Article by Daniel Gaster. (Field report 070).
“I was very existed to get it, as it wasn’t as expensive as the TOM FORD Cufflinks from the two pervious movies”.
No Time To Die (2021)
About the Tie Slide
When Daniel Craig’s James Bond arrives back in London in No Time to Die, he wears two TOM FORD O’Connor suits, one Grey & Black Prince of Wales, and a Blue & Grey Prince of Wales, TOM FORD shirts, a White tab collar with Dr No cuffs (Turnback/Cocktail), and a Light Blue Point Collar with Dr No cuffs, a TOM FORD Blue Ottoman tie and what’s believed to be a Prada tie.
What’s different to the rest of the Daniel Craig films, is that there are no cufflinks. Not even with his Evening Dress Shirt, which also have the Dr No cuffs. So, the introduction of a tie slide, might be to compensate for this. The tie slide is shown on both suits Bond wear, roughly in line with the jacket breast pocket.
The tie slide is a plain slim rhodium slide made by Benson & Clegg. Over the years they’ve renamed it now calling it the ‘James’ tie slide. I was very existed to get it, as it wasn’t as expensive as the TOM FORD Cufflinks from the two pervious movies, and quite reasonable for £55.
Manufacturer: Benson & Clegg
Slide away
The tie slide comes in a very nice little box, so if you’re thinking of it as a gift, it is well presented. It looks very elegant, and when in use you should try not to get your fingerprints on it, as it does have quite the shine on it. However, there are some limitations you should be aware about with it.
Firstly, for you to be able to wear it you have to have a fairly narrow tie. The ones from No Time to Die and SPECTRE would work well with the tie. Much wider and it wouldn’t look right as it would bunch up the tie. Second, the tie can’t be too thick. For instance the narrow Skyfall ties are too thick to be able to use for the tie slide.
Model: Plain Slim Rhodium (now known as the ‘James’)
Flapping
Thirdly, the back of the slide, which would hook to the shirt you are wearing is a little too short. As a result it keeps un-attaching itself. This can actually be seen in No Time to Die, when Bond gets out of the Aston Martin V8 Vantage. As he goes to do up his suit jacket the tie flaps in the wind, which it shouldn’t do it were properly attached.
This happens all the time when I wear mine, and once it fell off onto the floor at Kings Cross station. It was lucky I realised.
Purchase Date: March 2020 – Purchase Price: £55
The man from New York
Fourthly, my friend Matt Spaiser over at Bond Suits wrote up about this, that Bond is wearing the slide far too high. It should be lower down. In Goldfinger Sean Connery is wearing a tie slide, but it isn’t seen in the movie. Only some behind the scenes photos.
Now I wouldn’t argue with Matt. He is much better versed in this then I am. Now the only observation I would say is that wearing this tie slide lower would mean the tie shouldn’t get any wider as it goes down, otherwise you’ll have similar issues as stated above.
Back to the lab again
My final thoughts on the tie slide is that, although a very elegant piece of menswear accessary, and design, it should be made available in some other sizes to favour other tie widths and girths.
I also think it should have been made with a slightly longer back to it. This will allow it to stay on the shirt you’re wearing the tie with.
Since the incident I mentioned where it fell off in Kings Cross, I’ve not had the confidence to wear it out again. As it really doesn’t do what it’s designed to do.
Follow Daniel Gaster my man in a field on Instagram. Read about how Benson and Clegg were drafted by the Costume team for No Time to Die in the book, From Tailors With Love.
