Undercover
Worn undercover in Rome by Bond in Spectre, during the funeral of Marco Sciarra, at the home of his widow Lucia, then straight to the Palazzo Cardenza (which oddly looks like Blenheim Palace) to attend a meeting with SPECTRE, followed by a car chase in the street of Rome.
Part of the Spectre capsule collection, this white silk pocket square with a black border came in the standard TOM FORD packaging in light grey, wrapped up in darker grey tissue paper. I purchased this from the London store, before Spectre was released in 2015, along with the all the ties from the capsule.
When laid out flat you can see the TOM FORD logo is printed onto the silk (in the bottom right-hand corner) with a TOM FORD black label sewn on the same corner. The silk feels smooth to the touch, as silk usually does.
Model: TF-JB03-A
Sprezzatura
This isn’t the first time we see Daniel Craig’s Bond with a pocket square. He wears a plain white or pale blue on with his normal suits since Quantum of Solace, usually in linen or possibly cotton. This is the first time this Bond wears a silk one, and one with a slight pattern, although it’s a simple black border.
In many ways this still feels like something Bond would buy for himself, rather than something for a disguise. However, the way he wears it is quite different, he doesn’t wear it in his usual folded style. Instead, he just stuffs it in the pocket, which shows off the border quite well, but very ‘Sprezzatura’ of him.
It is hard to believe that Bond would be so, hap hazard in his styling. Usually he would be meticulous, maybe even regimental in his formal attire. He is however undercover, so maybe he has thought this through, maybe it is part of the persona he is trying to portray?
Spectre 2015: Tom Ford Pocket Square
Folded
Past Bonds have worn handkerchiefs in different ways. Sean Connery and Daniel Craig have mostly worn them with a square fold. This is the norm for both gentlemen for the films in which they wear them.
Connery also wore one in Goldfinger with a one-point fold, during his visit to M’s office. Pierce Brosnan wear his pocket squares in Goldeneye and The World is Not Enough in a puffed fold.
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.
Connery in Dr No with a flat fold
Personally
I tend to wear this pocket square in a more puffed style, or a two-point fold to really show off the border. Wearing it in a square fold doesn’t really show this off very well. I also try to avoid either the logo or the label from showing when in my breast pocket.
Pictures from No Time To Die show Bond with pocket square again, this time in a plain white silk, even with his light blue shirts, and again in a square fold.
Purchase Date: October 2015 – Purchase Price: £115
Back to square one
I have always thought that a handkerchief or a pocket square adds an extra bit of sophistication to a suit. I started wearing them when I worked on menswear for a retail company, usually silk, and matching them with elements of the ties that I was wearing.
When I left retail I hit pause on wearing pocket squares. It wasn’t until Quantum of Solace that I started wearing them again. This time in plain white or blue and folded into the square fold, and mostly cotton. Although I still had some of the silk ones, I tend to stick with the cotton as they stay in place for longer, and not slide down into the pocket.
I have to refold the packet square depending on the suit pockets width and depth. This can be less square and more rectangle for some of them.
Colour: White with Black Border
Worth the expense
This pocket square still looks good as I keep it in the original box when not wearing it. I don’t wear it out much (certainly not in the last year being house bound), but probably should more. It’s seen less outings than the ties from the collection. To be honest I don’t really have an explanation. It would work for many different formal combinations. I just tend to stick with the plain white and blues.
It is certainly the most expensive pocket square I own. I should wear it out more, at least I will when I can get back to wearing suits. Is it worth the money? For the number of times, I’ve worn it, no! Would I buy it again knowing what I now know? Yes, I love the simplicity of it, and it works well with my Anthony Sinclair peak lapelled black suit.
Will I be getting the plain white TOM FORD pocket square from No Time To Die? More than likely I will, but I’ve not yet.
Credits
Article by Daniel Gaster. Be sure to follow Daniel on Instagram.
All screencaps in this post are the copyright of their respective movie studio and are reproduced here under the Fair Use doctrine.
Find the original Spectre capsule archive on the TOM FORD site here.
Current Price: £135 (Seen on Mr Porter).
