The Plain-Weave Glen Check Suit for Hot Weather in Dr. No

17
Dr-No-Glen-Check-Suit

For his first day of business in Jamaica in Dr. No, James Bond dons a tropical wool or wool-and-mohair glen check suit. Lightweight suitings are more often woven in a plain weave than a standard twill weave because a plain weave breathes better. With an equal number of ends and picks per inch, a glen check in a plain weave will be half the scale of the more traditional twill-weave Glen Urquhart check. The pattern below shows the black and cream glen check that Sean Connery wears in Dr. No.

Glen-Check-Dr-No

The button two jacket on Connery’s Glen check suit made by Anthony Sinclair has natural shoulders, a slightly draped chest and a nipped waist. The button stance is higher than in Connery’s subsequent Bond films and the breast pocket is placed quite low, but it effectively breaks up Connery’s height. The jacket has jetted pockets, four-button cuffs and short double vents (about 8 inches long).

Dr-No-Glen-Check-Suit-2

The trousers have double forward pleats, elastic button tabs on the sides of the waistband and turn-ups, with a high waist and tapered leg. Bond’s full-cut, pale blue Turnbull & Asser shirt has a cutaway collar, placket front and two-button turnback cuffs. The tie is a navy blue grenadine also from Turnbull & Asser. And he wears a folded white linen handkerchief in his breast pocket.

Bond’s shoes are black calf three-eyelet cap-toe derbys on a pointed last, possibly made by bespoke shoemaker John Lobb Ltd of St. James’, London.

Dr-No-Glen-Check-Suit-3

Now Pay Attention

SUIT
TailorAnthony Sinclair
FabricBlack and cream plain-weave glen check, in tropical wool or wool and mohair
JACKET
Front buttons2, medium stance
LapelsMedium-narrow notch
ShoulderSoft with roped sleeve heads
Breast pocketWelt
Hip pocketsStraight, jetted
Vents2
Cuff buttons4
TROUSERS
FrontDouble forward pleats
Support‘DAKS Tops’ 3-button side-adjusters
Front/side pocketsOn-seam
RiseHigh
LegTapered
HemTurn-ups
SHIRT
ShirtmakerTurnbull & Asser
FabricPale blue cotton poplin
CollarCutaway
Cuff2-button cocktail cuff
FrontPlacket
TIE
BrandTurnbull & Asser
FabricNavy grenadine
KnotWindsor
SHOES
ShoemakerPossibly John Lobb Ltd.
StyleBlack three-eyelet cap-toe derby
ACCESSORIESFolded white linen pocket square

17 COMMENTS

  1. Thanks for the post, I've been waiting for It.
    I like this outfit the best, the suit especially. It's similar to the one In Goldfinger; Looks like a twill weave from the distance, but on closer inspection reveals itself as a glen check.

    Here Cary Grant wore a similar one:
    http://tinyurl.com/5w4g86q

  2. Anon1, the suit in Goldfinger is woven in a hopsack weave with more picks and ends per inch than this suit is. The background of my blog is basically that pattern.

    Anon2, sorry, I forgot to mention the shirt colour in the entry. It's there now. The colour is best described as pale blue.

  3. Do you know any good suit places that sell glen-check suits that resemble the Connery style? I know Jos A Banks does but it’s like $600-$700

    • The closest in America you might find to Connery’s suits would be Polo Ralph Lauren or Paul Stuart. But those cost a lot more. Jos. A. Bank suits don’t really resemble Connery’s suits at all. Jos. A. Bank is also much cheaper than $600, since their suits are just about always on sale. But they have a modern American cut, whereas the other two I mentioned have an English-influenced style with a more relaxed look like what Connery wore. In the 90’s you would have had a lot more options.

      • Well I did go in to a Jos A. Banks. Last month and it was a glen check pattern and the tag did say $600’s now I don’t know if it was on sale but I did not see a sale price. I’ll have to go back in and check. And yes polo Ralph Lauren and ridiculously expensive. I didn’t even bother looking at Paul Stuart’s.

  4. Do the gorge on these lapels look a little low to anyone? Also, the collar seems to be oddly angled downward. I’ve seen a lot of suits from the 80s that had this exact styling, not so drastic as the Armani look I mean.

  5. I watched Dr. No again last night, although the first time since I started following this blog. This was my favorite lounge suit worn in the film. I’m not a huge fan of loud or prominent Glen checks. But with the plain weave dropping the scale, and then the black and cream creating less of a stark contrast than a black and white would, that combined to make this fairly subtle for a glen check, at least on film. It appears something that would be business appropriate to me.

    • The one you found is the right colour but wrong pattern/weave. The Standeven cloth is designed for hot weather, being a high-twist wool. It will breathe better and wear cooler than a lighter twill.

  6. Amazing, will then look to get the Standeven – thank you so much for finding essentially a perfect match :)

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