In 1984, Roger Moore starred in a film called The Naked Face, boasting a supporting cast of great actors such as Rod Steiger, Elliott Gould, Art Carney and David Hedison. Moore plays a psychiatrist named Dr. Judd Stevens, and he was dressed to look the part. The most obvious item that sets Dr. Stevens stevens apart from Bond is his glasses, though the jumper under the sports coat look is different too.
This entry will focus on the first sports coat Moore wears in the film, a light blue and beige barleycorn tweed two-button model. It’s probably not tailored by Moore’s tailor Douglas Hayward, but it still fits very well. The button stance isn’t as low as Hayward’s and the shoulders have a little padding, whilst Hayward’s have none. The shoulders are narrow and the overall cut is clean. It has flapped pockets, 4-button cuffs, light brown leather elbow patches and light brown horn buttons. The only concession to 80’s fashion is the vent-less rear, which is out of place on a sports coat.
Moore’s jumper and shirt draw colours from the sports coat. The light blue jumper has a v-neck collar and long sleeves. The ecru shirt is made by Moore’s usual shirtmaker, Frank Foster. It has a button-down collar and rounded 1-button cuffs that Moore was often wearing at the time. It has Foster’s placket front with his unique narrow stitching down the centre. As opposed to his usual flat front trousers, Moore wears dark grey trousers with forward pleats and plain bottoms. His socks are light grey and his shoes are brown slip-ons.
Matt,
In the light of the previous post’s discussion of Moore’s suits and this sports coat from another movie, you may be interested in a suit he wore in another (truly terrible) movie he starred in, about 1990, with his friend Michael Caine, called “Bullseye”.
Advance apologies for the experience if you haven’t already seen this cinematic turkey but the suit I think will interest you.
The credits of this movie attribute Moore’s suits to Aquascutum of London, however, there are two that I feel were Hayward’s by their cut and low button stance. The first is a double breasted charcoal chalkstripe in a similar cut to his double breasted Hayward suit from Octopussy but the other, more interesting one, is a grey 3 piece in a much lighter shade of grey than we ever saw him wear in any of his Bond 3 pieces. I think he wore it with a hairline blue striped shirt (Foster no doubt) and a “club” style tie.
It’s a very nice suit and I would be very interested if you were to cover it. Perhaps, with spring in the offing (hopefully!) soon it might be an appropriate choice.
What a remarkable demonstration of how much difference the clothes make for a character. I have never seen this movie, but Roger looks the part (and of course wears it well) of a psychiatrist just as much as he looked the part of the suave super spy the year before and after. While not a personal fan of the overall look, the jacket is nice and timeless.
Somewhat outside the scope of this blog, but I have seen conjecture that Roger had a facelift prior to A View to a Kill. It doesn’t look like it to me (and it would be a bad facelift if he did as it should not make one look older) but looking at the picture from A View to a Kill directly below, Roger looks significantly thinner during that film’s 1984 filming, which probably contributed to him looking more frail and older in AVTK.
I really like this look but I’d be surprised if the jackets weren’t Hayward… the film’s director, Bryan Forbes, was a longstanding Hayward client too.
On the ‘Bullseye’ point – I actually asked Michael Winner about this and he told me the only Aquascutum item Moore wears is the raincoat towards the end… the rest was Hayward and Foster (shirts with cufflinks though) as usual. I am a big fan of that light grey 3 piece suit and also the POW one Moore wears in the film. I’m not sure what the club tie you refer to is affiliated with but Oliver Reed later wore it in another Winner film ‘Parting Shots’
James St John Smythe, thanks for the info. I would be surprised if the sports jacket here was Hayward, to be honest. I don’t think it displays any signs of the polish of his cut and looks like an off the peg number to me.
While the clothes match the character they’re hardly an example of the best Roger Moore has worn onscreen. The v neck under the sports jacket look is a one i like (in fact i am wearing a navy one under a vintage tweed as i type this!) but it works better with sleeveless version and not a long sleeve one like here.
I like that look too and it is one Moore was wearing ‘off duty’ at the time – check the website of the St James’ Hotel and Club for a great picture of him and Connery.
I’m pretty sure the suede blousson in the film is Hayward too — Doug told me he made the green one in For Your Eyes Only. Sadly he’s not around to settle this one any more.
I just looked at the picture you refer to and, if I’m not mistaken, this is a suit in fine corduroy. Definitely Hayward by the cut and button positioning. Hard to establish the colour as it’s a black and white photo but I’d suspect some shade of beige or light brown. Looks good.