Pierce Brosnan celebrated his 72nd birthday last week. He has maintained a stylish public image for 43 years, ever since he first appeared in Remington Steele in 1982. It was in Remington Steele that he developed his style and set the stage to become one of the most styish James Bonds. His last of his many sports coats to premier in Remington Steele’s first series in 1983 has a large check in grey and black. The grey jacket is a theme through his early wardrobe in the series, but Brosnan wears this specific jacket in only three episodes.
The jacket has a unique check that’s half of a Glen Urquhart check. It features the small two-and-two and the vertical stripe sections of the Glen Urquhart check, so it only has lengthwise sections of two different patterns without crosswise variation. The two-and-two section alternates groupings of black and mid grey on a light grey ground in both the warp and weft for a mini gun club check effect, while the striped section alternates groupings of black and light grey in the warp. The chunky cloth is woven in a twill weave of either wool, cashmere, camelhair or a blend of any of these fibres.
The jacket has a simple but classic style with two buttons on the front in a medium stance, straight hip pockets with flaps, and long double vents at the rear. There are three buttons on the cuffs, and the lack of buttonholes likely signifies this jacket as ready to wear. The square, padded shoulders and the low gorge of the lapels dates the jacket to the 1980s, and the latter is coming back into fashion in the mid 2020s. The medium width of the lapels and the not-so-dramatic gorge prevents the jacket from looking overly dated. The jacket has a full fit in the chest with shape through the waist for a flattering look.
He pairs the jacket with black worsted wool trousers, which elegantly contrast the jacket without looking too dramatic. Charcoal or light grey trousers would also pair well with this jacket. The trousers have reverse pleats, a mid rise and medium-width straight leg. He wears the trousers with a black belt that has a brass buckle.
Brosnan wears a monochrome look with light grey shirt and a charcoal grey tie to soften the look compared to a white shirt and black tie. Light grey shirts are uncommon, but here the shirt nicely complements the darker grey jacket. Brosnan’s cool complexion looks superb in grey, but he could have benefited from a little more contrast in the form of a white shirt.
The cotton poplin shirt has a gold-pinned point collar with short points—a popular early 1980s fashion—and single cuffs that fasten with cufflinks. Cufflinks can be a stylish complement to a sports coat, even if it’s a slightly unconventional pairing. The cuffs are rounded and have two sets of buttonholes. They may either be short double cuffs worn unfolded or rounded two-button cuffs with a hole added on the button side for the cufflinks. The placket is an English-style narrow placket that is stitched 3/8-inch from the edge. The shirt is closely fitted, but it’s not likely bespoke due to the cuffs being worn in an unusual manner.
The tie is charcoal grey matte silk with subtle self stripes. He ties it in a left-handed four-in-hand knot. A dark grey silk satin pocket square complements the tie by almost matching the colour but with a shinier texture.
This jacket and the way Brosnan wears it are somewhat reminiscent of the checked jacket Roger Moore wears in The Man with the Golden Gun, but Brosnan’s outfit has less contrast. This slightly dark, low-contrast look is dressed down a notch compared to the same outfit with a white shirt. The darkness of the outfit would make it a stylish slightly dressed down look compared to a suit for day into night. The style of the outfit overall is in the Anglo-American tradition which was a popular look in America in the early 1980s. Brosnan’s style in Remington Steele had already started moving towards a trendier Italian-influenced look, which can be seen in this jacket’s large shoulders and low gorge.
Mr Steele wears a classic tan cotton gabardine trench coat over the outfit for no apparent reason other than being a fan of Humphrey Bogart. The weather in Pasadena looks perfectly pleasant without rain or chill. The classic trench has a full length below the knee. It is double-breasted with ten buttons on the front and has raglan sleeves, shoulder straps, a yoke across the upper back, wrist straps that close with a buckles that match the colour of the coat. Brosnan wears the coat open and keeps the coat’s belt out of way neatly tied behind his back.
The trench coat has a storm flap on the left side, which may signify that this is a women’s trench coat that is designed to fasten right-over-left. Brosnan had a very slight build at the time, so a women’s trench coat would have fit him well.
It’s a nice outfit but I would have preferred a light blue-grey (like Brooks Brothers does for their OCBDs) shirt and charcoal trousers. The short collar probably looks better with a collar pin than without. I’m trying to remember who noticed that his shirts had two button rounded cuffs with a buttonhole on the other side first. I seem to remember making a separate observation, but maybe I just didn’t read your Remington Steele articles before then. I have noticed a number of ready-made English shirts with two-button rounded cuffs, so the placket makes sense. I wonder who made this one.
Not a fan of close fitting shirts on Brosnan, I feel like all it does is emphasize how thin he is. The more relaxed fitting shirts like the one’s he wears as Bond match his frame better and make him look more imposing.
I guess, but he also put on a bit more weight a decade later. I don’t think the close fitting shirts look bad on him at all, but I’m also speaking as a woman attracted to men.
The full cut T&A shirts he wears during his Bond tenure look great.
Undoubtedly so. But he could make almost anything work on him.