Category Archives: The Persuaders

Almost Never Button the Bottom Button

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Charcoal-Suit-Both-Buttons-Done-Up

Sean Connery has both buttons on his dark grey suit fastened in Dr. No.

Sean Connery’s tailoring in his Bond films is often admired for its clean, simple lines and limited colour scheme. But wearing suits didn’t come naturally to Connery, and on three occasions he makes the mistake of buttoning the bottom button on his suit jackets. The first is in Dr. No, when wearing tailored clothing was still very new to him, and presumably director Terence Young did not catch the brief mistake. The second is when Bond enters his hotel room in Istanbul and suddenly his bottom button is fastened, even though it was when he entered the lift. The third time came in Diamonds Are Forever. On neither of Connery’s suit jackets should the bottom button ever be fastened.

Cream-Linen-Suit

Connery fastens the bottom button on his linen suit in Diamonds Are Forever.

It’s typically advised that only the top button on a button two jacket should be fastened. This is because the front is cut away below the top button and the lower button doesn’t meet up with the buttonhole. Thus, fastening the lower button causes the jacket to pull across the hips. It restricts movement and makes it difficult to sit. Also, it shortens the perceived leg length, rather than extending the leg to the waist. But some button two jackets are designed to have both buttons fastened.

Button-2-Paddock-comparison

On a paddock-cut button two jacket, both buttons are meant to fasten. The button stance is raised, usually placing the two buttons equidistant above and below the waist. Placing both buttons higher means that the bottom button can be fastened without restricting movement. The front on a paddock cut is only cutaway below the bottom button. President John F. Kennedy, British politician Anthony Eden and the Duke of Windsor are known for wearing this cut. In his later years, the Duke of Windsor only fastened the bottom button on his paddock-cut jackets for a longer lapel line. Roger Moore wears a couple paddock-cut suits with button-three jackets in The Persuaders, which adds a third button at the top.

Persuaders-Button-3-Paddock

Cyril Castle made Roger Moore’s paddock-cut suit in The Persuaders. It has a slanted, flapped breast pocket and flared link-button cuffs

Button-Down Cocktail Cuff

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Though never seen in the Bond films, both Sean Connery and Roger Moore wore Frank Foster’s shirts with his unique button-down cocktail cuffs. Moore wears the cuff throughout The Persuaders and Connery wears it in Never Say Never Again, for which Frank Foster and Turnbull & Asser both made shirts with this cuff. The earliest appearance of this cuff is in Vendetta for the Saint, the only time Roger Moore wears the cuff in The Saint. The cuff is worn with sports coats, suits and even black tie. Unlike the regular 2-button cocktail cuff, this cuff only fastens around the wrist with a single button and pivots on the button. Two small buttons hold down the rounded corners of the cuff like a button-down collar.

Like a button-down collar, the button-down cuff should have a gentle roll. Thus, the cuff needs to be made with a soft interlining and should never be pressed with a fold. Below is what the cuff looks like unbuttoned and unfolded:

The Persuaders: The Striped Blazer

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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 brown/green pinstripes. 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 6-button blazer in the traditional 2-to-button configuration has crested silver 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 1-button gauntlet cuffs (with a rounded turnback) and slanted pockets.

Notice Moore’s gauntlet cuffs
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 turnback 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.