Professor Dent: Cocktails Cuffs Are Not Just For James Bond

Posted on 14 June 2013 by Matt Spaiser

Professor Dent’s (Anthony Dawson) clothing has a few similarities to Bond’s, but overall he dresses in a far more ordinary fashion. Dent’s suit is a two and two check in black and white. The jacket is a button three with the lapels rolled to the middle button, and it is cut full with natural shoulders. The cuffs have two buttons, spaced apart. Dent’s narrow tie has wide red, olive and black stripes—in the opposite direction from most regimental stripes—and he ties it in a Windsor knot. He wears black shoes and a black belt with the suit.

Dent wears two different shirts with this suit. The first (above) is white with a button-down collar, placket and square-cut barrel cuffs. The second (top) is sky blue with a spread collar, placket and cocktail cuffs. Bond was not the only person in Dr. No to wear cocktail cuffs, but Dent’s are not the same. They both are rounded and have a wide spread, but Dent’s lay flat and have the buttons spaced further apart. Whilst Turnbull & Asser made Sean Connery’s shirts, Frank Foster made this shirt from Anthony Dawson.

Odd Job: A Servant’s Uniform

Posted on 4 May 2013 by Matt Spaiser

Though not in his manner, Oddjob makes a convincing servant in his dress. He wears black lounge, the same type of outfit that Bond wears for his wedding. The black button-three jacket has a high button stance and high lapel notches, which are more flattering to the shorter man that Oddjob is. The jacket has has three-button cuffs and jetted pockets and no vent. The jacket has some fit problems in the chest and shoulders, but a servant wouldn’t likely be wearing a bespoke suit anyway. Oddjob wears a matching five-button waistcoat, and he fastens all the buttons.

The cashmere stripe trousers in grey tones—originally from morning dress—are commonly worn with black lounge. Oddjob’s trousers have double forward pleats and plain hems. His white shirt has a wing collar, front placket and double cuffs. Though the wing collar was once worn with morning dress—like the striped trousers are—it is too formal for black lounge. A wing collar also should not be worn with a four-in-hand tie—though it once was the norm. The inappropriate mixing of formalities is what identifies Oddjob as a servant. His black, military-like derby shoes are also not up to the same formality as black lounge.

Oddjob’s black, flat-crowned bolwer hat—his most famous accessory made by Lock & Co.—is unusual for a servant, but it is the perfect match for his black lounge outfit. Two examples of the hat used in the film have been sold at auction. The first was sold at Christie’s in South Kensington on 17 September 1998 for £62,000. The second was sold by Julien’s Auctions in June 2006 for $33,600.

Kamal Khan: Dinner Suit

Posted on 2 January 2013 by Matt Spaiser

Octopussy‘s Kamal Khan, played by French actor Louis Jourdan, is one of the best-dressed villains of the James Bond series. When he’s not wearing a villainous Nehru jacket he’s wearing well-tailored suits, and he dresses for dinner in a classic peak-lapel dinner jacket. The button one black dinner jacket has natural shoulders with roped sleeveheads, and it is cut with a little drape in the chest and gentle waist suppression. It has single-button cuffs, jetted pockets and no vents. The lapels are satin-faced and buttons and trouser stripe match the lapels. The trousers are cut with a straight leg.

Kamal Khan wears a pleat-front shirt with a spread collar and double cuffs, probably made by Frank Foster like Roger Moore’s is. It’s essentially the same shirt as what Bond is also wearing in the scene. He finishes the ensemble with a black satin silk, thistle-shaped bow tie, and a matching cummerbund.

Blofeld in Astrakhan Fur

Posted on 25 December 2012 by Matt Spaiser

On Christmas Eve morning in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, Blofeld greets the girls outside wearing a British warm in light brown herringbone wool with a collar and lapels faced in light brown astrakhan fur. An astrakan-trimmed coat is a bit over-the-top for James Bond, but it is perfect for a villain, for whom nothing is ever too extreme. The British warm is a double-breasted, knee length overcoat. It usually has six buttons with three to button, as Blofeld’s does, though the fancy lapels and collar are not typical of a British warm. Blofeld’s coat has slanted pockets with large flaps on the front. Blofeld wears an astrakhan hat that matches the coat’s collar and lapels, and he also wears brown gloves.

The clothes Blofeld wears underneath the British warm appear to be the same as what he wears later during the battle at Piz Gloria. The brown zip-front jacket is made by Bogner, probably of an insulating synthetic material designed for skiing in. It has a short stand-up collar, vertical zip pockets on the front, a brown stripe on the sides and elasticised cuffs. Blofeld’s brown breeches match the jacket and are most likely made by Bogner as well. The legs extend a couple inches below the knee and tighten with a buckle. Underneath the jacket Blofeld wears a white mock polo neck jumper. He wears long, thick brown socks and brown suede-effect, rubber-soled ankle boots. The boots are most likely not real suede if the intent is to wear them in snow.

Bond stopped Blofeld’s plot and the world had a happy Christmas. I wish you all a happy Christmas.

Goldfinger’s Shawl-Collar Suit

Posted on 24 October 2012 by Matt Spaiser

As we all know, Auric Goldfinger loves gold and he loves to wear it. He wears gold cufflinks, a gold watch and a gold ring. Gold clothing would be a bit garish, so he chooses a mostly brown and yellow wardrobe. And it’s a wardrobe that flatters his autumn complexion. Gert Frobe’s peachy skin and red-blonde hair is best flattered by muted, but rich, warm colours that are perfect for the current autumn season out in the country. Goldfinger’s checked suit that he wears in England and Switzerland is the perfect example. The tweed cloth has a golden brown ground with a grid of black and green, intersected by a red overcheck.

The suit jacket is a button one with a shawl collar, a 1960′s fashion that didn’t quite catch on. The shawl collar comes from Goldfinger’s love for smoking jackets and denotes a bespoke pedigree. The jacket has jetted pockets, three buttons on the cuffs and no vent. The jacket has softly padded shoulders, roped sleeveheads and a draped chest, which gives the illusion of a waist. The cut with its properly placed button stance is a very flattering look for Goldfinger. We can’t see much of the trousers so we can’t tell if there are pleats, but they have a full cut, have plain bottoms, sit above the waist and are most likely supported by braces. That’s the only way trousers will stay up on a corpulent figure and the most flattering look on his body.

Bond and Goldfinger both are wearing brown, but notice how Goldfinger’s rich brown clothing flatters his warm complexion whilst Connery’s muted brown clothing flatters his cool complexion.

Goldfinger wears a pale yellow shirt with a short, rounded point collar and double cuffs. His narrow tie is brown satin silk. He wears black derby shoes or boots. The hat is a medium brown trilby, with a very narrow brim and tapered crown, and it appears to be suede.

Blofeld: The Mao Suit

Posted on 25 October 2011 by Matt Spaiser

Blofeld’s first full appearance came in You Only Live Twice with Donald Pleasence‘s cartoon-like portrayal. Besides the bald head, scarred face and white cat, Pleasence’s Blofeld is also known for his Mao suit. The Mao suit represents the West’s biggest enemy at the time, communism, and it labels Blofeld as the enemy even though SPECTRE is not a communist organization. Blofeld’s tan silk Mao suit is tailored much like a western suit with structured shoulders and a structured chest, and it’s closely fitted through the body. Unlike typical Mao suits, Blofeld’s jacket only has two pockets instead of four. The pockets are patch pockets with button-flaps, but the buttons are left undone. The jacket has a 5-button front, a turn-down collar and a single vent at the back. The trousers have a narrow leg and plain bottoms. Underneath the jacket, Blofeld wears a white shirt with double cuffs. It’s probably a tunic shirt without a collar. His shoes are black slip-ons.

One example of this suit’s jacket was sold at Bonhams in Knightsbridge on 17 November 2005 for £25,200. According to the listing, M. Berman Ltd. made the jacket for Donald Pleasence.

Scaramanga: The White Suit

Posted on 31 August 2011 by Matt Spaiser

“He usually wears a white linen suit, black tie, and jewellery, all gold.” Miss Anders described Scaramanga’s dress to Bond after he twisted her arm. It’s not actually a pure white, but off white. The jacket has a 3-button front, a single vent, slanted hip pockets but no breast pocket, and 3-button cuffs. The collar is essentially a camp collar, even though it’s a term usually used for shirts. This type of collar was commonly found on leisure suits in the 1970s. Like typical leisure suits, this is also made of polyester, not linen. It is trimmed with mother-of-pearl-effect buttons and a cream satin lining. This jacket was auctioned at Bonhams in Knightsbridge on 6 March 2007 and sold for £5,520.

The cream trousers were also sold at Bonhams, two years later on 16 June 2009 and sold for £480. According to the auction these trousers are wool (with a waffle texture), and since they are not the same material as the jacket the outfit is not actually a suit. The trousers have a narrow leg, darted front, belt loops (with a belt buckle keeper), a hook closure and plain bottoms. The jacket and the trousers were made by costumiers Bermans & Nathans.

Scaramanga’s cream shirt has a moderate spread collar and double cuffs, with gold cuff links of course. The left cuff link becomes the trigger for the golden gun. Scaramanga makes no secret of his admiration for James Bond, and he even has an element of Bond’s dress in his own: the black silk knit tie. It’s the tie of the literary Bond, and Roger Moore wears one off of Scaramanga’s 007 mannequin in the end of the film. Scaramanga completes his outfit with white shoes.

Emilio Largo: The White Double-Breasted Dinner Jacket

Posted on 23 August 2011 by Matt Spaiser

The villain in Thunderball, Emilio Largo (Adolfo Celi), channels Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca in his white double-breasted, shawl-collar dinner jacket. Largo wears a white dinner jacket to contrast with Bond’s midnight blue dinner suit. The dinner jacket has a clean chest and wide shoulders with roped sleeveheads. It has a 4-button front with 1 to button, 4-button cuffs, jetted pockets and no vents. The buttons are mother of pearl. The black trousers have double forward pleats, suspended by white clip-on braces with brass hardware.

Largo’s dress shirt has a plain white spread collar, double cuffs and a narrow-pleated front. The shirt body is made in a white-on-white cotton. The front closes with two studs. Largo wears two black bow ties: a regular thistle and a narrower thistle with diamond ends.

The Suits of James Bond

Category Archives: Villain