In A View To a Kill, Bond wears a grey suede blouson with perforated panels in San Francisco. The jacket was made by Leather Concessionaires, who are better known for making Indiana Jones’ leather jackets in Raiders of the Lost Ark and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. The jacket has a zip fastening, a fold-down collar, set-in sleeves with button-tabs on the cuffs and chest, shoulder straps, and slash pockets. There are perforated vent panels on the chest, back, and front and back yokes. The hem is gathered with elastic.
Bond wears this jacket with grey flannel trousers of worsted wool with reverse pleats and a straight leg. The button-down shirt by Frank Foster is white with thick and thin grey stripes and has a button-down collar, button cuffs and a front placket. Bond’s shoes are black leather and probably slip-ons like all of his other shoes in A View to a Kill.
The blouson was sold at Christie’s in South Kensington on 12 December 2001 for £823 (see more at Christie’s) and another example later on 17 December 2002 sold again for £823 (see more at Christie’s). The jacket was was later auctioned at Prop Store on 16 October 2014 for £6,000 (see more at Prop Store).
You may be right regarding the shirt being bought in the States, Matt but there are just a few caveats.
Indeed, Moore wore another blue colour shirt of this style also in the USA part of the movie under a leather blouson yet he also wore a cream/white(?) spread collar shirt with his fawn colour suit in San Francisco based scenes. The latter was more than likely his usual Frank Foster shirt.
However, it wasn’t just in A View to A Kill that these button collar shirts first appeared. Moore was interviewed by TV AM (British Breakfast TV and viewable on YouTube) at the time wearing a houndstooth sports coat with a blue button collar shirt and navy tie. This showed the button collar shirt in full and it’s a little different to a lot of this style. One feature of button down collar shirts seems to be usually a slightly softer collar without removable bones yet Moore’s button down shirt has a firmer collar, probably with collar bones, with the button attaching it to the body of the shirt as per usual. This makes me think it could’ve been bespoke rather than off the peg.
In a 25 year 007 anniversary documentary which Moore presented two years later he wears a white shirt with this same firm, button down collar again with jacket and tie. I don’t think it conclusively means Foster produced these but Moore, as a fastidious dresser, would tend to stick to his usual shirt maker
I hope this doesn’t seem pedantic but I think you’ll be interested in the information
David, I never saw those interviews before. And I think you're right about the shirts being made by Frank Foster. The ones in A View To a Kill seem to be the same shirt. They have Frank Foster's single-button cuff design. I doubt the collar has stays, but they are made in a way to keep it straight rather than roll. Cary Grant has some similar shirts. I'll change the blog entry to reflect your information. Thank you very much.
I always like Moore’s casual looks in the 1980’s. It made him fit in and not stand out too much when undercover. But he was still well dressed. In a dark blue, black or even a very dark brown, would make the jacket easier to wear today, but I don’t think it looks that dated to 1985. What do you think Matt ?
I think the grey suede jacket could still fit in today. Wearing it with flannel trousers trousers is what wouldn’t work.
Grey is a good colour as it’s neutral. but lighter weight trousers like the black trousers with grey ticks Craig wore in Spectre would have work with this jacket I believe, unless someone wanted to pair it with chinos or even jeans.
Matt there is a deleted scene from A View To A Kill that shows James Bond in a pair of jeans and a plaid shirt with a ball cap. Maybe something that you might consider covering in the future?
This is a good idea!
This is the only example of Moore wearing pleated trousers in the entire run of Bond movies. None of the other trousers he wore in this movie or any other Bond movie deviated from the flat front, pocket less look he favored. I can’t help wondering why this solitary pair of trousers were made by Hayward in a different (albeit subtly) style.