The gun club check is a popular pattern for country clothes, such as on the sports coat that James Bond wears in The Living Daylights when visiting the Bladen safe house outside London in Oxfordshire. The check is usually woven in an even twill weave, often with a 32-yarn repeat. The pattern is based on the black and white shepherd check but made in three or four colours. Bond’s gun club check is in black, brown, blue and green, and the pattern can be seen illustrated below. The sports coat has a button two front, two buttons on the cuffs, double vents and flapped pockets. The shoulders are padded with roped sleeve heads. Dalton wears the sports coat unbuttoned.
Bond wears an ecru shirt with a spread collar, a front placket and single-button rounded cuffs. The shirt has many aspects of a traditional English shirt, such as a collar stitched 1/4 inch from the edge with tie space and a sewn-in interfacing and a narrow placket stitched 3/8 inch from the edge.
The tie is a brown knit with a flat bottom, tied in a four-in-hand knot. The dark brown flannel trousers have forward pleats and no turn-ups in the traditional English fashion. In the Connery Bond tradition, there is not a lot of contrast between the jacket and trousers. The less contrast between the jacket and trousers makes the outfit dressier, and outdoors the contrast proves to be enough for the outfit to avoid looking like a mismatched suit. When the pattern on the jacket is bolder, less contrast is needed with the trousers.
The low contrast of this outfit also helps to make it look more modern and more hip. Such an outfit today would still look good, just with the cuts updated to today’s fashions. It avoids the old-fashioned country look.
Bond’s belt and slip-on shoes with apron toes are medium brown, a lighter shade than the trousers. Between the checked jacket, knitted tie and slip-on shoes, Ian Fleming would surely approve of this fine outfit for the country. The Living Daylights marks the last time James Bond wears a tweed odd jacket. Bond comes to the safe house appropriately dressed for the country, whilst Bond’s superiors M and the Minister of Defence are dressed in their more formal city business suits.
This sports coat sold at Christie’s in South Kensington on 12 December 2001 for £411, and the brand is identified as Benjamin Simon.
Nice read, thanks I always liked the look of that jacket now I know how to get my very own.
Great ensemble. A nice subtle pattern for the sports coat.
And the knitted tie! Good to see a Fleming staple being worn again in a Bond film (al beit in brown). Moore wore them once or twice, didn't he, Matt? I do know Brosnan was the last to wear one in TWINE.
Was this Bond's last sports coat seen in the series?
This was produced by an outfitter/tailor called Benjamin Simon according to the information when it came to be auctioned by Christies.
http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/the-living-daylights-1987timothy-dalton/3839565/lot/lot_details.aspx?from=searchresults&intObjectID=3839565&sid=0f049de0-488e-4b15-89e5-36403c8f0427.
Never heard of him but I know there has been debate on this blog about who produced Dalton’s clothing in the movie.
I would assume this is the same sports coat. However, the listing mentions a single vent whilst the sports coat in the film had double vents. Most likely the listing is incorrect.
No, Brosnan wore a navy, double-breasted one in Goldeneye. That’s the last one.
Sorry, don’t want to be pedantic but Brosnan’s double breasted jacket was a blazer and not a sports coat as such.
A blazer is a type of sports coat, though one of different origins as what’s seen here.
What kind of shoulders are these? They seem rather broad for Dalton…but they still have a timeless look.
They are straight shoulders with a lot of padding, typical for the late 80s. It’s a wider version of the English military shoulder.
Is the Gun Club Check jacket worsted tweed? or a tweed like worsted?
Yes, this is a worsted tweed.
A great subtle checked sports coat for Bond, I recently purchased a dark grey, mid-grey and navy gun club check jacket and I love the versatility of such a sports coat. My jacket is a 100% wool super 120’s, a three season jacket. I often pair my jacket with charcoal trousers. I could see Bond wearing a gun club check jacket or even a gun club check suit in a new film. What do you think Matt and co?
Matt what do you think of Koscov’s large checked jacket in this scene?
I like it, and I think it’s great for the character.
I think it would make a great post, it looks heavier then Bond’s jacket. Not as modern but as you said fitting for the character.
I would go so far as to say that this ensemble is one of the most criminally underrated of all of Bond’s looks, yet owing to its sophisticated subtlety it really had no other ‘destiny’ than that . . . Timelessly elegant.