This week celebrates the 45th anniversary of the release of You Only Live Twice. In the film, Bond visits Japan wearing a suit in a lighter shade of blue than navy that is ideal for summer. In certain scenes, this suit has quite a shine and suggests a mohair/wool blend. Mohair and high twist wool are two of the best-performing suitings for warm weather because they breathe well and are great at resisting wrinkles. This is a classic Anthony Sinclair suit, with a 2-button front, natural shoulders with roped sleeveheads, a full chest and a gently suppressed waist. The jacket is detailed with a single vent, flapped pockets and 4-button cuffs. The trousers have double forward pleats, button side-adjusters and turn-ups.

Bond wears the suit with a sky blue poplin shirt from Turnbull & Asser that has a spread collar and cocktail cuffs. For a touch of Fleming, Bond wears a knit tie in a four-in-hand knot, but in navy rather than Fleming’s black. This is the only time Connery wears a knit tie outside of Goldfinger. The shoes are black grain leather, plain-toe slip-ons, probably with elastic connecting the quarters across the instep. Grain leather isn’t often seen in black since its rustic look is better suited with brown and burgundy country shoes. Bond brings along a navy felt trilby, which must surely be too warm to wear in what appears to be warm weather in Japan based on other clothes in the film. Overall this is one of the most Fleming-esque outfits of the series, and Fleming himself would surely approve of every part of the outfit except the shirt sleeves (Fleming preferred short sleeves, even with suits).

This is my first post regarding clothing from You Only Live Twice. Bond wears mostly casual clothes in the film, and since it’s all for warm weather I’ve been holding off until summer. But the first suit in the film is more of a spring suit than a summer suit. The fabric is herringbone weave in black and white, which look like solid grey from a distance. Herringbone, like other twills, is a tight weave that doesn’t breath as well as a plain weave, so it’s best to avoid for the warmest of weather. It’s tailored with wide, though natural, shoulders and roped sleeveheads, but it has a cleaner chest than what we’ve seen on Connery before. As always, the suit has a 2-button front and 4-button cuffs. The pockets are straight with flaps, and there is a single vent at the rear. The trousers are typical of Connery Bond suits: double forward pleats, button-tab side adjusters and turn-ups.

Bond’s ecru shirt is from Turnbull & Asser, made with a spread collar and 2-button turn back cuffs. The tie is a black grenadine and Bond’s socks are also black. The shoes aren’t worn much, as Bond removes them when entering Henderson’s home. The shoes he leaves at the door are black slip-ons with elastic in the instep. Bond leaves Henderson’s home without his shoes but takes the shoes from the thug who killed Henderson. I’ll discuss those another day.