For James Bond’s introduction to the new Q (played by Ben Whishaw) in Skyfall, costume designer Jany Temime dressed Q in a fishtail parka. Compared to James Bond in a topcoat and suit, Q’s parka over a sports coat makes him look less serious, less professional and less mature than Bond, which he would later unfortunately prove the same with his methods. The casual way Q is dressed certainly doesn’t help him earn Bond’s trust. The fishtail parka was originally made for the United States Army in the 1950s with a split and cords at the rear that so each side of the coat could be tied around the legs to keep out the elements. The fishtail parka soon became popular with Mods in the UK, and that connexion makes it fit well with the young Q’s hipster style.
According to Bond Lifestyle, Q’s coffee-brown fishtail parka is from Pretty Green. It has a zip-fastening covered with a fly that secures with press studs. The cuffs also adjust with press studs. On the front of the coat there are steeply slanted pockets with flaps. The waist cinches with a drawstring, which is visible as a ridge around the back of the coat and exits through a hole in either side on the front of the coat. The coat is long enough to reach the upper thighs. The coat also has a hood that cinches with a drawstring. The original coat came with fur trim on the collar that was removed.
Under the fishtail parka, Q wears a black cotton moleskin jacket from Maison Margiela (according to Jany Temime) in a fashionable button two cut. The jacket has a shorter length, slightly narrow lapels and a very high gorge, which is the seam that connects the collar to the lapels. The lapels have very conspicuous prick stitching, which some makers use to give a false sense of quality. At one time only the best makers used prick stitching, which should be done by hand as subtly as possible. It serves to keep the lapels flat and isn’t meant to be a visual element. Q’s jacket has very bold prick stitching, which is most likely done by machine.
Q’s narrow tie is black with purple tick marks. Spaces between the tick marks create black lines in a herringbone tile pattern. Q’s shirt and trousers are same as what he wears later in the film with his Dries Van Noten cardigan. The shirt from Reiss is pale pink with light grey pencil stripes and has a spread collar and double cuffs. The trousers from Hentsch Man are a check with navy and plum.
It’s unfortunate that, having introduced a more traditional style M with Ralph Fiennes in this movie that the producers didn’t do the same with such an important supporting character as Q. This guy is a pathetic choice and bears no relation to the Q character we were used to for over 4 decades with the unforgettable Desmond Llewelyn.
The shirt and tie are quite nice, but the parka isn’t my cup of tea.
On a side note, there are worse casting choices for such an iconic role than a BAFTA-winning Shakespearian actor.
So wrong.
Ben Whishaw is an excellent actor and a great fit as Q. The clothes are brilliant for his character – a young tech type who probably doesn’t want to wear suits and just wears the bare minimum required to look professional. Character wise, he’s probably more interested in the tech and gadgets than how he looks.
Many of us love the new Q and his new look! It’s about time that Q division caught up with the times! Ben Whishaw is a wonderful actor and he brought a breath of fresh air with him into the Bond franchise! I’m so tired of all the same elements of the Bond movies repeating over and over. The new Q is simply brilliant!
I adored Desmond Llewelyn but I’m glad to see them trying to take a new direction with the Q character rather than attempt to pass off a Llewelyn-like clone. Young people are the ones who are tech savy these days. Also, having Q appear arrogant gives the character interest and room to grow and provides some good friction with Bond who is now the “old man.”
Agree with the positive comments about the new Q. Out of respect to the incomparable Desmond Llewelyn, the Q character should not be an imitation. Plus, the hipster tech savy Q is both more believable and presents a better foil for Bond. I think it’s well done. And the clothes, although not to my taste, fit the character.
Hi Matt how wide do you think Q’s tie is? Just a suggestion but a post on tie widths and how Bond’s tie width has changed over the last 50 years might be interesting?
I think Ben Whishaw is a decent actor, but my main issue is in how the character was written. I understand that the new Q has to be a tech genius, that’s the only way the character will work in modern times, but they could have at least made him look mature.
I like Ben but I wish they’d just have cast Richard Ayoade and got it out of their system. It appears they’d been inspired by watching The I.T. Crowd – the character of Moss is also a socially awkward, large haired, bespectacled computer geek in a shirt, tie and monotone British voice. Albeit one who gets a ‘hot ear’ when he gets nervous. Perhaps in Spectre we’ll hear Whishaw running around shouting “I’ve got a gun! I’ve got a mother-flipping gun!”.
I pretty much came here to say the same thing! Glad I’m not the only one who thought so.
Each age has the Q (and Bond) that it deserves.
The clothes, I can take or leave. What bothers me is that this character is terrible at his job!
I’ve never understood the “we don’t go for that sort of thing anymore” line re: exploding pens…but they didn’t seem too conservative about giving his Aston Martin an ejector seat and machine guns – that’s assuming Q Branch fitted them…or do Quikfit Auto install them now?
What knot does Q do his tie in?
That’s a four-in-hand knot.
« Prick stitching » ?! Positively shocking !