I’m not used to handling coins—they makes holes in one’s pockets. — Lord Brett Sinclair
In the last of Roger Moore’s many television programmes, The Persuaders!, Moore took an extra role in designing the wardrobe of his character Lord Brett Sinclair. Moore was, at the time, the director of cloth merchant Pearson + Foster, which made suitings for both him and Tony Curtis in The Persuaders!. As a result, Moore wore some of the most unique and interesting fabrics of his career at this time. These bold fabrics were quite appropriate for an English lord and playboy, though too over-the-top for James Bond. Moore’s tailor from The Saint, Cyril Castle, still tailored the clothing. The example here is a double-breasted blazer in a bold, original pattern of wide maroon and green stripes with dark green chalk stripes to left of each wide green stripe, except with the pattern reversed on the outer part of the sleeves. The fabric is influenced by striped boating blazers, which are usually single-breasted with more contrast in the stripes. The images here are from the second episode, “The Gold Napoleon,” though Moore wore this blazer many times throughout the series in the South of France.
The blazer in the traditional button two, show three configuration has crested high-polish brass buttons. The wrap (front overlap) is narrower than the typical double-breasted jacket, and the top vestigial buttons are also placed in closer than what is typical. It is cut with soft shoulders, a clean chest, a nipped waist and a long, flared skirt with deep double vents. The blazer has single-button gauntlet cuffs (with a rounded turnback) and slanted pockets.
In “The Gold Napoleon,” Moore wears the blazer with golden beige wool trousers with plain bottoms and frogmouth pockets. The shirt by Frank Foster is made of a pale lavender poplin with a spread collar and button-down cocktail cuffs, which will be discussed in more detail at a later date. The tie is green leaves on a silver ground, tied in a four-in-hand knot. Moore match his trousers with beige socks and wears light brown slip-ons.
Exceptionally well-cut trousers.
I liked Moore's Persuaders outfits; sometimes eccentric, but mostly enjoyable. Much like the series itself, really…
As fashion forward as he was in The Saint, The Persuaders, and as James Bond, one cannot deny that his clothes were always impeccably tailored.
Excellent post Matt. Many thanks.
Just one thing; I'd always assumed the trousers to be some kind of cotton or wool/cotton mix on account of the warm climate in the French riviera in Summer when these episodes were filmed. He wore what at least appeared to be the same trousers with just sports shirts for other South of France filmed episodes too. When the series returned to Britain to shoot the remainder of the episodes (from Autumn 1970 to Summer 1971) the blazer was always teamed with grey gabardine/wool trousers.
Great series and agree with all the comments above.
The sharp crease and lack of wrinkles suggests the trousers are wool, probably in a gabardine weave. They could possibly be a wool/poly blend, and Pearson + Foster also produced that.
Roger Moore is such a good looking bastard.
Moore always looked his best when wearing classic understated tailoring. His attempts to be fashionable or extrovert were always unfortunate.
The Seventies was the decade that taste forgot and it is regrettable that Moore embraced its excesses with such fervour.
This blazer is a little too "Jason King" for me- its impossible to imagine anyone wearing it in real life and being taken seriously.
Yet isn't it amazing to see some of the rubbish and slop people run around in nowadays and manage to, apparently, be taken seriously!
I have loved The Persuaders ever since I first saw it aged around 5/6 in 1971 and that love has stayed – even though fashions have changed.
For me, the great thing about the tailoring in the show is that it seems to be a symbol of the bursting into colour following the ‘drab’ 50s and 60s and it is a definite expression of the freewheeling, fun nature of the show and the time.
I have been re-watching The Persuaders! again and it is a great show. Curtis had some very interesting suits for the show, all cut the same or very similar.
Here is an example:
http://i436.photobucket.com/albums/qq85/cornershop15/Extras/ThePersuaders-ThatsMeOverThere4.jpg
http://i436.photobucket.com/albums/qq85/cornershop15/British%20TV%20Shows/ThePersuaders-CurtisandFarmer2.jpg
http://i436.photobucket.com/albums/qq85/cornershop15/Extras/ThePersuaders-ThatsMeOverThere5.jpg
Some of the details are quire contemporary such as a shorter jacket, low rise trousers. The jacket cuffs are similar to some of Moore’s Bond suits like in TMWTGG. The pockets are slanted with a ticket pocket. Another interesting feature is his coats are cut with a very deep single vent and an interesting flared effect around the vent.
I would be very interesting for you to do an article on Curtis’s clothing in this show Matt. There is a tenuous bond connection!
Moore wore a double-breasted striped boating blazer in series 6 of The Saint. Would be a good one to cover, he wore some great outfits in the last series of The Saint.
I wouldn’t mind seeing a write up on one of Tony Curtis’s suits from the series. They were most likely tailored by Dimi Major.
No Les Brindle
This outfit is absolutely stunning and I remember it well. He looked like a million pounds sterling with it in “The Gold Napoleon”. I know that Sir Roger had artistic ability and had been a cartoonist and somewhere recently say in an interview that he wanted to be an architect…..I think he had exception visual concepts. This and the light gray suit in “Nuissance Value”, both complemented by brown footwear are two classics from an epoch in clothing styles was often questionable. An excellent analysis of one of my favorite Roger Moore ensembles.