James Bond attire in real life

cmdr_bong

Hi all. I have a question regarding the appropriateness of a Bond outfit for an occasion. I am not sure if this is the right area to post this, so if not Admin please feel free to move this post to its appropriate location. Much appreciated. -{

So I have a friend's wedding coming up in October (Spring in Australia). Tempertaure at that time of the year should be around 20 - 25C (68 - 77F). It will be at a vineyard and starts around 3pm going into the night. No church ceremony involved. Now on the invitation it states the dress code is "Cocktail attire". Normally I would just go for the trusty navy glen-check suit ensemble I have alas Spectre PTS scene. But given that it will not be in the city, and the location seems to have a more relaxed feel to it, I am tempted to finally give the Moroccan light brown suit emsemble a go. I will swap out the desert boots for a pair of brown suede chukka, and add a pocket square also, just to take the outfit up a notch. Does the experts and connoisseurs here think this is an appropriate outfit for said occasion? Appreciate any inputs in this regard. Cheers! -{

drum007

Sounds good to me but I wouldn't wear the brown chukkas to a wedding. Any of these DC brown suit looks would work well. I like the first one especially. Casual yet dressy.

Matt S

'Cocktail attire' means a suit and tie, so I'd say the Morocco outfit is a bit too dressed down, especially for an event that would go into the night. It's the least formal a jacket, trousers and tie could possibly be. Neither suede chukkas nor a pocket square bring it up in formality, they will just make the outfit look more sophisticated. Connery's or Moore's blazers with grey or beige trousers is the most you can dress down and still not be totally flouting the dress code.

I've worn a mid blue suit to a few cocktail attire California vineyard weddings and I fit in perfectly, with others wearing similar suits. The Spectre PTS suit is a bit flashier and sportier than the traditional city suit, and I think it sounds perfect for this occasion. Though Bond wouldn't do it, I'd change the black shoes for brown or burgundy shoes to better fit in with the surroundings and to dress it down a notch.

The midnight blue suit that Bond wears in QOS is a true example of Bond in cocktail attire, though because your event starts during that suit would be too formal.

On the other hand, I can promise you that if you wore the Morocco outfit you'd be dress up more than some of the people, but those people either don't care about following the dress code, don't have any dressy clothes or can't afford dressy clothes. But the Morocco outfit isn't what Bond would wear for cocktail attire in any locale.

cmdr_bong

Thank you drum007 for those examples. I'm not sure how well black oxford will go with an almost all brown emsemble. I prefer the brown shoes in the second photos with the tie.

And thank you very much for your insight Matt! It makes perfect sense. The degree of formal-ness in regards to "Cocktail attire", and the locale of the wedding reception, is what's got me thinking whether I can get away with a brown suit over my normal navy and charcoal. As the setting is different to the traditional churches and reception halls I just wanted to try something a little bit different. And I literally LOL'ed on your last point in regards to not being the worst dressed person in a wedding You have no idea how true that is down here in Australia, where "dressing up" usually means putting on a shirt with a collar, or wearing a OTR trendy suit that are so skinny it looks like you need the jaws of life to get out of )

I have heard that suede chukka with a leather sole and in darker colour can be worn with full suits. Would you agree?