Bond almost always wears business attire when in London. Bond simply wouldn’t look like Bond if he was walking around London in anything other than a suit and tie. For scenes near Hammersmith Bridge and inside Universal Exports and Belmarsh Prison, Bond is fully in his element thanks to his suit.
Daniel Craig’s second and final Tom Ford lounge suit in No Time to Die is another checked suit, and this time it is in black and navy with what appears to be a bit of light grey to liven it up. Overall it has a charcoal blue look. Daniel Craig is the only James Bond actor to have worn blue checked suits, and it’s somewhat of a signature suit for his Bond based on it being his most recurring suit. this is his third after the subtle charcoal blue checked suit in Casino Royale and the mid-blue Prince of Wales check suit with a bold blue overcheck in Spectre. Like many of the other garments in No Time to Die, this suit has some common threads with Craig’s previous garments in the series.
With only two formal lounge suits from Tom Ford in No Time to Die, it’s unusual that they are both checked suits. Tom Ford also made a grey melange pinpoint suit for No Time to Die that didn’t appear in the film, and it would have been nice if either of the checked suits were replaced with that suit for more variety in a wardrobe with only four tailored outfits, the fewest of all of Craig’s Bond films.
The blue suit has a slightly more formal and more serious look than the grey checked suit because the colour is darker. Bond wears this suit when he is reinstated as a 00, and it’s appropriate for the occasion. The cloth is woven in a hopsack weave and is 94% wool and 6% silk, making it the most luxurious suit of all of the suits in No Time to Die, though there’s little sheen from the silk. Compared to the black and grey glen check suit, the blue suit’s pattern is slightly larger but it’s still tasteful and elegant. It is not a traditional Glen Urquhart check or Prince of Wales check, though Tom Ford call it the latter. It is related to those checks, and fits into the general glen check category. The check looks like something out of the 1960s, albeit not 1960s Bond.
The blue checked suit is made in the Tom Ford ‘O’Connor’ model, and it is identical to the black and white checked suit from the previous scenes. It has a button two, show one jacket fastening, also called a ‘three-roll-two’. The jacket is cut like a button-two jacket, and there’s a third button and buttonhole hidden under the lapel. The jacket has narrow, high-gorge notched lapels, which are slightly narrower than on the Tom Ford ‘O’Connor’ suits in Spectre.
The jacket has a very close fit with a slightly short length. The cuffs have four buttons with only the first three fastened, and the last buttonhole is longer than the others, which is typical for Tom Ford’s finishing. The jacket’s shoulders are lightly structured and have roped sleeve heads.
There is a single vent in the rear of the jacket, following Craig’s preferred style since Skyfall. The breast pocket is Tom Ford’s usual curved ‘barchetta’ shape. The hip pockets are gently slanted with flaps, and the flaps look slightly large compared with the narrow lapels.
The trousers have a low rise, a flat front, slide-buckle side adjusters, narrow straight legs and turn-ups.
Like the other Tom Ford suits in the film, there are a few issues with the fit. The chest is too tight, which causes issues with the collar fit. I found the collar standing away from the neck to be more noticeable on this suit than on the others, even though it’s a problem that all of the suits in the film have. The camera angles, close-up shots, and many moments of standing around without much movement draw attention to this issue the most with this suit. The poor fit of the the jacket collar makes the shirt collar stand out more.
The Tom Ford shirt is light blue with a point collar, ‘Dr No’ cocktail cuffs and a front placket. The point collar is likely the same one that he wears throughout Spectre, but it looks different because here he wears the collar stays that he left out in Spectre. The collar stays give the collar considerably more presence and emphasise the point length. The blue colour looks perfect on Daniel Craig because of how it enlivens his complexion and brings out his blue eyes. It’s a shame he hasn’t worn more blue shirts in his Bond films. His shirts throughout his Bond tenure are split evenly between blue and white, but blue is considerably more flattering on his light, low-contrast complexion.
The tie is from Prada—a brand already familiar to Craig’s Bond with a belt in Quantum of Solace—has a subtle pindot pattern. It is a fairly lightweight tie, so its four-in-hand knot is smaller than that of a Tom Ford tie. Z of @Tie_Another_Day and Mattia De Varti identified this tie with my assistance. The tie comes in black and navy, and there is no official word on which colour the tie is. Because the suit has both blue and black in it, either tie would go with the suit. In different outdoor shots, it looks like the tie could be either black or navy, but at the time of writing this article I’m leaning towards it being black. Like with the black and grey suit, he wears a rhodium-plated tie slide from Benson & Clegg. They’ve since renamed the tie slide the ‘James’ to honour its use in the film. It is 4.4 cm long and 0.6 cm wide, so it goes nicely with the narrow tie. It slides onto the tie and stays on with pressure. There is no clip or clasp. It fits quite snugly on the tie and does not work well with very thick ties.
Bond wears it at the same height as his pocket square, where it visually competes with the pocket square. It should ideally be placed lower, around the height of the jacket’s top button or between the top button and breast pocket.
The tie bar is meant to clip both the wide and narrow blades of the tie to the shirt’s placket so it stays in place, but the bar is not attached to Bond’s shirt and the tie flaps about. The tie has a keeper to keep its narrow blade tucked behind the wide blade, so Bond is merely using the tie slide for decoration and not for its intended purpose.
Instead of matching his pocket square to his blue shirt, Bond wears a folded white pocket square in the Connery-Bond fashion. The white pocket square breaks up the tone-on-tone look of the outfit.
He again wears the black Crockett & Jones Highbury three-eyelet, plain-toe derby shoes with Crockett & Jones’ own ‘City’ sole, a studded rubber sole that they developed with the Harboro Rubber Co. It has more subtle studs, a sharper edge trimming and a reduced waist compared to the Dainite sole, so it looks dressier and more like an elegant leather sole from the side.
He also wears the Barton Perreira ‘Joe’ sunglasses again in black with Vintage Grey lenses with this suit. They have a wide and slightly angular look.
I really like the look of a navy check suit. I wore a blue glen check suit yesterday. Thr main difference from mine to Craig’s is the fit and the side adjuster. I have a pair of dak side adjusters with my suit. I paired my attire with a blue thin stripe shirt, a Bronsan like tie, and a white pocket square.
I am happy Craig’s portrayal introduced Bond to wear this style of suit. I like how this ensemble lacks the tab collar. Keep these great reviews coming.
My best,
Bill
Yeah the poor fit of Craig’s suits has been discussed at length over his tenure but it has to be said that the cloths / colours / patterns have been mostly top drawer. They work with the character, a subtle nod to the conservative nature of vintage Bond but there’s often a subtle twist.
“… it being his most recurring suit. this is his third after the subtle charcoal blue checked suit in Casino Royale and the mid-blue Prince of Wales check suit with a bold blue overcheck in Spectre.“ I was about to add the blue Glen check suit in the “Hire me or fire me – it’s entirely up to you” scene in ‘Skyfall’ too but I see you had this down as a grey suit. Between the vagaries of my phone screen and subjective visual acuity I always had that suit down as something like petrol blue.
With only two formal suits, a casual suit and a dinner jacket, is this the least formally costumed film in the entire canon?
You Only Live Twice only had two formal suits as well, and no dinner jacket – although it did have a Royal Navy dress uniform.
The glen check suit in Skyfall is black and mid grey, but there’s a blue cast over the film that makes greys look blue. It’s why Daniel Craig’s complexion looks so washed out in the film.
This suit demonstrates a further point: when a gentleman inserts a square-folded white handkerchief into a curved ‘barchetta’ breast pocket, he effectively appends a little smile to the front of his jacket. And in these difficult times, can such a choice truly be gainsaid?
The rise is much lower than in Casino Royale isn’t it ? When I see mid rise I am thinking of the one of Brioni suit trousers of The Brosnan era.
On another note they succeeded in getting a big collar gap with a too tight chest every time, it’s really hilarious.
I don’t remember Craig wearing sunglasses with this suit but you must be correct. After seeing the movie I remember thinking Craig seemed to like wearing sunglasses with his suits a bit too often, it was quite unnecessary. I am sure he would have worn them with his dinner suit had he been given the opportunity !
His Bond wasn’t such a fashion victim in CR and QOS, what a pity.
I would agree. That unused QOS suit had a rise of 10″, and this doesn’t appear to be any higher than that.
You fellas are correct. I’ve updated the article.
Although it’s identical to the grey suit I vastly prefer this outfit on the whole. The colours suit Craig, the fit looks a bit cleaner because the dark colours don’t show the wrinkles and pulling, and the point collar shirt looks very crisp compared with the tab collar. I also prefer how it looks with the collar stays. The long points give off a positive Moore vibe, even though his were usually spread. I just like the presence it exudes.
I wonder if all the folks doing Craig-Bond NTTD cosplay head to toe also include the collar gap. If you’re going to commit, go all the way! LOL
I think Craig’s pale blue shirt with point collars is a ‘killer’ shirt combo on him along with the darker blue suit jacket(if it had been better fitted and perhaps a Conduit cut style. The tie also is great along with the four in hand knot, classic, sharp and no nonsense .
Usual fit issues and single rear vent aside, I rather liked this suit. Like his other blue checked suit in Casino Royale, I really think Charcoal Blue is an amazing choice for a suit, especially if you could only have one suit. The best of both navy and charcoal gray, but finding one (especially a solid and not a glen check) is going to be a problem.
In my head canon, the suit’s fit issues are due to the fact that Bond hasn’t worn it in, I am guessing, years. It’s been hanging on a rack in a storage garage, and Bond’s body shape has changed slightly in his retirement.
But that is explanation. There is really no excuse for this fit. It’s been a problem in much of Craig’s run as Bond.
Funnily enough, the ‘Skyfall’ tab collar would’ve worked better with this ensemble than the longer point collar.
Mind the gap
Great article Matt! I would like to start off by saying that I am a fan of this suit overall besides the repeated fit issues. However, there is one point that you made in the article that I do agree with which is about the reuse of the glen check pattern. While I have nothing wrong with it some different patterns would also been welcomed in the film! Still like the suit and as always keep up the good work!
Hey Matt, great blog! Although I’m not a big fan of the close fitting suits that Craig wears in Skyfall, Spectre and No Time to Die, I really like the fabrics they chose to go with. I was thinking if you can cover the John Wick films, cause I think the suits Keanu wears in those films look a lot better than the ones Craig has been wearing for the last three films based on the fit. I think the fit of Keanu’s suits in the John Wick films is a very classic and proportionate fit which was popular in the early and mid 2000s. So, would to see your take on Keanu’s suits and as always keep up the good work!
Hi Matt, I recently had a suit made and the collar has a similar gap problem to Bond’s here. Is this likely caused by a tight chest? My tailor says taking out the centre back seam by just a centimetre should help. Do you think that would work? It fits well everywhere else.
I think your tailor is proposing to shorten the collar, which involves removing the collar to cut down the length and taking in the upper centre back seam by the same amount. It’s a typical alteration that works if the rest of your jacket fits well. But if your jacket is pulling because it’s too tight, it’s not a real fix.
I don’t think that’s the case, he’s suggesting taking out the centre back seam by a centimetre to reduce the tightness in the back and the shoulders.
Okay. That might do it. If this is a bespoke suit, are you still in the first fitting stage?
Personally, Matt, I think it’s a high-probability hit or miss if the tailor has to go there. I know that altering the back seam and such isn’t anything new in the tailoring book, but depending on how things are, especially in the 21st century, it could mean a lot of things. Hell, even the feet alone had changed in ways significantly different from how things were 20 years ago.
Then again, from the bottom of my heart, I hope it all goes well. One more better suit makes for another chance of a better world.
Also, apologies for speaking in rhythmic tunes. There are things that cannot be quite vocally spoken about.
It’s a made-to-measure, so the suit is finished and now they’re making final alterations. I’ll go ahead with the back alteration and report back. Thanks for your advice!
How well does a Hopsack Glen Check breath compared to a Plain Weave Glen Check?
Hopsack tends go breathe s little better, but there are other factors that can make a bigger difference. A high-twist plain weave is more breathable.
Fresco is still the king of warm weather cloth.
But when hight heat meets high humidity, all bets are still off.