By KEVIN ZEBROWSKI
James Bond is a style icon, and with the recent release of Skyfall we have all been reminded of this.
Ian Fleming described the original James Bond wardrobe most concisely in The Man with the Golden Gun, wherein Bond wears a “single-breasted dark blue suit, a white shirt, a thick knitted tie” — one of my own favorite articles and “black casual” shoes. Bond’s tailoring was presumably done by Savile Row tailors. Savile Row is to tailoring what Wall Street is to finance.
The contemporary 007, Daniel Craig, has been very involved in Bond’s wardrobe. Actor involvement in wardrobe affairs is a trend I would like to see become more prevalent. The actor, whose job is to understand a character completely, should know what his or her character would wear.
Craig’s personal sense of style means Bond is dressed head to toe in Tom Ford’s suits, shirts and ties. Ford is an American designer responsible for saving Gucci from creative and financial bankruptcy around 1995.
Ford now has a fashion house of his own that emphasizes the importance of proportion, an emphasis that has brought the Tom Ford brand away from the contemporary skinny everything trends. In a way, Ford’s convictions have bridged the gap between modern and traditional in a way that works perfectly for Skyfall, a movie that plays with an identical motif.
Everything Craig wears in the movie looks made for the character. The unstructured hunting jacket, the dark Billy Reid peacoat and, of course, the short, midnight blue shawl lapel tuxedo are standouts. The dark blue Tom Ford suits that Bond wears for most of the film, however, are perhaps the best part of his wardrobe.
Bond’s tie is a perfectly subtle, dark blue pattern tie without the type of loud embroidery that would call attention to a spy. He sticks to the shirt-matched pocket square folded into a solid flat edge. James Bond does not make fancy shapes with his handkerchief. It is also notable that Bond does not wear belts in the movie, as belts would restrict ease of movement. I’m not a fan of belts either. I think they break up the geometry of the human silhouette in a weird way.
Perhaps the most important detail of Craig’s suit, aside from the impeccable tailoring, is the consistent use of the small “four-in-hand” tie knot. The four-in-hand creates the smallest possible knot one can craft with a necktie. It’s the polar opposite of the chin pillow “full windsor.” Ian Fleming wrote of Bond’s disdain for those who wear their neckties too fancifully. Fleming’s Bond attributed neurotic peacock tendencies to such men. Craig pairs the four-in-hand with tab collars to create a sleek, no-nonsense look; James Bond does not care much for nonsense.
