A tribute to the best Bond ever in one of the finest films?
David Schofield
EnglandPosts: 1,528MI6 Agent
Seen this, and with OB's connection to SKYFALL, I wondered if this was a deliberate take on the TD Key West LTK look?
http://www.orlebarbrown.co.uk/dalton (see the navy)
And before any of the "kiddies" say how inappropriate TD's wardrobe was in the film, or how lousy the cut, take it from someone who was there in 1989; that was pretty much the look a British Naval officer in his early 40s would have worn that year.
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http://www.orlebarbrown.co.uk/dalton (see the navy)
And before any of the "kiddies" say how inappropriate TD's wardrobe was in the film, or how lousy the cut, take it from someone who was there in 1989; that was pretty much the look a British Naval officer in his early 40s would have worn that year.
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Comments
But I have to ask why are the men in the Hemmingway house all better tailored than Bond was in that film? At least some of the characters had good taste.
The clothing from LTK was NOT a size too large, merely that in 1989 a 42", say, jacket was cut more generously than today. Similarly, while today's suits seem to be a size too small they are clearly not; buy a 42" jacket today and it will be a 42" jacket, just cut slimmer. As you know, Matt.
Further, were the other men at the Hemmingway House better tailored than JB? Certainly more formally dressed, sure. But more appropriately? No. They are ludicrously overdressed for the environment. A quick visit to Key West would confirm as much.
Of course, if you believe the secret to any perfect apprearance is just a well cut suit....
You're right that clothes were cut fuller back then, but there's a difference between a full cut and wearing a size too large. Look at the jacket Dalton wears to the Hemmingway House. The seam where the sleeve connects to the shoulder is down his arm and the sleeves are covering half his hand. The back is bulging out. It's simply too big. A proper full cut wouldn't be like that, it would just have more fabric in the sides of the body and wider sleeves. I wasn't saying that Dalton should have been wearing a suit in that scene; the casual wear is fine.
Here's a picture of very similar but better-fitting full-cut clothes from 1989:
http://www.whosdatedwho.com/tpx_2868464/gq-magazine-united-states-august-1989/
The suits that Dalton wore in other scenes in that film looked very sloppy compared to what the other men in that scene wore. For some awfully-dated 1980s suits that still are well-tailored, watch some season 4 episodes of Remington Steele.
I'm afraid I have tio disagree.
The kit Dalton wore - lack of fit and all - WAS contemporary to 1989. Certainly the UK.
The other guys at the Hemmingway House, contemporaniously, all looked like they were wearing dated, suits.
I can't argue that the clothes weren't fashionable at the time. But that doesn't make them fit any better, and my idea of a proper fit is one removed from all fashion trends. It was fashionable in the late 80's/early 90's to wear historically ill-fitting garments. I knew people who bought their trousers a few waist sizes too big so the legs would be baggier. None of the Bonds before went so deep into fashion trends, so consistently as in Licence to Kill. The current trend to tight clothes started by men wearing clothes in smaller sizes or men wearing tight girl's clothing (my younger brother in the early 2000's). Later, men's fashion designers started making clothes that fit like that, mimicking the too-small look but marking it a size up. I'd assume the opposite is how the baggy trend started in the mid 80s.
But I don't agree that the other men are wearing outdated suits. They are wearing more traditional suits, just not at the height of fashion. And what about the suits in Skyfall? That style is very fashionable right now, but the suits in Tom Ford's regular line that are nothing at all like those:
http://www.tomford.com/#/en/menswear/autumn/winter-2012
They have a traditional length, wide lapels and pleated trousers, and they are fitted but not skin tight. Do you think those suits are outdated because they don't follow the current trends?
I hope I don't come off as sounding hostile, and that is not my intention. I understand your points, though what I don't agree with is that fashion doesn't excuse (what in my opinion is) poor taste.
I probably would agree with you that there is a timelessly classic element in tailoring that transcient fashion cannot improve on, but I think the folk at EON feel the need to desperateley keep Bond contemporary, hence the tweeks in LTK, Rog's flares, Laz's subtle updating on Connery's wardrobe for the late 60s/early 70s, the skinny SKYFALL look. ( I happen to think the tailoring for Craig's look was perfected in QOS and need not have ben tampered with). However, in all cases, the following of fashion could have been far greater than it was in the films.
Consequently, Bond himsellf looks fashionable in Key West, M's guards do not; they appear formal, out of date, and representative of an "Establishment" JB is, at that time rebelling against. His suits are just right for the time - would a sillhouetted, tailored overly-English Bond have looked sensible in Miami '88/'89?, the rest of his casual wear perfect for a Brit Naval Officer in his early 40s. Its hardly Don Johnson crushingly '80s trendy, is it? Indeed, I read somewhere that Jodie Tillen wanted to dress Bond in pastels in Florida: Timonthy Dalton knocked the idea on the head immediately - it wasn't what his Bond would wear. Conversely, what he DID wear was right, IMO.