It’s no secret I’ve been a fan of James Bond since I was a kid even though the quality of the series (and the threads) has waxed and waned over the decades. Richard Barnes notes that Connery’s portrayal of Bond was one of the few icons from the mainstream that sixties Mods admired.
The first time we see James Bond in the film series he’s playing cards in the casino dressed in the first of many midnight blue shawl collared dinner suits. A second Black Tie outfit is on display, worn by a Bond lookalike in the opening scene of ‘From Russia With Love’, and in the opening scenes of the third film ‘Goldfinger’ we see Connery in the revered tropical weather ecru dinner jacket, which is one of my favourite outfits from the entire canon.
More details and discussion on these outfits can be found on the excellent blog ‘The Suits of James Bond’ – http://www.bondsuits.com – run by my cyber-pal Matt Spaiser. See his breakdown of the details at: https://www.bondsuits.com/white-dinner-jacket-goldfinger/
I’ve written about Mod-influenced Black Tie before, and some readers may remember my attempt to emulate the look of Connery in Thunderball. I’ve also been trying to put together a close resemblance of the Goldfinger dinner suit for some time and now I finally have all the elements in place. I’ve been thinking about booking a cruise with my wife to the Caribbean for some time, and if we ever pull the trigger on that there will be a good chance I take this outfit along to wear for dinner at the more formal restaurant choices on board. If that happens I will try to provide some lifestyle pics, meanwhile these were just taken to check on fit.
My outfit has a very similar ecru jacket to Bond’s, with slim peak lapels and midnight blue strides. Differences in the details between my outfit and Bond’s include:
Fabric covered buttons instead of mother of pearl
Midnight blue batwing bow tie instead of black
Pleated plain poplin shirt instead of self-stripe
White braces rather than Daks side adjusters
Flat front strides instead of double forward pleats
Plain black calf slippers instead of elasticated side gore shoes
My own preferences would likely mean I would remove the replaceable button strip and use my mother of pearl studs, and include a textured white linen pocket square in the chest pocket.
Sunglasses – Tom Ford
Jacket – ebay
Shirt – Hugo Boss
Bow tie – The Tie Bar
Cuff links – Vintage (gift)
Strides – eBay
Braces – Albert Thurston
Socks – Uniqlo
Shoes – Meermin Mallorca MTO
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