Before James Bond wore a pale-coloured suit in the EON Productions film series, Sir James Bond wore a cream suit in the 1967 James Bond spoof Casino Royale. Sir James Bond was played by David Niven as a retired British agent whose name was given to subsequent agents. This non-canon film suggests that Sean Connery’s character was only codenamed ‘James Bond 007’, just like the other characters who would take on the mantle in this spoof. Sir James Bond is a much different character than Ian Fleming’s James Bond and the various incarnations seen in the EON films, and his sense of style shares little with James Bond on the page or otherwise on screen. Other characters given the codename ‘James Bond 007’ in this version of Casino Royale have more in common with the familiar version of Bond, either in manner or in style.
Sir James Bond wears a cream suit to visit his daughter Mata Bond in a scene that takes place in Asia, where the cream suit has an appropriately colonial look. Like everything Sir James Bond wears, it’s a flamboyant take on historic costume. This suit is Edwardian meets the 1960s. It was made by Benson, Perry & Whitley of 9 Cork Street, just a couple blocks from Savile Row in London’s Mayfair area. Despite the character sharing little with Ian Fleming’s Bond, the same tailor made Fleming’s own suits, albeit in a much more typical and conservative Savile Row style. Niven’s suit is closer to the trendy Carnaby Street styles of the time.
The suit is made of lightweight cream silk dupioni. The silk has a gentle sheen with subtle slubs to give the suit an exotic look for Asia.
The suit jacket is closely fitted with a short length to give it a fashionable mid-1960s look. The jacket has lightly padded shoulders, natural sleeve heads and front darts for more shape than the typical Edwardian jacket. It has four buttons down the front, and Niven fastens all of them in the older fashion before people started wearing the bottom button open. Some historians credit King Edward VII with starting the trend of wearing a jacket’s bottom button open due to his weight gain while others only give him credit for the reason why a waistcoat’s bottom button is left unbuttoned. Now the standard single-breasted lounge jacket is cut so the bottom button cannot be fastened without distorting the lines of the jacket. Waistcoats, on the other hand, are still commonly cut to allow the bottom button to fasten, but the bottom button is still left open for both tradition and comfort.
The jacket has skinny lapels to add to the 1960s style. There are four buttons on the cuffs, hip pockets with rounded flaps and a single vent at the rear. Cream silk braid unusually trims the edges of the lapels, the front, the top and sides of the breast pocket welt and the hip pockets’ flaps. The jacket’s buttons are white mother of pearl, which nicely complements the silk.
The suit trousers are cut with a trim tapered leg, which gives the suit a traditional look. The hems are plain. The top of the trousers isn’t seen, so the style of the upper part of the trousers is unknown.
Little of Niven’s lightweight white shirt is visible under the suit and cravat, but it has a high band collar and double cuffs. A white cravat is tied outside the collar and held in place with a gold stick pin that features a black stone. The stick pin is the only dark part of the outfit, adding a subtle focal point near the face.
Like the rest of the outfit, the shoes are also white. They pull the outfit together as a well-coordinated costume. They are a lace-up style with a pointy toe and thin black soles.
Outdoors, the outfit is completed with a white pith helmet to follow the colonial look. The pith helmet was originally a European military type of headgear worn by the military and civilians with bush clothes, it’s unusual with a lounge suit as Sir James Bond wears it. A beige Victorian-style parasol finishes the look with a strong flamboyance while further distinguishing Sir James Bond from any other incarnation of James Bond.
This suit’s jacket went unsold at a Prop Store auction on 16 October 2014, and the jacket was altered for use in a later production. According to the auction, the jacket sold at auction was dyed a darker beige, but it also has the look of silk that has yellowed over time. The mother-of-pearl buttons were replaced with satin-covered buttons, like those found on a modern ivory dinner jacket.
Now Pay Attention
| SUIT | |
| Tailor | Benson, Perry & Whitley |
| Fabric | Cream silk dupioni with cream silk braid trim |
| JACKET | |
| Front buttons | 4 |
| Lapels | Narrow notch |
| Shoulder | Lightly padded with natural sleeve heads |
| Breast pocket | Welt |
| Hip pockets | Straight with rounded flap |
| Vents | 1 |
| Cuff buttons | 4 |
| TROUSERS | |
| Front | Unknown |
| Support | Unknown |
| Front/side pockets | Unknown |
| Rise | High |
| Leg | Narrow, tapered |
| Hem | Plain |
| SHIRT | |
| Shirtmaker | Unknown |
| Fabric | White |
| Collar | High band |
| Cuff | Double |
| Front | Unknown |
| CRAVAT | |
| Brand | Unknown |
| Fabric | Ivory silk satin |
| Knot | Cravat with stick pin |
| SHOES | |
| Shoemaker | Unknown |
| Style | White lace-up with pointy toe |
Great to see an article about Niven, one of the best dressed men on screen
Matt, Would you consider doing an article on how Ian Fleming’s personal style influenced Bond’s?
I already did: https://www.bondsuits.com/ian-fleming-wardrobe-model-james-bond/
This outfit is, undoubtedly, one of Bond’s peak flamboyance moment.
Well, for something that was almost a parody, they kind of did it right.
Almost ? Ahah
Shhh don’t spoil it. LOL
The clothing and music were the best parts. Some of the jokes landed, most didn’t. A lot of the problem with this film is down to having five different directors and Peter Sellers being an absolutely shit human being.
The worst part was that this movie wasted Orson Welles as a comedic version of Le Chiffre, when he would have been an ideal Blofeld in the main EON series.
Honestly, we could use some comedic, parodic elements in recent Bond films. I remember chuckling at Connery Bond’s dry humors, as did I with Moore’s outlandish humors.
And, honestly, Giselle, one will, like it or not, get shit humans if one is not serious. Just stopped by at my former institution not long ago, and an instructor was to be relieved of duty because he didn’t have commitment and seriousness. All because the institution was trying to get with the kids and hire someone who’s not serious as well.
Greg: Orson Welles was also one of the best parts, I stand corrected. I think he could have been a really good Le Chiffre had they decided to make Casino Royale one of the first official movies. That said, I loved Mads Mikkelsen in the part four decades later, even if he wasn’t close to the novel’s description and they leaned into the unfortunate “disabled/disfigured villain” trope. Ironically, it’s Bond who has the facial scar in the novels. (Both Welles and Lorre were heavier set men in their middle age like the character was described, so they fit pretty well.)
Travers: I can’t say I really know what you’re talking about and would need more context.
I always take a stand and disagree with the view that there should be more comedy in Bond films. Why? He’s a cold blooded assassin as was written and portrayed in the first few films. There’s nothing funny about espionage, assassinations and megalomaniacs upsetting the world order. The comedic elements were only originally included in the films to take the edge off the violence and get past the film censor. The subject matter is not supposed to be comedic and when they’re written that way they fall into the grouping of the worst films – partly because they don’t know what they want to be. Mission Impossible has eclipsed the Bond series successfully without resorting to cheap attempts at comedy. They are exactly what the Bond series once was and should aspire to be – adult action spy thrillers. Occasional moments of levity but no Beach Boys music, no Tarzan yells, no invincible Wile E Coyote Jaws, no clown suits.
Er, well I don’t think anyone here is exactly advocating for the return of self-parody from the Roger Moore films! Just some more dad jokes and humorously ironic situations. I especially liked the few times Craig did it, because it’s clearly a defence mechanism he’s developed to cope with surviving a dangerous profession that he admitted himself has a pretty short life expectancy. “I’m sorry. That last hand… nearly killed me.” Perfect.
Well the fella right before your previous comment stated “Honestly, we could use some comedic, parodic elements in recent Bond films.” I agree that Craig’s occasional sardonic dialog adds to the portrayal of. Bond and his largely socially detached character but I wouldn’t call the occasional darkly humourous line comedic or parodic which is what our friend above is advocating for.
It’s ages since I saw this film – I usually try to avoid it as a complete aberration of 007 – but between my vague recollections and Matt’s occasional entries on here it seems curious that the other characters such as Peter Sellers are dressed appropriately for the time and occasion but clearly they went out of their way to put.Niven in ‘costume’ for this role as if he was cosplaying what was someone’s idea of how a retired upper crust English gent would dress (which bore no relation to reality!) As described, somewhere between Edwardian and post peacock psychedelic but like the film itself, it doesn’t work for me in any context.
Niven plays Sir James Bond, a retired Victorian British spy who is called out of his retirement for various different shenanigans in the 1960s. He isn’t dressed in costume, he just hasn’t changed his style since he was a young man (like a lot of us). Admittedly Niven is a bit young to play the part, but that is the rough idea!
I think you’re being very forgiving here. Victorian? Queen Victoria died in 1901 and the film was made in 1967. Sir James would surely have to be in his nineties by then. I have no idea if white silk suits were a thing during Queen V’s reign but either way it seems their timeline is about as ‘on point’ as the plot – such as it is – of the rest of the film!
Yes I think he eats royal jelly, which keeps him young!
Maybe he was cryogenically frozen, then revived decades later, just like Austin Powers.
His daughter would have had to have done the same thing!
Niven’s other suits in the film are actually much better but I think he looks terrific here.