For James Bond’s return to London and to his old Whitehall office in No Time to Die, he dresses just like he used to in the most classically Bondian way possible. His outfit recalls not only Craig’s previous wardrobes but also Connery’s. He had to wear a garment that made him look like he belongs, and one that tells us James Bond is back. This garment is a grey Glen Urquhart check suit.
Bond has rarely worn checked suits to the office since they’re not traditionally formal business attire in London, particularly in a high-contrast check. The Glen Urquhart check, also known as a Prince of Wales check, is slightly sporty and relaxed, but it’s a classic check that doesn’t raise eyebrows. Solids and stripes were Bond’s usual choices for the office, but this isn’t the first time Bond wears a checked suit to the office; he wears them in Goldfinger, GoldenEye and Skyfall. Since Bond is a visitor to MI6 in No Time to Die rather than an employee, he’s dressing as the former. The suit looks serious enough for the occasion without making Bond look like an employee.
Tom Ford made this suit in a black and grey Glen Urquhart check, with the twill-woven pattern reminiscent of Sean Connery’s first checked suit in From Russia with Love and the darker colours reminiscent of Connery’s second checked suit in the film. It’s also similar to the glen check suit that Craig wears at the ‘New Digs’ in Skyfall but in a slightly larger scale with slightly higher contrast. This suit does not have an overcheck. The buttons are black to match the black in the check, which makes it look sportier than grey buttons would.
The suit is almost the same style as his Tom Ford ‘O’Connor’ suits from Spectre with a button two, show one jacket fastening, also called a ‘three-roll-two’. The jacket is cut like one with two buttons, and there’s a third button and buttonhole hidden under the lapel. This is the third film with the ‘O’Connor’ model, so even though there is a new costume designer in Suttirat Anne Larlarb, Bond’s tailored look is consistent with that of the last two films that costume designer Jany Temime worked on. This might suggest that Daniel Craig has had a large say in the tailored look since Skyfall, or that at the very least he’s a big fan of this tailored look. While the cut has some issues in fitting Craig, the consistency is welcome.
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 jacket has narrow, high-gorge notched lapels, which are slightly narrower than in Spectre.
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 pocket flaps look the same as in Spectre, but they should have been made narrower like the lapels were.
The trousers have a low rise, a flat front, slide-buckle side adjusters, narrow straight legs and turn-ups.
This suit has an improved fit over what Daniel Craig wears in Skyfall and Spectre, but it’s not perfected yet. Like all of the suits in No Time to Die, the jacket’s collar stands away from the neck at times. The jacket is strained at the chest, and it bows open to show off too much of the shirt’s collar at the sides of the neck. The skirt is also too tight, and the single vent does not stay closed. Double vents are easier to fit with a jacket that is tightly fitted and should have been used here.
The white cotton Tom Ford shirt has the tab collar from Skyfall and the ‘Dr No’ cocktail cuffs from Spectre. The shirt has a placket front. Craig wears a folded white pocket square that matches the shirt.
The tie is navy silk ottoman, and it closely resembles the navy repp tie from Spectre. This one look like it is the same shade as the tie that he wears in Q’s lab in Spectre, and it is also 7.5 cm wide. He makes it in an asymmetrical knot, possibly a four-in-hand knot, but the full shape of the knot is hidden inside the narrow collar. The knot looks fairly fat, which is due to a thick tie.
The tie looks short because it does not meet the trouser waistband, but the tie is exactly the length it should be and the trousers look like they have fallen down a bit. The trousers should be sitting at least an inch higher on the waist, though knotting the tie so it’s an inch longer to meet the trousers would have been an easy bandage for this problem.
For the first time since Goldfinger we see Bond wearing a tie bar, in the form of 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. This is a modern place to wear a tie bar, which is higher than where it was usually placed during its heyday in the 1960s. Here it competes with the pocket square, a problem that could be solved be wearing the tie bar lower. Placing it around the height of the jacket’s top button or between the top button and breast pocket would look better, not distract from the face and still show off the tie bar nicely.
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.
The black Crockett & Jones Highbury three-eyelet derby shoes from Skyfall return. Instead of a Dainite studded rubber sole these shoes have Crockett & Jones’ ‘City’ Sole, which is 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 wears the Barton Perreira ‘Joe’ sunglasses in black with Vintage Grey lenses with this suit. They have a wide and slightly angular look.
Between the suit, shirt, tie and shoes, the outfit has a consistency with Craig’s outfits from his previous two films, while it also pays homage to Sean Connery’s style in the most respectful way. The costume couldn’t be more classically Bond, unless the suit fit better.
I was a little disappointed by the fit of the suits (except the corduroy, to be fair). Then again, we should know better, that it’s Tom Ford, and whoever else that was the wardrobe head.
Eh. Happy New Year though, Matt. I look forward to another wonderful year with your blog.
If Tom Ford gets blamed for fit problems in the last three films, does Tom Ford not also get credit for the excellent fit in Quantum of Solace?
No, that would be unfair. But I don’t know what runs in Ford’s head when they decided that Bond should wear poorly fitted suits. As the clothier, Ford should have advised against that.
Maybe he did. Ford has said he doesn’t like tight fitting suits. But given a choice between continuing to get free promotion in exchange for providing clothes and not getting that… He’s obviously choosing the free promotion. Brands like his run on this kind of publicity whether we like it or not.
Jovan, words cannot explain the pleasant in my heart that you, too, harbour this mentality.
Then again, for Ford to sell his integrity (like a couple times before) to some cheap, dirty, and ineffective promotional effort like he did, the publicity won’t run very far, and the promotion won’t even run before it can walk.
Let this be our lesson, gentlemen – integrity is something a promotion will never be worthy of it.
I’m afraid I don’t understand what you are conveying. Did you mean “displeasure” rather than “pleasant”? Because I have conveyed no mentality either way here and am simply stating the fact that luxury clothing brands run on promotion.
Jovan,
Somehow, it took me a while too long to see your replies. Maybe I was a bit drunk, or that I’m relatively drunk or intoxicated all the times. Nonetheless, allow me to send a late reply.
No, I was never in disagreement with you with your statement. Matter of fact, I just didn’t have the right words to express how much I agree, and how accurate that statement of yours was. That fact that they’d sell out for some clout, and being hypocritical enough about it, right at our faces, and the general, uneducated public just straight up bought it, all in all become a sad state of affair that reflects poorly on this generation.
I don’t see how it’s appropriate that Ford dressed himself in proper fit while Craig fell victim to ignorance, and he stood by with it, thinking he’d rake in millions for profit. I might be harsh and bitter, but if anyone who’s reasonable who’s reading this, as well as Matt’s blog, ought to see that this is beyond just wrong, morally, philosophically, or anything else.
Again, much like my replies to Timothy, just because it was popularized, doesn’t mean it’s right. Matter of fact, we who know better, ought to call out where it was wrong.
Honestly, if we ever have the luck to meet, your drinks are on me. Then again, it’s relatively difficult, in this rain sack of a region known as Pacific Northwest.
Travers, I completely agree with you re Ford and how he shouldn’t have sold out, for lack of a better term, just for publicity.
I can’t agree that the promotional effort would be in vain thanks to the poor fit though, which is what I think you’re saying. Correct me if I misunderstand.
The reason I disagree is because while of course we as enthusiasts see the poor fit, the average person does not. Years ago Matt wrote an article about fixing the fit of Craig’s O’Connor suits and photoshopped the navy pick-and-pick from Spectre to visualise it. As an experiment I showed that image to a number of acquaintances, friends, and even my partner at the time, who’s no slouch when it comes to style and fashion.
Every single one of them preferred the tight fit.
Cynical and elitist though it might sound, there’s no accounting for taste, and people adore the shrink-wrapped suits. They’re not trying to sell those suits to us, because we already know what we want.
Tim, the reason why they prefer poor fit is because they don’t know how these garments should fit. It’s also one of those mindless fashion trend fads. I mean, look at how Ford dresses himself, compare to the suits that Craig wears. We can’t let that kind of hypocrisy slip, and we further cannot let those close to us being another victim of mindlessness and fads. This isn’t even a matter of taste, but also a matter of doing things right.
I used to be an assistant for my aunt’s art class at my local college. I’m known to be strict with students, especially on doing it right. Just because they claimed they’re being “artistic” or that it’s a “taste” does not mean they get to get away with it. A bit of unnecessary bragging, but if the student takes my words, their artworks are always displayed either in the City Hall or the library for exhibition. We cannot excuse “taste” or “creativity” for wrongfulness.
Once again, Travers, I completely agree! The “objective” truth is more and more being swept aside to make way for the “subjective” in pretty much everything nowadays.
Again I was just pointing out that while I agree with your assessment of the situation per se, it doesn’t mean Ford is doomed to fail for it. He, and every other brand, will ride out the skinny-fit trend (for which there’ll be much celebration in my house) and the world will forget for a while that it ever happened. At least up until the next God-awful trend appears, and then EVERYONE will look back with disdain, not just us. But the brands will endure by passing the buck, so long as they’re clever. Ford seems clever enough to me that he’ll distance himself from this trend even further when the time arises, but for now he’ll milk it for all it’s worth even if it’s not to his personal taste. I expect no fallout whatsoever for the Tom Ford brand on the back of all this.
Along with everyone else who frequents this blog I pray that the next trend does not rear its head for at least a few more years, and that we’re treated to a return to relatively classic proportions similar to the early-mid-2000s again. A man can dream…
I expect another few years of classic proportions coming soon. We see it every 15 years or so. With Bond we can track it in the early 1960s, late 1960s, early 1980s, late 1990s to mid 2000s. It’s about time for it to return as people ease their way into a new trend.
Matt, Tim, of course, we can only dream, and hey, dreams do come true. But to think, James Bond, agent 007, the pinnacle of the man, being slowly watered down, and then twisted by this fad called trend, and now further destroyed by “culture”, is such a sad state of affair for this era. Of course, people and things come and go, but to see Bond and the symbol he carried being twisted to the state that he currently is, be it dressing or messaging, is simply regrettable.
Matt, do you have any thoughts on what the next trend will look like? I agree we seem to be in a transitional period and things are loosening up. I don’t know if that means something very classical or maybe a more loose unstructured 90s kind of look.
I think the loose, unstructured look is coming back. People respond to the tight look with the opposite.
Pleats are already starting to return if you look at what designers and name brands are offering. Some of my young customers even choose them with their MTM suits. There’s hope.
Timothy, it’s worth noting that the O’Connor model suits do not look undersized when bought off the rack in the right size. Matt even confirmed this when he tried on the Spectre collection.
This outfit looks nice for the occasion. The look of a glen check suit is very refreshing. It would have been interesting to see Craig’s Bond wear a three piece grey glen check suit like Connery. I wonder what inspired the custome designer by adding the tie bar.
I do not know why, but this outfit kind of reminds me of Sterling Archer from the television series called Archer. Mainly because he wears a grey suit, with a pocket square, white shirt, and tie bar.
I do love the look of the whole outfit. This outfit has many Bondian features as you mentioned Matt. I just wish he had the grenadine tie, though I do not mind the ottoman tie. Tab collers kind of disturb me. But like Felix once said, Bond looks great wearing anything.
I have a sartorial question Matt. Do you think tie bars look more appropriate with double cuffs or they look just the same with the barrel or cocktail cuffs?
Happy New Year
Bill
I don’t think you need any specific kind of cuff to wear a tie bar.
How about a cuff bar for cocktail cuffs to help them slide smoothly under the jacket sleeves? :-)
>> How about a cuff bar for cocktail cuffs to help them slide smoothly under the jacket sleeves? :-)
Lol! That seems just like the kind of overly fussy accessory that would be up Craig’s alley…
I think I’ve been watching too many golden age hollywood classics… these trousers look to have such a low rise to me (though I realize it’s not uncommon nowadays).
As for the rest of the outfit… it’s as brilliant as his escape plan at the end of the movie.
A suit too small.
Yeah, I agree.
Lazenby on the other hand did it well with the trim, but not overly tight fit. Craig and his shrunken fit in some of his movies is simply awful.
I still believe that the knot is a Windsor because has the same shape of the knot in Spectre with the pin collar with black suit
Great post Matt! I personally like this outfit in the film. It was very refreshing to see these classic Bond wardrobe pieces in a Bond film again.
The Craig obsession with too small clothing is something I shall not miss.
The tie bar at the same height as the pocket square is another thing that the Craig films have stolen from Sterling Archer
Archer wears his tie bar slightly lower than the pocket square, so it doesn’t create a line that cuts across the body. Archer’s tie bar is still a little higher than the traditional height, but it’s better than Craig’s.
Usual too small and skimpy fit.
And no, that is not a modern place to wear a tie bar.
That placement was usual also in old days…was usual for the boors.
To put it bluntly he’s dressed like an MMA promoter! A poorly fitting suit(way too tight) which takes away from any semblance of British gentlemanly elegance , a shame really especially taking account of the fine cloths used, tailors consulted(you hope)and style gurus(you hope) and the endless former criticisms which are well known!? It seems they don’t make nor hire the Terence Youngs of the world anymore, it may not be entirely your fault Mr.Craig, bon voyage!
Bond’s clothes are a considerably large part of his character. For us followers of this blog, that’s a even much more important matter. Producers, directors and costume designers of the last movies, obviously, don’t agree with this. I am surprised by how little attention (so it seems) has been paid to accurate attire. Despite the high presence of brands and sponsors. Here, it looks silly: they resumed classic Bondian Connery’s look (ok, a welcome quote, but with little fantasy), but the fit is poor (Anthony Sinclair is suffering in his grave….) and some odd unwelcome details/variations have been added (tie bar, ottoman tie). Bah, I don’t understand. Throughout the movie, Bond wears only 3 suits (this one, its navy twin, and the corduroy one), and only for a short time. For the rest of the time, his attire is substantially not noticeable. Bah… Bond is dead!….
For the rest of the time … No Tie To Tie!
(I’ll get me coat!)
No Time to Dress
So he’s wearing a tie bar, rather than using it? Yikes. Come on, Craig.
Have to say, I really hope the next Bond is more of a sartorial enthusiast who happens to enjoy well-fitting clothes hahaha.
I have to imagine the next costume designer for Bond, assuming he or she does even a modicum of research online, will stumble across this blog. Hopefully the comments here and the weekly roasting the clothes of NTTD are receiving provide fair warning…
While I like the pattern, I do feel like there is a certain amount of cosplaying-Connery going on in recent films. Prior Bonds had their own look appropriate to their times – Connery with the early to mid 60s; Lazenby with a perfect Bond look for 1968-9; Moore over three different eras, and Brosnan bringing back the suited hero in the back half of the 90s. Fit issues aside, I liked Craig’s suits for Casino Royale and Quantum and, fit issues aside, I liked some of the suits for Skyfall and Spectre – the rope stripe, the Istanbul grey, the blue suit at the start of Spectre. All of these suits were his own. This, however, is barely trying and looks like cosplay to me: Craig is cosplaying the superior Connery, while the film is cosplaying the superior On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.
Is Craig the worst-dressed Bond? I thought it was Tim but now I’m not so sure…
It USED to be clearly Dalton. While I think Craig’s tenure has done a lot to diversify and expand the casual attire of Bond, I think whether he’s overall one of the worst dressed Bonds is an entirely valid debate…
No, Timothy is unbeatable
I think Dalton is dressed pretty well in TLD, but LTK always seems to overshadow that in people’s minds.
Matt, you’ve proven time and time again Craig’s Bond wore his suits too tight, inappropriately uses tie bars. I’d come to the conclusion Craig’s Bond was distorted version of OO7; more like a sickle cell because something was never right with this version of the character. It safe to say this Bond didn’t know how to where a suit compared to the other versions of James Bond. It is refreshing to see ballistic missiles drop onto Craig’s Bond’s face so we can finally cleanse our palates so we can get a Bond who has his stuff together and where a suit properly.
Sinclair and Brioni cut the best suits for Bond’s physique and his idiom, the overall mental representation of Bond as an elegant, masculine aesthetic, a compelling representation of a special wished for image. When the continuity of this aesthetic is disrupted by less than optimal tailoring or costuming, it’s disconcerting. Hopefully, this snapping of the continuity of Bond’s ideal cinematic image will be repaired by a return to the kind of good tailoring and good taste Fleming’s Bond would have chosen for himself.