The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo: Black Three-Piece Suit

Posted on 19 April 2013 by Matt Spaiser

In The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Daniel Craig plays journalist Mikael Blomkvist, a man who doesn’t quite have James Bond’s sharp sense of style. In the 2011 film, Blomkvist wears a black three-piece suit, with a modern cut. Though Bond rarely wears black suits, for a party in the evening it’s an appropriate choice. The button two jacket is trim-cut with straight shoulders, and Blomkvist wears it open for the brief time we see him in it. The waistcoat has five buttons, and they are placed low and close together. Craig leaves the bottom button open, and when he later takes off his suit jacket he unbuttons the top button as well. The flat front trousers have a plain hem. They are worn with a belt and have too short a rise to be worn with a waistcoat, thus some of the shirt peaks through.

Though Bond never wears a mid grey shirt, it works very well with this suit. The darker shirt tones down the formality and severity of the black suit, but it’s not too dark either. The shirt has a spread collar and front placket. The placket is stitched a quarter-inch from the edge, whilst the collar is stitched an eighth-inch from the edge. The narrow black tie is woven in a ribbed ottoman weave. Blomkvist wears the shirt collar unbuttoned and his tie loosened, a sloppy look that would be out of character for Bond. But it’s in character for Blomkvist, as it has been a fashionable look as of late for younger people. Daniel Craig is too old to look fashionable with a loosened tie, if anyone can indeed look fashionable with a loosened tie. Naturally, he wears black shoes with the black suit.

Warm-Weather Glen Plaid Suit

Posted on 10 April 2013 by Matt Spaiser

Sean Connery’s second black and white plaid suit in From Russia With Love is almost identical to the glen plaid suit in Dr. No. The cloth is woven in a plain weave, making it better suited for warmer weather than the more traditional twill-weave Glen Urquhart check suit Connery wears earlier in From Russia With Love. The scale of the pattern on this suit isn’t as fine as the similar check in Dr. No, but all the details are the same except for pocket flaps being present on this suit. The button-two suit jacket has natural shoulders with roped sleeveheads, a draped chest and a nipped waist. It has double vents and four-button cuffs. The suit trousers have double forward pleats and turn ups.

Connery’s pale blue shirt is from Turnbull & Asser and has a spread collar, front placket and two-button cocktail cuffs. He wears a navy grenadine tie, tied in a four-in-hand knot. He wears a white linen folded pocket handkerchief, black socks and black derby shoes. His hat is a brown felt trilby.

Almost Never Button the Bottom Button

Posted on 2 April 2013 by Matt Spaiser

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.

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.

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.

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

Catch Me If You Can: The Goldfinger Suit

Posted on 26 February 2013 by Matt Spaiser

After seeing Goldfinger, Leonardo DiCaprio’s real-life character Frank Abagnale Jr. in Catch Me If You Can is inspired to have not one but three suits made just like Sean Connery’s famous three-piece suit in Goldfinger.

“Now you’re sure this is the suit, right?” says Abagnale.

“Positive. It’s the exact suit he wore in the movie,” replied the tailor.

It’s actually not an exact replica of the suit suit but rather what many people think the suit is without taking a close look. One could say it’s an American tailor’s interpretation, and going by the story the mistakes are understandable considering there weren’t home video tapes in the 1960s to pause. But the film’s costume designer should have had enough resources in 2002 to make a better replica of the suit. Like Connery’s suit, DiCaprio’s is a light grey three-piece suit with a button two jacket that has a ticket pocket and double vents. The waistcoat is actually very close to the original, but plenty of mistakes are made elsewhere.

The biggest mistake is the cloth. Connery’s suit is a fine glen plaid whereas DiCaprio’s is a light grey pick-and-pick. At first glance, Connery’s suit appears to also be a pick-and-pick weave—and one of the plaid’s four sections is pick-and-pick—but a closer look reveals that the cloth is a fine glen plaid. Though the jacket has double vents, DiCaprio’s vents are only half the length of Connery’s. Short vents were a popular 1960s trend that Bond never wore. Whilst Connery’s suit has natural shoulders and a draped chest, DiCaprio’s suit has straight, padded shoulders and lacks the drape. They’ve also put only three buttons on the cuffs instead of four. The waistcoat is very close, with six buttons, notch lapels and four welt pockets. But the bottom button is not on the cut-away portion of the waistcoat. The cutaway needs to start higher, and that mean the trousers would also need to have a longer rise than they’ve given him.

The trousers are another one of the biggest mistakes after the wrong cloth. Few Americans in the 1960s wore pleated trousers so they didn’t expect Connery’s trousers to have pleats. Thus they made the trousers with a flat front and a modern low rise. The hem is also too short and just barely touched the shoes. Though the suit incorporates a few popular 1960′s trends that weren’t present on the original suit, such as short vents and flat front trousers, the only part of Sean Connery’s suit that dates it to the 60s was not included: narrow lapels! DiCaprio’s suit has much wider lapels. Whilst the suit isn’t an exact replica, it’s still a nice homage to the original.

It’s hard to tell if they were trying to copy the shirt and tie as well, but—to give them credit—let’s say not. DiCaprio’s shirt collar is much smaller and narrower than Connery’s, and it the cuffs are button cuffs rather than double cuffs. It’s a very typical shirt for the men in the mid 60′s who weren’t wearing button-down collars. DiCaprio’s tie is black and woven, whilst the original was a navy knitted tie. DiCaprio wears V-front derby shoes like Connery did, but DiCaprio’s have wing-tips rather than plain fronts. They did get the pocket square right.

Gareth Mallory: Blue Pinstripe Suit

Posted on 21 February 2013 by Matt Spaiser

To contrast Daniel Craig’s fashion-forward suits, Ralph Fiennes’ government official Gareth Mallory in Skyfall dresses in timeless Savile Row style. It’s more like Bond’s usual look than what Daniel Craig wears in Skyfall, similar to Daniel Craig’s Brioni three-piece suit in Casino Royale. The biggest difference is that Mallory wears braces with his suits, something Bond never has done. Timothy Everest, one of the leaders of Savile Row’s New Bespoke Movement, tailored Ralph Fiennes’ suits for Skyfall. As one would expect from a Savile Row establishment, even a modern one, the suits are well-tailored. Though the often-daring Everest isn’t so adventurous with Fiennes’ suits, the suits do not look old-fashioned either. Whilst three-piece suits—as well as the double-breasted suit Fiennes wears later in the film—stand for old-fashioned values, three-piece have seen a recent rise in popularity. Fiennes may not look nearly as fashionable as Daniel Craig, but he doesn’t quite look as old and stodgy as he perhaps was meant to look either.

This suit is navy with a mid blue ropestripe and has a button two jacket in a modern Savile Row cut. Like the traditional Savile Row jacket this one has straight, padded shoulders with roped sleeveheads. But on the other hand, the jacket is cut fairly lean in the chest and does not look like a suit of armour. The jacket has slanted pockets with a ticket pocket, four-button cuffs and a single vent. The waistcoat has six buttons with five to button. The trousers have a flat front, a high rise to the waist and are worn with braces. If they wanted Mallory to look more old-fashioned he could have been wearing double-forward-pleat trousers like Sean Connery’s Bond wore. The suit’s buttons are black horn.

With this navy suit Fiennes wears a classic Jermyn Street-style shirt in light blue end-on-end with a spread collar, placket front and double cuffs. His navy tie has large white dots with a small navy dot in the center, and it appears to be tied in a Half Windsor knot. His shoes are black cap-toe oxfords.

John Steed: The Man Two Girls Left For Bond

Posted on 25 January 2013 by Matt Spaiser

Before James Bond came to the screen in 1962, a few secret agents had already been established on camera. Patrick MacNee may be best known to Bond fans for his role as Sir Godfrey Tibbett in A View to a Kill. Years earlier in 1961 he first starred as John Steed in The Avengers with future Bond girls Honor Blackman and Diana Rigg, and by 1962 he had established himself as one of the dandiest spies known for his bowler and umbrella. His suits were English and had an Edwardian flair, just as Roger Moore’s suits in colour episodes of The Saint have. But rather than having narrow lapels, shorter jackets lengths and drainpipe trousers, MacNee’s suits are classically proportioned in all ways. MacNee chose to set his suits apart with unique details such as velvet collars and cloth-covered buttons.

For the first four season MacNee wore English-tailored suits. The clothes in the fifth series are credited to Pierre Cardin, though later in that series MacNee again starts wearing some of his own English-tailored suits from the forth series and earlier, like the suit pictured here that dates back to the first series. Patrick MacNee was even credited for designing his own suits in the sixth series of the show, which very much resemble the suits from the fourth series and earlier with the single-button front and velvet collar. He was not credited for his wardrobe before the sixth series, but they were most likely created at his direction.

This mid grey three-piece suit pictured in this article has a timeless cut that is undeniably the Savile Row cut, with a straight shoulder on the natural shoulder line, a fairly clean chest, closely-fitted waist and flared skirt. The jacket buttons one and has double vents, slanted flap pockets with a ticket pocket and a flap breast pocket. The jacket’s flared cuffs have a vent but neither a button nor an overlap. It’s a far more elegant option to not have buttons on the cuffs than it is to leave one open, as many choose to do these days. It also does a great job at framing the shirt’s double cuffs. Roger Moore later wore this style cuff on his adventurous double-breasted suit in The Man Who Haunted Himself. The waistcoat buttons six with very wide notch lapels and a straight bottom. All buttons on the jacket and waistcoat are covered in the suit’s grey cloth. The trousers have a flat front with cross pockets and plain bottoms.

MacNee wears a light blue shirt with a cutaway collar—a traditional cutaway that’s not as extreme and today’s fashionable variations can be—and double cuffs. The tie is mid grey with white polka dots, and it’s tied in a Windsor knot. MacNee often wore black ankle boots with elastic gussets with this type of suit, and a grey suede variation on occasion.

The images of this suit come from one of it’s few appearances in colour, in the fifth series episode “You Have Just Been Murdered.” Though we’re seeing this suit in 1967, it was quite an adventurous style for when it was tailored in 1961. This appearance of the suit lack’s Steed’s trademark bowler and umbrella, but we’ll see that and more the next time I write about The Avengers.

See the book Reading between Designs by Piers D. Britton and Simon J. Barker for a comprehensive overview of John Steed’s wardrobe.

Bratislava Suit and Coat

Posted on 27 December 2012 by Matt Spaiser

In the Bratislava winter in The Living Daylights, Timothy Dalton recalls classic James Bond suits with his medium grey flannel suit. It’s a shame we don’t see more of this suit since it’s one of the best-fitting suits in the series, from the little we see of it. It’s clearly not the same as the rest of the Benjamin Simon suits that Dalton wears throughout the film and probably is from a different brand. What really stands out are the narrow, natural shoulders that really flatter Dalton’s build. We don’t see much of the suit, but the jacket is probably a button two. The jacket also has wide lapels, but with a classic gorge compared to the low gorge on Licence to Kill‘s wide lapels. A publicity still reveals that this suit’s trousers have double reverse pleats instead of the classic English forward pleats that the rest of his suits have. Dalton wears the trousers with a black belt.

Dalton wears a white shirt with a spread collar, barrel cuffs and a placket front. His tie is solid navy and tied in a four-in-hand knot. His shoes are black. Over the suit, Dalton wears a dark navy, full-length overcoat. The overcoat has a 1980′s low gorge and low button stance, probably with three buttons. The low button stance exposes more of the chest, and the low gorge means that folding over the lapels won’t cover the neck, making the coat not as effective at keeping out the cold as it could be. But still, the coat fits well. It has a vent, flapped pockets and three buttons on the cuffs. Though the clothes are not bespoke, they are some of Dalton’s more impressive clothes of the film due to their decent fit and classic Bondian style.

The Modern Button Two

Posted on 22 November 2012 by Matt Spaiser

Pierce Brosnan brings back the button two suit in Die Another Day after wearing primarily button three suits in his previous Bond films. Of the two examples of the style in this film, the first is a beige linen suit and the second is a grey pinstripe, which is featured here. This suit introduces an updated raised button stance, which has become popular over the past 10 years. Fashion has since taken this further by raising the jacket hem as well. Brosnan’s jacket has a traditional length, though the higher button stance doesn’t do his increasing waistline any favours. The jacket has slanted pockets with a ticket pocket, four buttons on the cuffs and double vents. The trousers have a flat front—with a rather generous rise compared to what has become of trouser rises over the past decade—and turn-ups.

Brosnan wears the suit with a light blue Brioni shirt that has a wide spread collar, placket and double cuffs. Since he wears the suit twice in the film, each time it’s with a different tie. The first tie is grey with a blue circle motif, and the tie is still available from Turnbull & Asser. The second tie is a pattern of red rectangles on a navy ground (see below). Brosnan wears black shoes with this suit.

The Suits of James Bond

Tag Archives: Button Two