds. Say what you will about the weakness of this film, Connery is dressed well.
David, I don't think this suit looks quite as good as Moore's Hayward suits. Sean Connery has suits made for himself by Maxwell Vine of Sackville Street, so perhaps he used him for this film. But I know little of Vine's cut.
Always liked this suit; thanks for featuring it!
Hayward had a partner named Dimi Major, based in Fulham… he had a very similar style to Doug and made suits for Connery for some years… I wonder if this might be one of them… Major also made a lot of suits for Ronnie Corbett!
Nice outfit, very similar to Moore’s one in FYEO at about the end and in Octopussy when he arrives in India. But a darker tie would have looked better, I think -a navy grenadine, for example…
I have always liked the tan suit in Octopussy, the light brown suit from For Your Eyes Only and the cream suit from Never Say Never Again.
This season I have looked for a similar suit in wool. Unfortunately it seams to be difficult to find a beige or cream wool suit, at least where I have looked so far. The only lighter-coloured suits that I’ve seen is either in cotton or linen.
Haven’t I looked enough or is it more uncommon these days with lighter coloured suits in wool?
Cotton and linen suits are more common now because they are more casual. Dressy light-coloured suits fit few rolls in today’s society.
If you would add a handkerchief to this suit or Moore’s light-coloured suits for an example – what color would be a good choice you think?
With this suit I would chose medium blue for the colour in the tie’s stripe. White would also work. So either a non-dominant colour in the tie or simple white linen.
Sean Connery looks fantastic in the suit and recaptures all the suave and style he so ably exudes. Even in the still photo shown minus the jacket and wearing the shirt casually he looks great. Ironically this unofficial entry felt more to me like a Bond film than Spectre!
I watched this film recently and that suit stood out loved the shirt and tie combo too it really suited the sunny environment of the Bahamas !
Found this article which might be interesting for all the readers here. Is it the same cream suit as the one worn in Never say never again? If so it was made by Hayward.
https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/people/sir-sean-connerys-suits-up-for-grabs-at-online-auction-this-week-3281728
https://www.lyonandturnbull.com/auction/lot/lot-404—suit-worn-by-the-late-sir-sean-connery/?lot=239255&so=0&st=connery&sto=0&au=9189&ef=&et=&ic=False&sd=2&pp=96&pn=1&g=1
https://www.lyonandturnbull.com/auction/lot/lot-403—suit-worn-by-the-late-sir-sean-connery/?lot=239254&so=0&st=connery&sto=0&au=9189&ef=&et=&ic=False&sd=2&pp=96&pn=1&g=1
Yes, this is the same suit. I made a few posts about it on the Bond Suits instagram channel.
Matt, do you happen to know what kind of hem is used here? Is it finished with a cuff or plain hem?
It’s a plain hem.
“There are pads sewn into the armpits to mask any underarm sweating in the heat so the shirt looks neat.”
Today it was hot where I live, especially during the ride in the subway which was more or less a mobile sauna, and it became a challenge to stay stylish more than like ten minutes without sweating. So let me just say I hesitated to remove my jacket despite using a V-neck t-shirt under my shirt today…
While searching the topic on this site I ended up here and I noticed the text here above.
These so called pads, are these visible in any way in the movie or how do you know about this? Are these common on shirts? I have never heard of it before, but I don’t use shirts from T&A admittedly. However, on a day like this it’s sounds interesting especially if wearing a blue shirt.
Although not an issue for Bond because of movie magics, like when coming to Jamaica in a dark, grey flannel suit and still look perfectly fine, but perhaps a future article here, since the summer is here for many of us, could be about how to stay stylish and sweat-free (!) as much as possible on a hot day when one really has to dress up for any reason.
As a side note, this cream suit really looks fantastic on Connery and Mr. Hayward did a great job.
I don’t recall where I saw the underarm pads, but I think they might be visible when we see Connery take his shirt off. They’re probably something the costume team put in rather than Turnbull & Asser.
Looks like Connery was wearing this suit at the Untouchables premiere in 1987. Certainly looks like it to me.
https://www.alamy.com/aggregator-api/download/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fc7.alamy.com%2Fcomp%2FKECX85%2Fsean-connery-june-1987-rttalesnick-mediapunch-KECX85.jpg
It’s nice with the blue knitted tie.
It looks great doesn’t it? I vastly prefer it over the grey tie. Great find, Ed!
Beautiful ! Reminds me of his Dr No looks with that little Windsor knot. It looks indeed ten times better than the combination used in the movie. The silver and the cream clashed. He’s better dressed for this premiere than Dr No !
Yes, it looks great with this tie, he wore on the Johnny Carson show (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bs9XKxbB_bk&feature=youtu.be, #johnnycarson #seanconnery #thetonightshow) with a brown tie when promoting the movie which also looked good but I think the blue knitted tie would have been a better choice for the movie scene. The casual belt and not buttoning the jacket lets it down for me here and the latter would have taken care of the first but I agree Le Chiffre, he’s better dressed than at the Dr No premiere! Nice to see he enjoyed wearing it for years after it was made for him, it’s a beautiful suit.
He also appears to be wearing the brown Hilo boots from Diamonds Are Forever with the suit as well.
James, and Ed, thanks, great catch ! Very cool to see he enjoyed his bespoke shoes for many years. The interview is nice to watch as well, Connery is having fun. Of course Carson being an excellent host and showman helps. I guess you can maybe outgrow a bespoke suit, but outgrow bespoke shoes would be pretty difficult.
Great catch on the DAF boots James, I didn’t notice that!
Is the suit pictured here actually the same suit? I’ve compared them and the suit worn in the movie seems to be a bit darker.
I think it’s the same, the film grading and different cameras etc will always result in some variation in how the colour appears but the details we can see all seem to match.
I would probably have gone with a dark brown tie with that, the low contrast of this one doesn’t look very good. To my eye, the button stance is too low, since the slimmest part of his waist seems to be a little higher than that.
Do we know why Anthony Sinclair didn’t return? And, I must say, and I dont know how I feel about this considering NSNA isn’t ‘official’, but, after the Glen-Check suit in FRWL, this is my favourite of Connery’s suits, as Bond.
Sinclair died around 1986, so he may have been in declining health around the time this was in production?
I believe he retired around the time this film was made in 1982, but he left his business in the hands of Richard Paine, so he could have passed on the work to Richard.
It’s such a simple suit with nothing stand-outish at all. But it looks great. Can we compare and contrast Sean’s suit with Rowan Atkinson’s? He is also wearing a tropical suit but it lacks the gravitas and ease of Connery’s. The suit looks cheap and poorly cut, even though the peak lapels and buttons are more showy. And Atkinson himself of course is a nervous wreck. Great suit, great underrated movie.
Great observation about Atkinson’s suit. He’s always maintained a very slim figure and off the rack suits likely do appear clumsy on him, as this one does. For the character, though, it’s perfect. He’s a clumsy, paranoid oaf. The bold necktie leads your eye up to his anxious face, with its shock of black hair and nervously moist lips. Bond (and Connery) is positively debonair next to him.
I will always marvel at how complimentary the Mr. Bean costume is on Atkinson, with its tightly tailored jacket, long dangling red tie, and thin-legged pants whose cuffs ride just slightly too high. The tight fit accentuates all his physical arm/leg movements and helps sell the character as gawky and childish. The white NSNA suit would hinder his performance and rob it of its graceless comedy!
Rowan Atkinson was one of the best parts of the movie, to be honest. Mr. Bean’s clothing does rather remind me of Pee-Wee Herman in that regard, accentuating the respective actors’ attributes. Coincidentally, both characters wear red ties… one a necktie, the other a bow tie of course.
Are you kidding me? The white suit has beautiful shoulders and a clean fit in the chest. Obviously they used that old fashioned colonial look to contrast with Connery’s suit, but the fit is excellent. I would not be surprised if it was bespoke. Hayward did cut some low buttoning db such as these in the 1980s, but the shoulder seems a bit build up, so we can only guess. He looks as dorky as Mr. Bean, but the suit is much nicer. Mother of pearl buttons probably. Even if the actors, characters and their physiques are so different, I would say this one has much more character than Connery, who could look good in literally anything (case in point here, since he wore dungarees and a boxer shorts with an undershirt later in the movie).
Atkinson’s suit looks bespoke from the shoulders, but I agree that it doesn’t look like Hayward. The fit around the collar looks off, but I can’t tell if the issue is more due to the jacket’s collar, the extremely high gorge or the shirt’s tiny collar.
As I stated when Matt first did this post, Connery looks fantastic in the suit. How he carries himself plays a great part too. He wears the suit, it doesn’t wear him. I’m actually coming to New York in September, Matt!
Nice update. I’d take the shoes rather than see them get blown up like they did. I so enjoyed Sean back in action. This was a fun film and had some interesting takes on the original Thunderball. Also later Eon Bonds would introduce similar MI-6 staff that wanted to nix the 00’s or found them obsolete. Yet how can a well dressed Secret Service Agent ever be obsolete for any time period?
Matt’s taking absolutely no prisoners when it comes to those shoes
Connery may not be in the shape he was for his early Bond films, but he’s in muuuuch better shape than he was in DAF.
I can’t comment on these particular shoes, but I can confirm another pair of black shoes he wears in the movie are by the Swiss shoemaker Bally.
Color wise, how similar is the DAF linen suit to this? Judging off the auction photos, the DAF also appears to be darker than the average ecru/cream but it looks paler than beige in behind the scenes photos.
The Diamonds Are Forever suit is cooler toned and not as flat in colour, but it has a similar paleness to this suit.
I can’t say for certain because of how films get colored and I’ve never seen this suit in real life, but could it be the color of older military khaki uniforms? The color here looks like the khaki uniforms worn in the Caine Mutiny. Again the color grading may be affecting things, but it would make some sense as those uniforms were issued for warm weather/tropics.
I think this suit is a little paler and yellower than the uniforms in that film, but with the film stock and processing, it’s very difficult to compare colours from one film to another.
Yeah it’s always hard to compare film to film color-wise. I’ve seen a good deal of WWII era Navy khaki uniforms and handled a few vintage 1950s uniforms, and they all seem to have a slightly more yellow cast than what we might think of as khaki today.
I had always assumed that this was due to aging, and it may well be. But this post got me wondering if there was a specific wool used in the past for tropical clothes, and if so, could that explain the color.
While searching for suits that are a similar color to this suit, I noticed that Don Draper appears to wear a sport coat that appears to be a similar creamy beige at one point in Mad Men.
https://bamfstyle.com/2015/04/20/mad-men-420/