In the 1984 film The Naked Face, Roger Moore plays psychiatrist Judd Stevens who dresses in seasonal autumn clothing in the Anglo-American tradition. I previously wrote about Moore’s blue and beige barleycorn tweed jacket in The Naked Face, and most of the clothes in the film follow in a similar vein. Of all the tailored clothing in the film, only a light brown needlecord suit appears to be made by Moore’s regular tailor at the time, Douglas Hayward. Hayward made Moore’s beautiful tailored clothing for For Your Eyes Only, Octopussy and A View to a Kill. This suit is more casual than what Hayward made for the Bond films, and, though the cut is the same as what Moore wore as Bond at the time, it’s probably not a suit Bond would wear. Needlecord, also known as pinwale, is a fine wale cotton corduroy that is perfect for autumn in Chicago, where the film takes place.
Like Roger Moore’s Douglas Hayward suits in his last three James Bond films, this suit jacket is cut with a clean chest and natural shoulders with gently roped sleeve heads. The button-two jacket also has the same low button stance and is identically detailed to most of Moore’s Bond suit jackets with flapped pockets, three buttons on the cuffs and double vents. The suit trousers are also like Moore’s trousers in his Bond films at the time: they have a straight leg and frogmouth pockets and are worn with a belt. Apart from the jacket’s low button stance, the suit looks timeless.
All of Moore’s shirts in The Naked Face are made by his regular shirtmaker Frank Foster, who made shirts for Moore in all of his Bond films. Moore wears this suit with two different shirts: a blue and white hairline stripe shirt with a spread collar—which is very similar to the shirt he wears with his navy suit in Octopussy—and an ecru shirt with a button-down spread collar. The button-down collar is much wider than the typical American button-down collar, but it still has a gentle roll. This is possibly what Roger Moore’s button-down collars in A View to a Kill would look like if worn buttoned with a tie. Both shirts have a placket with Foster’s identifying stitching close to the centre and extra-rounded single-button cuffs. Though the buttons aren’t clearly seen on these two shirts’ cuffs, another blue and white hairline stripe shirt in the film has a large cuff button like on Foster’s “Lapidus” tab cuffs. It’s possible that these two shirts also have the same large button on the cuffs.
With this suit Moore wears a grey-purple knitted wool tie with flat ends. Wool ties go especially nice with corduroy since they complement the rustic, autumnal look, and they have more contrast with corduroy than they do with the other traditional pairings like flannel and tweed. Knitted wool ties are slightly less formal than knitted silk ties, which makes them a great match for such a casual suit like corduroy. The tie’s colour, grey with a hint of purple, is rather dull compared to the rest of the outfit and slightly washes out Moore’s warm complexion. Moore ties it in a four-in-hand knot, and the knot ends up quite wide due to the tie’s bulk.
Moore’s slip-on shoes and belt are dark brown, and the belt’s brass buckle goes well with the light brown colour of the suit. Moore wears dark brown leather gloves with the suit.
Over the suit, Moore wears a single-breasted camelhair overcoat. The full-length overcoat hits just below the knee, which keeps Moore decently warm in the cold and windy Chicago. Like the suit, it has natural shoulders with roped sleeve heads. The overcoat has set-in sleeves, three buttons down the front, swelled edges, straight flapped hip pockets, a welted breast pocket, three buttons on the cuffs and a single vent. He wears the collar turned up for extra warmth. He also keeps warm in a light brown wool flat cap, something James Bond would never wear. They’re associated with older working class men, a category Bond is never associated with. With the cap and large glasses on, Moore looks nothing like James Bond. Over the suit and under the overcoat, Moore drapes a a checked Burberry—or Burberry-style—scarf around his neck. The scarf’s base colour is pale green, the scarf’s check has navy and sky blue stripes lengthwise with black and cream stripes crosswise, and the scarf has a navy lengthwise overcheck and a rust-coloured crosswise overcheck.
Though Roger Moore’s needlecord suit in The Naked Face may not be something James Bond would wear, it’s an elegant suit for informal cool-weather wear. The outfit has a timeless look that would look just as great during this autumn season as it did thirty years ago.
One of those suits from the ’80s where I wish I could just eliminate the second button with how low the fastening is. Otherwise, looks very nice and well suited to the character. I kind of like seeing Moore this way, acting closer to his age with a very sensible looking wardrobe to match.
Excellent post Matt and what an inspired choice for the time of year!
I really like the suit. A great combination of superb tailoring and semi-casual. It, as you say, might not be something Bond would wear but I wouldn’t rule it out of hand either for Moore’s Bond. Certainly, in, for example, his James St John Smythe guise in “A View to a Kill” it would work and it suits Moore very well. I think most of his movies, including the Bond outings, the wardrobe was always as much, if not more, about Roger’s own taste than the particular character he might have been playing at the time!
I agree about the tie. While the tie type is bang on the colour is a little wan and it’s not an ideal combination.
While he never wore any of these button down shirts with a tie as Bond, at the time of “A View to a Kill” and thereabouts he appeared on many chat shows etc. wearing these shirts with a tie. I had Foster make me one in blue chambray in this style although I’ve yet to wear it. Overall, I think they work better open neck and with tie they’re ok but a tall, semi spread is king for me.
The flat cap is interesting. Moore has worn these elsewhere and I seem to recall a black and white hound’s-tooth at the start of “The Wild Geese” and I think a flat cap at some time in “Bullseye”. Because of the associations they have, which you mention, and paired with the large, horn rim glasses here, the image is (unintentionally, I’m sure!) reminiscent of his old mate, Michael Caine.
Doesn’t Bond wear a cap similar to that with the equestrian outfit at the beginning of Octopussy?
Indeed he does, as part of a disguise: https://www.bondsuits.com/brown-tweed-on-one-side/
I must confess I’d never heard of this film before. Is it any good?
I recently bought a brown tweed flat cap. I never normally wear hats, but this seems like a good item for keeping the head warm in winter, especially when out in the country (which I quite often am). I’m 34 years old, so not a kid any more, but not yet an “older man”. I have a feeling this sort of garment is becoming ironically trendy at the moment, although I don’t have any real evidence. I love rustic/rural colours though and may kit myself out some more tweed/autumnal clothing.
It’s not the best film, but Roger Moore gives one of his best performances. If you’re a Roger Moore fan, I highly recommend it.
Being a fan of the late Bryan Forbes’ films I’m very pleased to see this posting Matt, so well done. The Naked Face is rarely shown so it’s nice to be reminded of it again.
Now Matt…what about the “Crossplot” suits?
I will get to Crossplot. I first need to check to see which suits from Crossplot were previously from The Saint, like one of the double-breasted suits.
I see no reason why Bond would not wear this great suit as casual attire and I think it would also suit Connery extremely we’ll.
Anyway to correct the problem when the collars bunch up like that? I find that once that line appears cleaners have a hard time steaming it out? Anything I should tell the cutter before he begins to avoid the problem in the future?
You mean on the shirt collar? The collar needs to be ironed by hand, and stretched whilst ironing. It takes some practice to iron a non-fused collar, and most cleaners don’t have the technique.
I think this is an interesting look for Moore. I haven’t seen the movie but from your article I think it’s very appropriate for the character.
I especially like the pincord material. I’ve wanted a corduroy suit or sports jacket for a while now but cannot really justify the purchase because the weather here is just too tropical.
An excellent of choosing a clothing style to fit the character. It is surprisingly difficult to choose clothes that are sharp enough to look professional and relaxed enough to appear approachable. I will recommend needlecord to my male colleagues that are aspiring psychiatrists.
Hard to beat a corduroy jacket for winter warmth. I had one several years ago but when we had a drastic weather change (common in Victoria, Australia) I almost boiled in it! And it’s true – a fine silk tie would look shiny and cheap against the corduroy – woollen ties were much more successful. If memory serves, the jacket ended up in a charity bin. After I lost weight, I tried to get it taken in, but found that tailors hated corduroy – even more than denim. It wasn’t just the country/casual connection – they said it was harder to work on than leather. Perhaps the collar wrinkle is a result of the shirt being ironed dry rather than damp. I found it almost impossible to remedy defects when I tried to iron a dry shirt. Not for Bond, perhaps, but a very presentable suit for the good doctor.
Watched the film recently, a great performance from Moore and very unbond like. Moore wears a smart brown corduroy sports jacket in the film also with flapped patch pockets. A great Autumn/Winter jacket. The brown suede blouson in wears at the end of the film could have easily been worn in any of his 80’s Bond films.