I went to Hoi An, Vietnam, to create the Green Safari jacket that Roger Moore wore in The Man with the Golden Gun, reimagined in the Orlebar Brown X James Bond celebration collection. Orlebar Brown were loaned the original safari jacket from the James Bond archives to help recreate the pattern.*
BEST TAILOR IN HOI AN?
There are over 400 tailors in Hoi An, I can’t possibly claim to know which are definitively the best, but I went to a tailor called Bi Hanh, recommended by our hotel, Aira Boutique. Yes I know they get a kick back, but we also get a 10% discount.
SELECTING THE FABRIC
We picked out the colour and fabric, a sage linen cloth (seen above on the right) and got measured. I added a leopard print lining to give it some structure. You can check that out in the video at the bottom.
A TIP FOR GETTING MEASURED
A quick tip on when it comes to fitting. Don’t try and suck your gut in, puff your chest out or act sexy. The tailor who is measuring you needs your relaxed posture. They should tell you to relax and stand normally.
They’ll also notice key things about your posture, if you have a dropped shoulder, a hollow back, a large seat etc. By the way I have a large seat which is tailoring code for; huge ass.
HOW MANY FITTINGS DID THE SUIT TAKE?
In total we had 2 fittings and I took the jacket and some other garments home on the 3rd visit. We had 4 full days in Hoi An, and the garments were turned around comfortably in that time.
Learn more about the style of James Bond in the book From Tailors With Love: An Evolution of Menswear Through the Bond Films, available on Amazon.
Finished article one year on
Still going strong. The buttons need reinforcing every now and then but over all, very happy with this still.
Get’s a lot of mileage. PS – All photos have been compressed for load speed. Some additional photos of the safari shirt jacket will always be posted invariably on my Instagram. Click any photo to follow.
Total cost
- 1 x Safari Jacket
- 1 x Black & white (with red over check) sports jacket (will cover in another post).
- 3 x trousers
- 2 x retro inspired short sleeve shirts
- 2 x shirts, pink and blue with polka dot
Anastasia also got 3 hand made shirts.
TOTAL: $730 USD (578 GBP)
You can check out the making of this jacket filmed inside the tailor in the YouTube video below.
Click to watch the making of the jacket on YouTube
The Details
All imagery has been compressed for load speed. I will post the full res images over on Pinterest. Take a look inside Frank Foster who made the safari jacket for Roger Moore in Octopussy in this article here.
WHERE TO STAY IN HOI AN?
In a previous visit we stayed at the Hoi An Essence hotel. It’s closer to the tailor and main strip, but further from the beach.
This time we stayed at Aira Boutique, which was fantastic. Just a minutes walk from the beach. About a ten minute cab ride from the tailors. On the beach you can do some parasailing. (Also in video above).
People have been known to land in a smack of Jellyfish when parasailing, leaving them incapacitated and at risk of drowning. I did shit myself whilst parasailing, but I survived.
Additional links and help
- Informational credit from David Zaritsky’s VLOG Orlebar Brown the 007 Collection Debut.
- Extra imagery sourced from Thunderballs.Org
- Shop the Orlebar Brown James Bond collection. (Safari jacket no longer available).
- Matt Spaiser’s write up of The Man with the Golden Gun Safari Shirt on his blog.
- James Bond Island And Things To Do In Phuket
