James Bond’s pink shirt in You Only Live Twice is ideal for both dressing down as James Bond does here or dressing up with a suit. This outfit is Bond’s only casual look to feature cocktail cuffs. While he could easily wear a hopsack blazer over this shirt and trousers, the heat forced Bond to wear his usual shirt in a casual way.
Bond’s shirt is made by Turnbull & Asser in lightweight cotton and woven of pink and white yarns. It drapes like voile, but it is not quite as sheer as voile usually is. The shirt’s style is the same as his formal shirts in the film, with a wide spread collar, two-button cocktail cuffs, a narrow placket on the front and two darts in the rear.
Bond’s dark grey tropical wool trousers have side-tab waist adjusters, an extended tab front held with a clasp and frogmouth pockets. The trousers have a darted front (with the darts centred above the frogmouth pockets) and sit at the waist. Bond’s footwear is a pair of brown leather sandals, without socks. Sandals are something that Fleming’s Bond wore in the tropics, but in dark blue or black leather. However, in Fleming’s You Only Live Twice Bond wear black plastic sandals with nylon socks. The sandals keep Bond cool and dressed down.
Ah, YOLT and the chubby bond. Love it. IIRC he wore a pink shirt THUNDERBALL too, yes?
In any case, let me take this moment to indulge in a little follow-through.
Early in the history of this blog, I made a comment in a thread in reference to a Turnbull and Asser measurements card for Sean Connery that I had seen on a website. And of course, I couldn't find it.
Well, I found it. It wasn't on a website. It was in the documentary INSIDE DR. NO on the Ultimate Edition DVD. You can see the card at about the 11:57 mark. I still think the measurements seem kinda big, but there you have it.
Still enjoy this great blog. Keep up the good work. Waiting for the post on the horrific matching blue leisure outfit in THUNDERBALL.
For me this is a bit of a mixed bag.
I am very fond of the turnback/cocktail cuff shirt but I feel if this was a half sleeve shirt it would better suit casual wear in a warm climate. Connery wore some of these in his previous movie, Thunderball, but with a different style of collar. Again, a paler shade of trousers would better suit the Japanese climate depicted in these scenes. Connery’s casual wear was always a little hit and miss. Sometimes it was excellent and other times not so good. This is middling.
Overall, the ensemble looks a little like he is just wearing the trousers of a suit with an open neck shirt.
With the sandals the outfit reminds me, fatally, of the headmaster of my Secondary (High) school!
I agree with David's comments. I like pink linen in concept, but the long sleeves with turnback cuffs, and tucked into dark trousers just make it the outfit into a sort of casual, sort of formal look. Kind of a mess.
Agreed, guys.
Matt do you think a pink shirt will ever return to the Bond series, be it paired with most likely chinos ?
It could happen, but it’s something from the 60s that isn’t as popular today.
It was a fashion trend in the middle 2000’s, but not as much these days, I’ve worn rose pink and pale pink shirts in summer. I have to say I have been very much inspired by Sean Connery’s warm weather casual looks from Thunderball. it’s 33 degrees today in Geelong, Australia i’m wearing a light pink shirt with button cuffs and light grey slacks, I think it works will during very hot weather.
I agree, it’s a great look in hot weather. Stay cool!
I have an air conditioned office, but it will be pretty hot when I leave in the afternoon. How hot does it get in New York during summer ?, how do you change your wardrobe to compensate for the weather ?
It can get that hot in the summer, occasionally up to 38° or so.
How do you change your wardrobe for warmer months ? light weight harrington’s, linen/cotton jackets, chinos, linen shirts, lighter colours ?
Matt , how can you tell that it is a linen and cotton blend shirt and not a pure linen shirt ? Also Connery’s trousers seem to have no back pockets , which is rather unusual compared to all his other trousers which have one rear Pocket
To me, shirt looks like the way a linen and cotton blend drapes. It does not have the sharp look of cotton, but it also doesn’t have the rumpled look of linen. Still, it could possibly be 100% linen.
The trousers have one rear pocket on the right.
Are there any shirtmakers who offer linen cotton blends these days ? Turnbull and Asser , perhaps ?
Any shirtmaker should have them, there’s nothing unusual or fancy about it.