best and worst outfit of each (Bond-)actor
HatThrowingHenchman
Russia With LovePosts: 1,834MI6 Agent
the title basically says it all so here I start...
SEAN CONNERY
best: three-piece suit in GF
worst: the.pink.tie. in DAF
GEORGE LAZENBY
best: deep blue ski suit from the attack on piz gloria
worst: horseback riding outfit
ROGER MOORE
best: white bogner ski outfit from AVTAK/suit and overcoat from LALD
worst: clown costume from OP
TIMOTHY DALTON
best: tangier suit TLD
worst: mujahedeen(?) combat outfit (eventhough it fitted his cover)
PIERCE BROSNAN
best: iceland arrival outfit DAD/TND pre-title outfit
worst: havanna shirt
DANIEL CRAIG
best: QoS haiti dress/sölden action outfit SP
worst: suits in SF
let the discussion begin...
)
SEAN CONNERY
best: three-piece suit in GF
worst: the.pink.tie. in DAF
GEORGE LAZENBY
best: deep blue ski suit from the attack on piz gloria
worst: horseback riding outfit
ROGER MOORE
best: white bogner ski outfit from AVTAK/suit and overcoat from LALD
worst: clown costume from OP
TIMOTHY DALTON
best: tangier suit TLD
worst: mujahedeen(?) combat outfit (eventhough it fitted his cover)
PIERCE BROSNAN
best: iceland arrival outfit DAD/TND pre-title outfit
worst: havanna shirt
DANIEL CRAIG
best: QoS haiti dress/sölden action outfit SP
worst: suits in SF
let the discussion begin...
) "You see Mr.Bond, you can't kill my dreams...but my dreams can kill you.Time to face destiny" - "Time to face gravity"
Comments
Best - sea island cotton shirt
worst - iIhave to say Japanese kimono
George Lazenby
Best - ski outfit
worst - Sir Hilary Bray, although apart from Connery he looks his best in a kilt
Roger Moore
Best - wearing that suit and tie TSWLM
worse - the safari suit, sorry but to wear it in MR but to bring it back in OP. Do love it though..
Timothy Dalton
Best - the dinner jacket, TLD. just wow.
worse - wetsuit
Pierce Brosnan
Best - don't really pay attention to what he is wearing
worst - don't really pay attention to what he is wearing
Daniel Craig
Best - solden action outfit
worse - it pains me to say it but those tiny trunks. He fills them nicely
BEST - Suit in his introduction (DN)
WORST - His Japanease clothing (YOLT)
Moore:
BEST - Turtle neck (LALD)
WORST - Ski outfit (TSWLM)
Dalton:
BEST - Suit he wore in the casino (LTK)
WORST - Wetsuit (LTK)
Brosnan:
BEST - Pre Title sequence outfit (TLD)
WORST - Army outfit (DAD)
I don't really pay attention to Craig, so I can't really judge. With the exception of Dalton, I much prefer casual dressed Bond. I only prefer Dalton in a suit because........I'm not sure actually.
Best - The GF PTS White and Black Suit
Worst - The DAF Pink Tie Suit
George Lazenby -
Best - His PTS Suit
Worst - The Kilt
Roger Moore -
Best - The Grey Suit Bond Wears on Scaramanga's Island
Worst - The Track Suit from AVTAK
Timothy Dalton -
Best - The Tuxedo's from both TLD and LTK
Worst - The Tangier's Suit
Pierce Brosnan -
Best - The Jungle Outfit during the infiltration of the Dam in GE
Worst - The Blue and Cream Suit during the Tower and Submarine Scenes in TWINE
Daniel Craig -
Best - The Tuxedo during the Poker Game with Le Chiffre in CR (06)
Worst- I would also agree with the SF Suits
SEAN CONNERY
best: Three-piece glen check suit by Anthony Sinclair in GF
worst: Terrycloth playsuit in GF
GEORGE LAZENBY
best: Glen check suit by Dimi Major in Switzerland
worst: Brown golfing outfit
ROGER MOORE
best: Blue suit by Cyril Castle in Beirut in TMWTGG
worst: Light blue leisure suit with the white vest underneath in LALD
TIMOTHY DALTON
best: Tan suit by Benjamin Simon in Tangier in TLD
worst: Dinner suit at the casino in LTK (the only time Bond messed up black tie, and along with the other two suits in the film has a hideous cut)
PIERCE BROSNAN
best: Charcoal suit by Brioni in Bilbao in TWINE
worst: Blue shirt in Havana in DAD
DANIEL CRAIG
best: Dinner suit by Tom Ford in QoS
worst: Though I'm very much bothered by the poor fit of suits in SF, the worst has to go to the Madagascar shirt in CR. It makes Brosnan's blue shirt in Havana look tasteful.
SEAN CONNERY
Best: Suits in FRWL
Worst: Terry cloth in GF
GEORGE LAZENBY
Best: Tux with ruffled shirt in Casino
Worst: The kilt
ROGER MOORE
Best: Brown pants, brown tie, tan sport jacket in LALD
Worst: Clown disguise in OP
TIMOTHY DALTON
Best: Tan suit in TLD
Worst: Casual wear in LTK
PIERCE BROSNAN
Best: PTS suit in TWINE
Worst: havanna shirt
DANIEL CRAIG
Best: PTS suit in SF (don't know what all of you are talking about, all the suits in SF are fantastic!)
Worst: White short-sleeved shirt in Bahamas in CR
https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/wish-i-was-at-disneyland/id1202780413?mt=2
They fit poorly. It doesn't matter how well-made the suits are, how nice the suitings are or how well-cut the suit is if it doesn't fit. They would be very nice suits on a teenage Daniel Craig. The suit jackets are the right length for someone about 5'6"-5'8" tall, not 5'10". The same goes for the short rise of the trousers. The jackets can't fit across his chest, the shoulders are too narrow, and the sleeves are so narrow they can't hang neatly. The trousers are also so narrow that they cling to his legs. The cloths are very, very nice, but the cloths are wool, not spandex.
Are you connected with the rag trade Mr S?
Not as my main profession.
Hands down! Unlike Matt S, who clearly knows his stuff, I rarely notice clothes (as my friends will happily tell you) but even I hate this one.
Since most of Connery's clothes were great (the pink tie wouldn't have been so bad if it was tied it wasn't tied in a windsor knot), this gets placed at the bottom. My main problem with it is that it looks more like a women's garment. But you have to admit it's practical. Rather than drying off after a swim before putting your clothes on, why not do it all at once? I'd sooner wear it than I would wear Daniel Craig's ball-busting trousers.
Best: The suit in his introduction.
Worst: The pink tie suit.
GEORGE LAZENBY
Best: The wedding suit
Worst: The Hillary Bray clothes at Piz Gloria.
ROGER MOORE
Best: The LALD KissKiss club suit, when he meets Mr. Big.
Worst: The suit he wears when he's at Scaramanga's Island.
TIMOTHY DALTON
Best: His regular evening suit in TLD
Worst: The clothes he wears when he meets with M in LTK.
PIERCE BROSNAN
Best: The evening suit in the ice palace.
Worst: The Havana clothes.
DANIEL CRAIG
Best: The clothes he wears when he meets M in the Bahamas.
Worst: The clothes he wears at Skyfall.
Clearly you're someone who has some professional expertise about this, so I don't have much of an argument about whether or not they fit right. What I will say is, in a heightened reality (and Bond is always a heightened reality), I don't think it matters too much about whether or not they would fit in the traditional sense. What matters is the aesthetic, and it seems clear to me that the suits were designed to be very tight purely for the aesthetic. Whether or not it's an aesthetic that appeals to you is another matter, but I don't think it's really fair to judge the success of the look by the rules of how well a wool suit fits in the real world.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/wish-i-was-at-disneyland/id1202780413?mt=2
How does this aesthetic work for the film and the character? Suits can fit very closely without fitting so poorly. Why is Bond wearing suits that are too small on him now since this has never come up before? Based on the story, Bond is not in great shape, so his suits can't be too small because he got extra buff. Is it because Bond got fat that his suit can barely close? The poor fit is exaggerated in the heightened reality of film, which makes me think it's even more important that a suit fits well on screen.
Best - GF Grey glen check 3 piece suit (this is the best piece ever worn by a Bond)
Worst - GF blue terrycloth onesie
George Lazenby -
Best - His PTS Suit
Worst - The Kilt
Roger Moore -
Best - AFTAK tuxedo at Zorin's chatueau
Worst - Safari suit
Timothy Dalton -
Best - Assault gear from TLD PTS
Worst - Afghan gear
Pierce Brosnan -
Best - Any tux from any film (he wears them very well)
Worst - horrible jacket from TND PTS
Daniel Craig -
Best - Navy pinstripe suit from closing scene of CR
Worst- Skyfall suits
As Felix says in Thunderball, Connery could wear anything and make it look good. And this was certainly true in the 1960s.
Connery:
Best: (Tie)Dr. No tux; From Russia with Love two-piece gray suit resembling Cary Grant's in North by Northwest.
Worst: Beige, wide-collared shirt from PTS of Diamonds are Forever.
Lazenby:
Best: Black pinstripe three-piece in M's office.
Worst: Hotel bathrobe.
Moore:
Best: Black turtleneck and slacks with leather shoulder holster in Live and Let Die that Craig imitates in Spectre posters.
Worst: Blue jean and white tank-top in Live and Let Die.
Dalton:
Best: (Tie) Tuxedo/assassin jacket; Suit and topcoat in Prague, both from The Living Daylights.
Worst: Boat pilot outfit from Licence to Kill.
Note: It's interesting that Dalton and Brosnan are similar body types -- and Brosnan modeled -- but Dalton's clothes look better on him.
Brosnan:
Best: PTS leather coat outfit from Tomorrow Never Dies.
Worst: Double-breasted sportcost in Goldeneye -- looked bought off the rack from Sears and made him seem scrawny.
Craig:
Best: (Tie) Tropical suit when arriving in Bahamas; casual outfit worn when winning the DB5, both in Casino Royale.
Worst: Skyfall tuxedo.
A word about the Skyfall suits. That are cut to contemporary fashion, including the shorter jacket and tighter fit. That said, not every style is for every person. In Craig's case, it's not so much that he is not as tall as previous Bond actors but more because he is bulky from working out, the style makes him look shorter and stouter. The crewcut didn't help things either. For him, a little lift to the hair and a cut with wider shoulders, narrow waist, and slightly looser slackers would fit the best; a longer jacket will also give him a more tapered look.
Do you mean the navy flannel chalk stripe suit at the end or the navy herringbone suit at the beginning? I'm partial to the herringbone suit. Bond only wears black suits to funerals.
I must disagree about the bathrobe. The hotel bathrobe is one of the greatest pieces of clothing in the film. Have you forgotten how spectacular it looks on Diana Rigg? We're lucky Bond doesn't stand up in it, considering it just barely covers Diana Rigg's crotch, and she is five inches shorter. And I don't think it's fair to poorly judge outfits that Bond wears that aren't his own. The exception would be the multiple outfits Bond steals in QoS, which look fantastic.
I must just be out of my element here when it comes to how suits should fit. Like Gassy Man said, I just thought the SF suits were of the contemporary cut. They may have "fit poorly" on Craig's bulky physique, but I guess all I see is the tighter contemporary cut of suit that I like to wear. I also like them because they evoke Connery's suits with the thin solid color ties. Bottom line, they look fantastic to me.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/wish-i-was-at-disneyland/id1202780413?mt=2
This was more or less what I was going to say. Surely, the debate has to stop at Connery's towelling onesie?
It is interesting how different the colors can be given the lighting, DVD, TV settings, age of the print, and so forth.
I'd say anything Bond wears is fair game for worst outfit, his or begged, borrowed, or stolen. I almost said the black formal wear Bond wears as Hillary Bray but the bathrobe just beat it out.
The modern take generally has narrower shoulders, higher armholes, higher notched lapels, and a bit of a bell at the bottom of the jacket, which is usually shorter than traditional jackets. The pants are cut extra tight. In Craig's case, they seem to cinch the waist a bit more than most of the jackets are cut.
To me, the style is wrong for his body type. But I also felt that the Goldfinger three-piece copy did not fit him very well at the end of Casino Royale -- it made him look stockier. As I said, with his body type, he really needs a suit that follows his lines better, and he should avoid vests. He is not particularly tall, but he has wide shoulders, thicker arms, and a narrow waist. His legs are not particularly long for his body, either, as evidenced when he is in sweat clothes and while he walks along the beach, but they are proportional for his height.
Nonetheless, the modern suit cut is almost exactly the opposite of Craig's body type. The narrow cut makes his shoulders seemed cramped and his neck stockier. The shorter jacket draws attention to his hips, which make his legs look shorter. The tighter pants then make his legs look thinner than they are.
This is why Craig looks more proportional either in casual wear or with his clothes mostly off in Skyfall. He doesn't look so bad in the "Count Orlok" overcoat because it follows the lines of his body. In some shots, he looks okay in a suit, but it's mostly because he is standing still. When he is moving -- such as atop the train -- the stockiness from the suit is most obvious. To me, they did the best job overall with his suits in Casino Royale, though some suits in Quantum of Solace look good, too. Of course, when things are in style, they tend to look better to people than when they are out of style so his look does seem current.
Craig doesn't look bad in this shot, in part because of how he is posed while walking and in part because the angle is downward. But in the fight atop the train, he clearly looks much stockier in the suit.
Not sure how the suit at the end of CR is a copy of the GF suit (different colour and pattern, and completely different cut and style), but the reason why it looks bad is because the waistcoat is too long. Longer vests make people look stockier. And because it is too long it cant conform to his body as well as it should. Compare it with Sean Connery's shorter waistcoats in GF, which give Connery great proportions. Three-piece suits need high-rise trousers like on Connery's suits, whereas on Craig's suits the waistcoats are made longer to reach the medium-rise trousers.
Because of how much Craig's suit wrinkles, it means Craig's suit has a poor fit. If the fit was just as tight but fit smoothly, the suit would have a modern, tight fit. Those wrinkles are not acceptable.
That suit Connery is wearing is the three-piece glen check suit from Goldfinger without the waistcoat. The image is from Woman of Straw, made just before Goldfinger.
This suit was likely one of the larger ones made for action shots. A well-fitting suit should work in any situation. Different fits should not be necessary if the suit fits properly.
Dalton wore mostly suits from Benjamin Simon in TLD, and the suits may have been from Stefano Ricci in LTK.
http://www.magnoliclothiers.com/royale-suit-tailor-made-suits-by-magnoli-clothiers-p-145.html
I found other criticisms of Craig's suits and fitting similar to yours, though I remain unconvinced that the fit is the result of poor tailoring so much as the fashion-forward contemporary style, and because Craig is bulkier, it's even more obvious. Here are some images captured from clothiers and fashion Web sites regarding the look and fit of the cutting-edge contemporary suit:
Craig's suit fit is within that ballpark, but because he is not slender but bulkier in his muscularity, his body is going to be more "lumpy," and the suit is simply going to pull and crease. I wore many suits in my former life, and unless a suit has a looser fit -- which is should for Craig, even if it isn't the current fashion -- it will do that when buttoned.
It appears that suit is not from Thunderball -- I Googled for that film because it was made in the middle 60s and the image came up, among the few where Connery in a suit was discernible. Here's a better image from the film, though the suit seems a bit wrinkled as Connery is in motion:
People just say that about the CR suit because the glen check three-piece suit in Goldfinger is the only three-piece suit they remember. The CR suit has three buttons rather than two. It doesn't have a ticket pocket. The trousers have a belt and darts instead of side-adjusters and forward pleats. The waistcoat doesn't have lapels. It has more in common with every other three-piece suit Bond has worn since then. It's like saying every three piece suit Bond has worn (he has worn many) is a copy of the glen check suit in Goldfinger. It's just another three-piece suit and overall has the most in common with the navy striped three-piece suit in DAF.
Fashion-forward contemporary style means a close fit and a short fit. This can be achieved without the excessive wrinkling of the suits in Skyfall. The suits were not fitted properly to hug his body. Daniel Craig's bulkiness is no excuse for a suit to crease and pull more. The suit doesn't have to be as loose as Connery's suits to fit his athletic body. Good tailoring and the right cut can fit around Craig's bulkiness. Craig's suits were designed for him, so we're not talking about adjusting a ready-to-wear suit, which would be extremely difficult to fit properly on a bulky physique.
Regarding Craig's suit, though, tailors I spoke to in the day said it was always harder to fit a suit for a man with a bulky, muscular frame. The body literally is more lumpy than someone with a more slender frame -- say Brosnan, for instance. That's one of the reasons looser suits are usually prescribed for such a body type, and one of the reasons clothes were so bulky in the 80s, as the male body type desired was closer to Stallone and Schwarzenegger. When that person moves and the suit is buttoned, it will wrinkle quite a bit.
But it really is fashion-forward today for the suit to be tight to the point of wrinkling, even while standing still, at least among young people. The styles today are, in their own way, as off-putting and ironic as they were in the 1970s. Nerd glasses, loud, clashing patterns and colors, "too small" fit and style. It's not athletic or tapered but literally shrunk-looking. That's among those who consider themselves quite fashionable. For someone more conservative, as with the 1970s, more traditional colors and fits are available, though adapted to the current overall stylings. Tom Ford, and I'm assuming with Daniel Craig's input, is trying to make Bond seem more cutting edge than conservative, as he has generally been presented in the past.
I like a fitted suit. I was, for a long time, slender but muscular but not bulky. The fitted suit was exactly what I should wear, but it wasn't in style at the time. Now that it is, unfortunately, I have something of a spare tire that men get, especially as they creep toward their 50s. I'm losing it steadily but not without considerable effort. But Craig is built more like an action figure, and unless he stands still, the suit wrinkles.