Roger Moore’s Grey Flannel Suit in That Lucky Touch

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After completing The Man with the Golden Gun, Roger Moore starred alongside Susannah York in a 1975 British-German movie filmed in Belgium called That Lucky Touch. In 1975, Roger Moore became a tax exile for one year, and his tailor Cyril Castle was not willing to travel to fit Roger Moore outside of the UK. At the insistence of Moore’s Italian wife Luisa Mattioli, Moore found an Italian tailor. This tailor was Angelo Roma, and That Lucky Touch is the first film that features what is most likely his work. Though Moore returned to the UK, he continued to use Angelo Roma through the rest of the 1970s for his two Bond films that were both partially made in Italy, for an Italian production called Street People and possibly for Sunday Lovers. Moore became a permanent tax exile in 1978.

The result here is a combination of Roger Moore’s personal style and the efforts of costume designer Anthony Powell. For That Lucky Touch, Angelo made Moore a wide-lapelled medium grey lightweight flannel suit that is similar in cut to what Roger Moore would later wear in the two Bond films that would follow this one. The suit’s button two jacket is cut with straight, padded shoulders, roped sleeve heads, a lean and clean chest and a suppressed waist.

The jacket is detailed with many sporty details, including three rounded open patch pockets, with one on the chest and two on the hips. Another sporty detail are swelled edges, which comes from stitching away from—rather than along—the edges on the lapels, collar, quarters, pockets and vent. There is also one button on each cuff rather than three or four, further to cement this as a sports suit. The jacket’s buttons are shanked, domed (not braided) black leather. And there is a long (approximately 14-inch) single vent in the rear, which is too long for a jacket from a more formal suit than this but appropriate for a suit with an equestrian heritage. Being flannel—particularly with patch pockets, swelled edges, single-button cuffs, leather buttons and a very long single vent—the suit is sporty enough that the jacket could easily work alone without the suit trousers. Contrasting trousers such as tan, dark brown or charcoal flannel, whipcord or cavalry twill would make an excellent pairing.

But this sporty jacket is part of a suit with matching trousers. The suit trousers have flared legs similar to what angelo made for Roger Moore to wear in The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker.

Even when Roger Moore became a tax exile, London-based shirtmaker Frank Foster continued to make Moore’s shirts. This outfit’s ecru shirt has a long spearpoint collar to match the size of the lapels and has enough tie space to fit the large knot of his tie. It also has two-button cocktail cuffs made in a similar style to what Moore wears in The Man with the Golden Gun and a placket stitched close to the centre. The wide burgundy tie has a matte finish with a subtle texture, suggesting that it could be made from a wool and silk blend. Moore ties it in a four-in-hand knot.

Moore’s shoes are black slip-ons with an apron toe; they’re loafers but not moccasins. Black shoes match the suit’s black leather buttons, though loafers don’t look quite heavy enough to match the weight of a flannel suit. Pairing loafers with just about everything is one of Roger Moore’s most consistent sartorial faults. Derby or monk shoes or boots, plain or brogue, would be a better choice with a flannel suit, but they wouldn’t be Roger Moore’s style.

Over the suit, Roger Moore wears a classic tan cotton gabardine trench coat. The trench coat is one of Roger Moore’s staples outside of the Bond series, which he wears in The Saint, The Persuaders, The Wild Geese, The Muppet Show and Happy Anniversary 007. In the Bond series Moore never wears a trench coat, but he carries one into the office in For Your Eyes Only.

The double-breasted trench coat in That Lucky Touch is from Burberry’s and is knee-length with ten buttons. It has raglan sleeves with shoulder straps, a double hook closure at the collar, a yoke across the upper back, a storm flap on the front right, slash pockets, and a self belt and wrist straps that close with a leather buckles. The buttons are beige plastic and lighter in colour than the trench coat. The lining is Burberry’s iconic ‘Nova Check’ in black and white on tan with a red windowpane. Moore also wears a corduroy trench coat later in the film.

This is overall a classic Roger Moore outfit. The suit is made in the infamous 1970s style that Moore is known for, but it’s made in a classic and elegant grey flannel. The shirt is ecru, a favourite colour of Moore’s because of how good it looks on him, and it has Frank Foster’s famous cocktail cuffs that Moore wore almost exclusively for eight years. The burgundy tie is also a classic colour for Moore’s ties. The suit, shirt and tie colour combination should look familiar; Moore wears this in a lighter weight when he arrives in San Monique in Live and Let Die. Update this outfit with narrower proportions for the lapel width, collar point length, tie width and trouser hem width, and the concepts of this outfit can still work well today.

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15 COMMENTS

  1. Its fantastic, after the previous article on Craig’s suit, to see pictures of som real tailoring! This of course is no criticism of that article itself, I just find those suits such tiresome eyesores. This suit looks stunning and I love how it is worn. This wouldnt look at all out of place in the Bond films and in my personal taste it may be one of the nicest suits Sir Roger ever wore on screen (wich says a lot!). Stylish with subtlety yet flair! I also love the tie, the textured weave perfectly compliments the suit fabric.

  3. Angelo Vitucci was not a tailor,but a entrepreneur.
    He worked several years at Brioni,and was also a model for the firm.
    In 70s opened his own house,Angelo Rome.
    His cutters were very skifuls,but the main problem (if can be considered a problem..for me yes) is that Angelo was too much in the fashion trends.
    However this did Angelo perfect for the modish (or”fashion victim”) Roger Moore.

    In this picture we see Angelo Vitucci in early 60s with a trendy Brioni suit.

    http://s12.postimg.org/t3pu4kkbx/img086.jpg

  6. I think the padded shoulders suit Moore, especially since there fairly narrow and not too wide. It must have a bit of a change for Moore at the time since he had used Cyril Castle for so long. Matt which cut do you think suits Moore’s build the best or of his three tailors ? Even though he had more structured shoulders with his Roma cut, I think they look better on his build then the very natural Hayward shoulders. But that’s just my opinion.

  7. Moore has a large quite barrelled chest, I think his shoulders and arms let him down a bit. Castle’s softly padded shoulders look good on just about everyone.

  8. This suit is interesting for its sporty features and the flawless fit which was Angelo’s hallmark. The lapels are quite classically proportioned for the era (as were Castle’s) being wider than average but mot excessive overall. Some little touches such as the very deep back vent and the single button cuff date it to its time. Single button cuffs on suits seem, to my eye, to lack the polish that a row confer. The shirt is another departure, given that Foster’s collars on the previous Bond movies were shorter than what was currently fashionable. This brought Roger right in to the mid 70’s while keeping the classic cocktail cuff and although the collar points were longer the shape is different to those seen in Spy or Moonraker. I actually like this “spearpoint” collar. I wonder when shirts with longer collar points will come back in to fashion? Long overdue. I don’t care what anyone says, these type of collars and wider than average lapels just confer a feel of luxury and opulence that the currently fashionable narrow lapels and short collars definitely don’t!

    • Unsurprisingly, I tend to agree with David, with one caveat – I am not crazy about spearpoint collars. I think the high, semi-spread collars Moore wore in FYEO were ideal. I remember arguing with my father over tie widths in the early 80’s (another skinny tie period) – he insisted that a wide tie made for a richer, more opulent knot, and he was right. I just didn’t realize it at the time, because all I had seen (or noticed) up to that point in real life were medium-to-narrow ties. Even then, however, I used to wonder why Roger Moore’s ties looked so much richer and “popped” so much more than than the limp, skinny ties most of the men around me wore.

    • I recently had a Prince Of Wales check sports jacket made with patch pockets and swelled edges. I liked the jacket so much I had matching trousers made so I had the opinion of wearing the jacket as a full suit or if I wanted a more casual dressed down look as a sports jacket with contrasting trousers. Sporty suits are becoming not just for social occasions but worn by the older in business now. I see more suits with bolder checks and sportyier features worn by executives now. I really like the fit of Angelo’s work for Moore during this era. I have a navy blazer in a similar cut to Moore’s Angelo blazers. I also noticed as David did that the cuffs look like Castle cuffs, but the structured shoulders, lean chest and suppressed waist are classic Angelo Roma.

  9. Dan, I agree completely about the shirts in FYEO and this is the style in which I had Foster produce mine. I guess I just find the other style interesting. The kind of shirt you might order just one or two of.

    Ryan,
    About the cuffs, the ones I was referring to as Castle were those seen on the suit in Carmelo’s photo. Th rest of that suit, with the narrow wrap front, seems like typical Castle to me.

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