James Bond's Most Memorable Style Moments
Amid all those cars, girls, gadgets and guns associations, surely it's style that has been the most enduring constant throughout the 53 year history of James Bond in the movies.
In 24 films and with six different actors in the role, the clothes of this very English agent have come to represent some of cinema's most memorable fashion moments. We've compiled our favourite hits, misses and lesser-known triumphs from the Bond wardrobe:
16 The Navy Three-piece (The Living Daylights)
Timothy Dalton may not be revered by many for his two Bond outings but it should be noted that his was one surprisingly well-dressed secret agent. Considering this film was made in the late-80s, this navy chalk stripe three-piece looks just as good today and is a timely inspiration for anyone who doubts whether they could pull off a three-piece themselves.
15 The Snow-Ready Outfit (Spectre)
Daniel Craig's take on Bond is mainly as a man of action, function and discreet style. Quality but no fuss. Hence why he can look this sharp and intimidating in a gilet and hiking boots. The black leather gloves help of course. Just don't wear this outfit down the shops.
14 The Dressing Gown (Live And Let Die)
There can be no doubting 007's fondness for a dressing gown. Given how much time he spends in bedrooms perhaps it's not surprising. Connery's super short blue terrycloth number inThunderball is perhaps the most memorable, but this mongrammed yellow piece with red piping is clearly JB's favourite given we see him wearing it here at home (Dr No is the only other film to show him there) and even matches his bedding.
13 The Cream Suit (On Her Majesty's Secret Service)
George Lazenby's impact on the Bond franchise may have been fleeting but at least he gave us one of Bond's lesser-trumpeted tailoring triumphs, and the first time JB donned a suit that wasn't grey or blue. This classic cream linen number was worn with a pink shirt and a navy knit tie – and most daringly of all, matching cream monk-strap shoes.
12 The Golf Outfit (Goldfinger)
One of the most famous golf scenes on film pits 007 against Auric Goldfinger in a match that Bond wins both in a sporting and sartorial sense. This burgundy Slazenger jumper and long-sleeve polo takes its cues from Arnold Palmer. The fedora is possibly a bit much on the course but Connery pulls it off. A novice before, he famously became a golf addict after filming this.
11 The Ski Suit (The Spy Who Loved Me)
Roger's wardrobe highs are high, but his lows are at the bottom of a crevasse. In what is one of the franchise's most famous ski scenes, Bond appears to have bought up the children's skiwear section of an Austrian branch of C&A. Let's just remember it for the Union Jack parachute.
10 The Jeans And T-shirt (Casino Royale)
You don't see Bond in denim very often. He wore black and brown pairs in the books but never blue, until he pulled on these dark bootcuts by 7 For All Mankind and some Church's chukka boots. Bond purists hated it and it's hard to see any of the other actors getting away with but for Daniel Craig's Bond it definitely works.
9 The Plaid Jacket (The Man With The Golden Gun)
What does an Englishman wear to a showdown with a super-villain on a tropical island hideaway? A very loud and toasty-looking plaid jacket of course, perhaps stolen from the wardrobe of an American news anchor from the 1970s and paired with black flares. In the film it doesn't seem so incongruous, with Scaramanga in his powder blue safari shirt, Bond represents the triumph of buttoned-up decency. Throughout his stint as Bond, it's fair to say that Moore wore countless contrasting suit and jacket combinations, many of which still look good today.
8 The Roll-neck (Die Another Day)
The black roll-neck is a Bond staple, to be packed for any foreign adventure or just for lounging around at the weekends pointing guns at people. Every Bond has made their mark with it but Piers Brosnan looks born to wear this chunky ribbed version with trademark Milk Tray smirk.
7 Daniel Craig Tom Ford (Skyfall)
Given his bulk and bodyguard persona, Craig's Bond doesn't necessarily get the credit for his tailoring. This Tom Ford suit with tab-collared shirt is pretty much impossible to find fault with.
6 The Ivory Dinner Jacket (The Man With The Golden Gun)
The off-white dinner jacket will make only its sixth appearance in Spectre, but it feels like we've seen it far more often. Roger Moore wore it the most, three times in total, making his debut with this fantastic Cyril Castle double-breasted silk jacket whilst attempting to track down Scaramanga in Asia.
5 The Holiday Outfit (Dr No)
Connery's Jamaican beach outfit is understandably overshadowed by Ursula Andress's famous bikini in the same scene, but his knit blue polo and almost matching cotton trousers was an early statement that Bond packs more than dinner jackets on his foreign travels. A classic Rolex Submariner is the only accessory.
4 The Safari Suit (The Man With The Golden Gun)
The headline says most memorable not most stylish and Roger Moore's run of safari jackets definitely stick in the mind as one of Bond's more infamous pieces of clothing. While the safari jacket itself is a very traditional English outfit, this one suffered – as many things did – from a heavy Seventies twist. The resulting effect makes this the comedy James Bond fancy dress option to this day.
3 The Blue Trunks (Casino Royale)
The first Daniel Craig film needed a stand-out style moment, a visual indicator of who this new Bond was and where he might fit in the history books. Who'd have thought it would have been for a skimpy pair of blue swim shorts? Made by La Perla and in a size large, they fetched just shy of £45,000 at auction which says a fair bit for how big an imprint they made. As well as guilting a generation of men into taking up gym memberships.
2 The Three-piece Suit (Goldfinger)
That you can call it 'the Goldfinger suit' and most people will know what you mean says it all. It isn't a solid grey as it appears at first glance but a grey and white plaid or glen check three-piece made by Anthony Sinclair. The combination with white shirt and navy knit tie is hard to beat.
1 The Black Tie (Dr No)
It's a Connery one-two. Our first ever sighting of Bond in a dinner jacket is also the most memorable. Casino, cigarette, arched eyebrow, and a beautiful midnight blue shawl lapel dinner jacket. Job done. Fifty three years later, this is how many of us think of Bond at his very best.
