The Olive Suit

Posted on 7 May 2013 by Matt Spaiser

In The Man with the Golden Gun, Roger Moore wears a more adventurous wardrobe than he did in Live and Let Die. For one of the furthest suits from what Sean Connery had established as the classic Bond look, Moore wears a dark olive, double-breasted suit cut by Cyril Castle. The suit has very closely-spaced lighter pinstripes with wider-spaced red chalkstripes. The jacket has six buttons on the front with two to button, double vents, slightly slanted pockets with flaps, and flared link-button cuffs. The trousers have a darted front and flared leg.

The shirt is a white and gold bengal stripe in a twill weave, made by Frank Foster. The shirt has a spread collar, placket front and and two-button cocktail cuffs. The tie is light olive shantung silk, tied in a four-in-hand knot. Even though the outfit is in all earth tones, Moore wears black shoes. But because this suit is worn after dark, black shoes are appropriate, and they don’t clash when not in daylight.

Bond’s Rolex Submariner with a close-up of the striped suit and shirt cloths

Moore’s Unused Dinner Jacket

Posted on 1 May 2013 by Matt Spaiser

As part of Live and Let Die promotions, Roger Moore’s photo was taken as Bond in a dinner jacket, yet this outfit didn’t make it to the film. Not wearing a dinner jacket in Live and Let Die was one of the many ways used to distinguish Moore from his predecessors. Cyril Castle made this black dinner jacket in the same six-button double-breasted with two to button style as the double-breasted suit Moore wears at the end of the film. It has softly-padded shoulders, slanted pockets with fancy braided jetting, satin silk peak lapels, and satin silk-covered buttons. The dinner jacket also has Cyril Castle’s flared, link-button cuffs, which are seen on all of the suits in Live and Let Die.

The shirt repeats George Lazenby’s now very dated style with a ruffled front. The lack of such flamboyant clothing that made it into Live and Let Die is more in character for Bond. The shirt is likely made by Turnbull & Asser, in a way to tie Moore’s clothing in with Bond’s already established shirtmaker. It has a spread collar, and its double cuffs have the buttonholes very close to the fold—something which Turnbull & Asser is known for. Moore wears a wide black bow tie and a white handkerchief puffed in his breast pocket.

The Saint in Full Evening Dress

Posted on 5 April 2013 by Matt Spaiser

Also known as white tie, full evening dress is now worn primarily at state dinners, very fancy balls and a select few other occasions. For many occasions where it was once worn, black tie has now replaced it. Though James Bond never wears full evening dress, Roger Moore wears it in the 1962 episode of The Saint titled “The Charitable Countess.” The focus of full evening dress is the evening tailcoat. Bond has in fact worn a different type of tailcoat: a morning coat. Like the morning coat, the evening tailcoat has a waist seam and tails in the back. The evening tailcoat is either black or midnight blue, with black satin silk peaked lapels. Moore’s tailcoat, made by Cyril Castle, is cut with natural shoulders and roped sleeveheads, just as Moore’s lounge coats are. The front is double-breasted with three buttons down each side, but the front panels do not meet or fasten. Though not all tailcoats have breast pockets, Moore’s evening tailcoat has a welt breast pocket, adorned with a white linen handkerchief. There are four buttons on each sleeve, and all of the buttons on the tailcoat are in covered satin silk.

The trousers have a long rise, double forward pleats and a silk braid down the side of each leg. Because the trousers sit so high it’s necessary that they are held up with braces. Though we don’t see Moore with the tailcoat off, he is most likely wearing braces. The single-breasted waistcoat is made of white cotton marcella. It is low cut with three mother of pearl buttons and square-cut lapels, and it is most likely backless. The shirt’s front has a stiff marcella bib to match the waistcoat. The front of the shirt closes with two mother of pearl studs. The shirt has a stiff, detachable wing collar and single link cuffs (stiff, single-layer cuffs to wear with cuff links). The bow tie is also white cotton marcella to match the shirt and waistcoat. Moore wears the most traditional accessories with his evening wear: a black plush silk top hat and white kidskin gloves. However, he goes a step too far and carries a walking stick.

This is a perfect example of full dress. The only mistake is that in some scenes Moore is wearing the bow tie behind the collar points. The bow tie should always be in front of the collar points. More recently Roger Moore wears full evening dress in the 2011 television feature A Princess for Christmas, but it’s a most atrocious example of the style in every manner. It looks rather like a rental and fits very poorly. Full dress is very difficult to fit well when not bespoke, especially since the waistline of the tailcoat, the bottom of the waistcoat and the waist of the trousers all need to fit perfectly. The tailcoat’s waistline should mirror the waistline of the person wearing the tailcoat, though it can be adjusted to make one look taller or shorter. The waistcoat needs to be shorter so it does not show below the jacket’s waistline. And the trousers need to sit extra high on the waist so they are completely covered by the waistcoat. Cyril Castle fits all three parts perfectly for Moore.

See Black Tie Guide for more on full evening dress.

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

The Saint: Funeral Suit and Coat

Posted on 18 January 2013 by Matt Spaiser

Roger Moore’s Simon Templar is well-dressed to a funeral in the Series 6 episode of The Saint, “Legacy for the Saint.” To keep warm in the cemetery he wears a charcoal grey car coat. The coat’s length is a few inches above the knee but is still considerably longer than a suit jacket so it can be worn over it. A car coat is shorter than the typical overcoat to make it easier when entering and exiting a car. Topcoats are often shorter as well, but they are also lighter and Moore’s coat is not. We don’t see much of the coat in “Legacy for the Saint,” but it makes another brief appearance in “The Time to Die.” The coat is cut with natural shoulders, buttons three, and has 3 buttons on the cuffs and a single vent.

The Saint in a charcoal car coat

Under the coat Moore wears a three-piece suit made by Cyril Castle in charcoal with a very narrow-spaced light grey stripe. The suit coat has softly-padded shoulders, a draped chest and nipped waist typical of Castle’s tailoring, and like all of Moore’s single-breasted suits in The Saint this one buttons three. The suit coat is characteristic of the 1960′s Neo-Edwardian style, with narrow notched lapels, slanted flap pockets, double vents and single-button gauntlet cuffs. The length of the jacket is slightly shorter than the typical length, though not nearly as short as fashionable jackets today. The waistcoat buttons six with notch lapels and a straight bottom. And in his waistcoat pockets he wears a pocket watch with a fob chain. The trousers have a flat front with plain hems.

Moore’s ecru Frank Foster shirt has a spread collar, plain front and cocktail cuffs, and this is the first episode we see Moore wearing cocktail cuffs. The turnback of the cocktail cuffs in The Saint has a much wider spread compared to the cuffs he wears later in the Bond films. They have some similarities to the Turnbull & Asser cuffs Sean Connery wore, but these lay flatter, as Foster prefers.

Though Moore does not often wear black, the funeral setting of the episode makes this the time to include black into the outfit. Moore wears a narrow, black satin silk tie and a black silk pocket handkerchief folded with two points. A black suit for a funeral is not necessary, and for someone who isn’t an immediate family member of the deceased a black suit can come off as excessively somber. Templar wears the perfect amount of black for attending a friend’s wedding. And the shoes are black as well, of course.

The Saint: Relevant to Skyfall?

Posted on 14 October 2012 by Matt Spaiser

As Roger Moore celebrates his 85th birthday today, we look at some very relevant tailoring from his past. A blue-grey, subtle Glen Urquhart check suit first featured in the fifth series episode of The Saint ”The Helpful Pirate” has quite a few similarities to the suits Daniel Craig wears in Skyfall. The similarities are the obvious ones: three buttons down the front, very narrow lapels, a shorter jacket length (though Moore’s isn’t as short as Craig’s), a single vent and flat front trousers with a tapered leg. This suit is unique in The Saint in that it’s the only one that stylistically bridges the more traditional suits from the first four series to the more rakish suits in the fifth and sixth series.

The overall cut is where 1966 and 2012 differ. Cyril Castle’s suit jacket for Moore has natural shoulders whilst Tom Ford’s suit jacket for Craig has slightly built-up shoulders. Moore’s jacket has a full, draped chest whilst Craig’s has a cleaner, close-fitting chest, but both have a lot of waist suppression. Moore’s trousers have a higher rise than Craig’s, and the legs are narrow but not skin-tight. Moore’s jacket has the added details of single-button gauntlet cuffs and a ticket pocket.

Moore wears the suit with an ecru shirt with a spread collar and double cuffs. A grenadine tie knotted four-in-hand makes a connection to the Bond films, though Moore’s is an aubergine purple, a colour Sean Connery never wore. Moore wears black slip-on shoes and ecru socks, unusually I suppose to match the shirt.

In another connection to Bond, Vladek Sheybal, who played SPECTRE agent Kronsteen in From Russia with Love, is featured in this episode.

Double-Breasted White Dinner Jacket

Posted on 10 August 2012 by Matt Spaiser

Roger Moore wears his first of three white dinner jackets in The Man with the Golden Gun. And this dinner jacket is very close to being white, though it’s still not quite there. And fitting for the Asian setting, this dinner jacket is made from a slubby but luxurious dupioni silk. The cut is Cyril Castle’s classic double-breasted 6 button with 2 to button and has a narrower wrap. The shoulders narrow and gently padded. The jacket has double vents and the pockets are slanted and jetted. The cuffs button 1 with a turnback detail and don’t have the link button feature that Roger Moore wears on his other suits in the film. The black trousers are flared with a flat front and a black satin stripe down each leg.

Instead of the usual white shirt, Moore wears a cream dress shirt by Frank Foster. It’s unclear whether he is wearing that colour shirt to make a fashion statement, or simply because it flatters his complexion better than a stark white. The voile shirt has a pleated front with standard mother of pearl buttons and 2-button cocktail cuffs. Moore wears a wide, black satin bow tie to match the wide lapels. Though the bow tie looks dated, wide lapels on a double-breasted jacket don’t so much since they are typically wider than single-breasted lapels anyway. Moore’s dress shoes are black patent slip-ons with a strap and clasp detail.

Tailoring for the Times: Roger Moore

Posted on 29 July 2012 by Matt Spaiser

ROGER MOORE (1973-1974, Cyril Castle)

1. Flared trousers: Flared trousers became popular with a certain crowd in the 1960s and made it to mainstream fashion by the 1970s. This is the most fashionable trend we’ve seen in Bond’s suits and the most highly criticised one. However, Moore’s flared trousers only hint at the fashion trend in the early 1970s.

2. Wide lapels: Moore’s lapels narrowed in Live and Let Die to a more classic width from what Connery wore in Diamonds Are Forever, though in The Man with the Golden Gun Moore brings back the wider lapels. Still, the lapels are acceptably wide. If Tom Ford has his way these lapels are going to become trendy again.

Castle’s jackets for Moore’s had flared cuffs that fasten with two linked buttons. It’s common for English tailors to flare out the sleeves at the ends (in any decade), but the link button is a unique touch. It emphasizes the sleeve flair to harmonize with the flared trouser, but it wasn’t mimicking any fashion trends.

Some may think the colour brown should be on here since brown was a trendy colour in the 1970s that Moore occasionally wore. But Sean Connery also wore a few brown suits, and Daniel Craig even wore a brown suit in Quantum of Solace, so it’s not limited to the 1970s. He wore brown suits in the Saint during the 1960s, and Moore was still wearing brown suits into the 1980s, when they became more popular in America due to President Reagan’s influence. Connery wore much duller browns than Moore since they better suited his cool complexion. Moore’s warmer complexion, on the other hand, looked great in warm brown tones. Moore’s brown suits were typically worn in the mediterranean, with some in America and Hong Kong. He didn’t wear nearly as much brown as he wore grey and blue, and he never wore brown in London, following the old (declared dead in 1939) rule “no brown in town.”

ROGER MOORE (1977-1979, Angelo)

1. Flared trousers: The trousers widen with a more pronounced flare later in the 1970s to fully embrace the fashion trend.

2. Wide lapels: The same happens with the lapels—they widen. However, the pocket flaps stay narrow.

These are as trendy as Roger Moore’s suits get, and these are the suits that Moore is most remembered for. Though the details are influenced by the era, the cut of the jacket is not. Other dated aspects of Bond’s wardrobe include very long collar points and tall heels on his slip-ons.

ROGER MOORE (1981-1985, Douglas Hayward)

1. Low button stance: The only thing that dates Moore’s suits in the 1980s is a low button stance. Hayward preferred a lower button stance, though it seems that he made it even lower in the 1980s. A lower button stance lengthens the torso, which helps rather barrel-chested Moore. It also emphasizes the V-shape of the male torso, however it comes at a cost: the leg line is shortened. That is not much of a concern for Moore since he already has fairly long legs. Apart from the low button stance, Moore’s tailoring in the 1980s doesn’t succumb to any other now-dated fashion trends.

The Suits of James Bond

Tag Archives: Cyril Castle