Sean Connery wears a single-breasted blue blazer in a number of his Bond films and carries the blazer over to Never Say Never Again. This blazer is cut and detailed exactly like the suit jackets in the film, with natural shoulders, a two-button front, three-button cuffs, flapped pockets and double vents. The jacket relies solely on its polished brass buttons to define it as a blazer. It appears dressier than the blazers Connery wore in the Bond series, which were further differentiated from suit jackets with patch pockets and swelled edges.
Connery wears medium-dark grey flat front trousers with angled side pockets, and his belt and shoes are black. Connery wears this outfit twice in the film, with a different shirt and repp striped tie each time. The shirts are made by Turnbull & Asser and have a spread collar and one-button, button-down cocktail cuffs. The first is pale blue and the second is a slightly darker and more saturated sky blue. The first tie is navy with burgundy and pale yellow stripes, though the navy is warmer than the blazer’s cool navy and clashes. The second tie is has larger gold and burgundy stripes on a lighter navy with a cooler tone that’s much more agreeable with the blazer.
He looks like a menswear blogger. This look has definitely aged well.
I must say I love those Frank Foster shirts!
A series of Frank Foster articles will be coming soon, after my visit to his workshop yesterday.
I must say, very jealous of your London excursion, it’s hands-down my favorite city.
If you get a chance, swing by the bar at Duke’s Hotel in St. James (not far at all from Jermyn St.) Rumor has it that Ian Fleming was a fan of their famous martinis and came up with the recipe for the Vesper there. Whether this is true or not, their martinis are world-class!
I just found out that Turnbull & Asser also made some shirts for Never Say Never Again as well. Connery switches between the two throughout the film, but the cuff design was originally done by Foster.
Overall, the suiting in Never Say Never Again was not particularly impressive or memorable Bond apparel.
This blazer and all the previous items posted regarding this film appear pretty nondescript, especially when viewed beside what Hayward was producing for the official series at the time. Were Warner brothers (who produced this movie) really so limited in consideration for Bond’s heritage that they couldn’t have had a better tailor produce Connery’s wardrobe (Connery himself, unlike Roger Moore, had little interest in this so one can’t be too critical in his direction)? After all they did take the trouble to contact Foster after all – presumably on foot of his involvement with the EON movies – so why not a tailor of note? And, it would be interesting to find out who did produce the clothing for this film.
Interesting that, having always previously sported solid, mostly dark ties, in the official movies, that Connery’s range varied into (again uninspiring) repp models here. Of course, spoiled by the Windsor knot, which was his default if left to his own devices.
it astonishes me how often posters on this blog miss the point that impressive, distinctive and memorable clothing are the antithesis of what a secret agent requires.
Of course, we’re not talking about “a secret agent” in this case. We are talking about a particular secret agent whose hallmark, from the cinematic word go, was fine tailoring. That is not opinion, it is established fact but then those reading these comments can easily weed out the wheat from the chaff and the provocative from reasoned, if subjective, opinion!
Yes, Bond is no secret agent. Everyone knows who he is. Dressing well is more important than dressing inconspicuously because of the people he needs to associate with. Just look at Green’s party in Quantum of Solace. He needed to be dressed well to be let in. Bond, like Fleming, likes to wear clothes with personality.
Hi Matt! What do you think about blazer’s and trousers’ fabric? Wool serge, flannel, hopsack, lightweight wool?
My guess would be serge for the blazer, and perhaps gaberdine for the trousers. But that’s just a guess.
can anyone confirm the rumour that some of the clothing for nsna was supplied by Gieves?
I’ve never heard that before. But considering Gieves does a military cut, the tailoring in NSNA doesn’t have straight, military shoulders and is just softer overall.
Matt is Connery’s blazer a plain worsted or hopsack weave ?
It’s probably hopsack, but I can’t tell for sure.
A beautiful Hayward blazer. Looks great on Connery. The low but not too low button stance looks great on his ageing but still athletic physique.