For Casino Royale‘s first casino scene at the One&Only Ocean club in the Bahamas that introduces James Bond as a master poker player, Daniel Craig’s Bond wears a dark navy silk twill shirt made for the film. The button-front shirt is worn with an one-piece collar and has a straight hem with short side vents. The sleeves are long with button cuffs and the shirt has a breast pocket.
Though the shirt looks black, it was described by costume designer Lindy Hemming as “heavy navy blue”, and from the costume card the swatch is a very dark navy that looks black in all but direct sunlight. No hint of blue shows on screen due to the dimly and warmly lit scenes.
Silk is a somewhat odd choice for the scene, but it looks nice on screen. A cotton or linen shirt would be far more comfortable in the heat and humidity but would not look as presentable as heavy silk.
It was rumoured at ajb007.co.uk (http://www.ajb007.co.uk/topic/28551/ocean-club-shirt/, http://www.ajb007.co.uk/topic/30901/the-alfani-shirt/, http://www.ajb007.co.uk/topic/33642/cr-bahamas-casino-shirt-color/, http://www.ajb007.co.uk/topic/36237/casino-royale-beach-club-trousers/) that the shirt was originally a suede-like polyester shirt with a hidden-button-down and curved tails from the Macy’s house brand Alfani, which was later altered into a much different style for the film. But the fabric on the official costume card is not polyester and has a different texture.
The plain-weave linen trousers are the “Larked” model from Ted Baker. The colour is called “mink”, which can best be described as taupe. They have a flat front, straight-cut legs, a full break and plain hem. The side pockets are slanted and there is one rear jetted pocket on the right. There are belt loops but there is no belt in them. Bond’s shoes are black.
Having just returned from The One and Only Ocean Club, I have to say Daniel Craig is perfectly dressed for the setting. In all of his scenes in the Bahamas, Craig looks well-dressed and true to the character as well.
Are Bond’s shoes cap toed oxfords in this setting or just formal-casual shoes, like loafers or something? (I know Bond doesn’t wear loafers,just guessing seeing as how this poker match wasn’t considered a formal event)
On the audio commentary for Casino Royale, Lindy Hemmings says that the shirt is a heavy navy blue silk shirt. It could be silk, I don’t think Daniel Craig would wear a polyester shirt. He only usually ever wear quality materials and brands; he’s a clothes horse in real life.
I addressed this in the article. I have a costume card of this shirt, and it’s a black silk-like polyester. The shirt came from a low-end US department store.
I used to work at this low end department store. …
*putting dinner knife back on table* “Well, we can’t all be Neiman Marcus’es now, can we…”
It seems these comments come at 5 year intervals!
I recently dug out my dark navy alfani shirt after listening to the commentary track and upon hearing Lindy Hemming say it was silk. I remembered her saying it was dark blue but not that it was silk.
So I was wondering do I have the correct shirt after all? This is what led me to your site.
In the article you actually say at first that “Daniel Craig’s Bond wears a dark navy silk twill shirt made for the film.”
You then go on to say that it was “rumoured” to be the the Alfani shirt on AJB which was a suede like polyester but ” the fabric on the official costume card is not polyester and has a different texture.”
This implies the Alfani shirt is wrong.
But in your response to a comment you say it is a the Alfani from Macys and it is a polyester.
The article and your response are contradictory.
As another comment here states it has been said that the Alfani was a short notice thing, which I had heard before, on AJB I think, but I don’t know where that info came from initially.
What is your opinion now of the origin of the shirt, custom original or Alfani from Macys?
It turns out that the correct shirt is not the Alfani, and the costume card is what proves it. I even bought an extra costume card so I could burn the fabric to see if it was silk or polyester. Turns out that it’s not polyester for sure.
Strange they used a low end shirtmaler. Must have Been a reason for this. Craig in a lot of his films only wears good brands and quality materials. But then again he wore Top Shop chinos and a Zara shirt in Skyfall.
As I understand, something fell through and they had to make do on the spot.
You would have thought Brioni would have a similar shirt made of real silk. they supplied not just the suits and shirts but the cardigan Craig wears at the start of the film under the pea coat and probably the black shawl cardigan as well. And then you wouldn’t have had to alter it so much.