James Bond has worn six wonderful ivory dinner jackets throughout the 25 films. Goldfinger, Diamonds are Forever, The Man with the Golden Gun, Octopussy, A view to a Kill and Spectre. In this podcast episode of From Tailors With Love, Matt Spaiser (MS) of Bond Suits and I discuss our favourites from the series.
Matt tells us why he believes the ivory dinner jackets in The Man with the Golden Gun and Octopussy are the best.
I think those are the most special and two of the best executed ivory dinner jackets in the series.
In The Man with the Golden Gun Bond wears a double breasted silk jacket by Cyril Castle and in Octopussy, a single breasted peak lapel one button, (supposedly in linen) by Doug Hayward. I think they’re both excellent examples of the ivory dinner jacket.
Some people cite Goldfinger as the most iconic would you agree?
The one in Goldfinger is James Bond’s most ordinary dinner jacket. But ordinary as what you might expect in an ivory dinner jacket without any unusual twists.
The problem is the fit is a little oversized, even for for 1964 it looked a little large. It has a bit of a 50s look. It looks a bit old fashioned by todays standard.
The Octopussy dinner jacket looks very similar, it has narrow peak lapels, probably a less traditional dinner jacket because its linen as opposed to Connery’s in wool. It’s probably more comfortable in in the heat.
Did Connery look portly in Diamonds are Forever?
Connery is not portly in Diamonds are Forever, he is not in the shape we expected Connery to be in. But if the fit was bang on no one would have thought he was in any worse shape.
If you put on a stone that could mess up the fit. But they probably didn’t have time to make corrections. I like the ivory dinner jacket in that film. The only strange thing about that is that it has slanted hip pockets. Straight would be more traditional.
Listen to the podcast
You can listen to the full discussion between Matt Spaiser and I on episode 11 of the podcast, available iTunes, Stitcher or Spotify. Or listen in the player below.
Further Reading
All images sourced from Thunderballs the unofficial James Bond Archive.
Our interview with the founder of Thunderballs.
All articles on James Bond Ivory Dinner Jackets can be found on Bond Suits.
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