Moonraker: James Bond Hunts in Donegal Tweed
Roger Moore goes hunting as James Bond in Moonraker (1979)
Vitals
Roger Moore as James Bond, British “secret” agent who carries a camera with his “secret” code number on it
“California”, Fall 1979
Film: Moonraker
Release Date: June 26, 1979
Director: Lewis Gilbert
Costume Design: Jacques Fonteray
Tailor: Angelo Vitucci
Background
Happy 86th birthday, Roger Moore!
By the time Moonraker rolled around, the realism of earlier James Bond films like From Russia With Love was gone, replaced by near-fantasy adventures of a man who practically introduces himself as a secret agent, is completely irresistible to every woman to every woman in the world, and even goes into outer space.
The first half of the film—the superior half, in my opinion—is still at least semi-grounded as far as Bond movies go. Bond is sent to check on the operation of Hugo Drax, a man whose enigmatic eccentricities must make him EVIL! if our knowledge of Bond movies tells us anything.
Bond is thus sent to California, where Drax has painstakingly recreated a French château. In fact, it is actually the Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte in Maincy, about fifty miles southeast of Paris.
What’d He Wear?
Although not planning for a hunt when he got dressed that morning, Bond’s tweed suit is very appropriate for an old-fashioned English gentleman’s hunt. The heavy light brown Donegal tweed keeps Bond warm as the weather gets cooler as I believe this is supposed to be fall in California. The suit is perfect for a gentleman in the country and the traditional military cut is flattering for Moore’s aging Bond, looking more sophisticated than Drax in his dramatic ulster and trilby. By this time, Moore’s suits (tailored by Angelo Vitucci of Angelo Roma) were taking their queues from t’70s fashion trends with wide lapels and pocket flaps and large vents, but this proportionally tailored suit looks excellent on Moore.
In fact, you could even say that Roger Moore really blew himself away with this suit. (Ha, ha, ha.)
Bond also notably wears a country suit for his visit to Drax’s English estate in the 1955 book Moonraker, the third of Ian Fleming’s Bond novels. In the novel, Fleming outfits Bond in a “battered” black and white houndstooth (“dog’s tooth”) suit, paired with a dark blue Sea Island cotton shirt and a black silk knitted tie. We don’t find out much more about the literary outfit, other than the fact that he wears shoes, a shoulder holster, and blue underpants.
The sporty details of the jacket are appropriate for the context. The single-breasted jacket has wide notch lapels, finished with welted “swelled” edges and rolling to two buttons positioned at the waist, matching the four dark brown horn buttons on each cuff. All four outer pockets are flapped, including the breast pocket, the slanted hip pockets, and the ticket pocket on the right side.
Bond poses near his ride of choice.
The jacket is cut with straight shoulders, clean chest, and a suppressed waist. The sleeves are roped at the shoulders and detailed with dark brown suede elbow patches. All of Bond’s suit coats in Moonraker have long rear double vents, as this is 1979, but they look especially appropriate with this suit as hacking jackets traditionally have longer vents for riding. Of course, the only riding Bond does in this scene is in the back of Drax’s brown Hispano-Suiza J12 Décapotable convertible coupe.
The well-cut vents blend in with the rest of the suit, almost disappearing in some shots.
The trousers are flat front and are worn at Roger Moore’s natural waist, with a more traditional rise than the trousers worn during Sean Connery’s early tenure as Bond. Also differing from Connery’s trousers are belt loops and wider legs. The wider legs on this suit thankfully diminish the effect of the flared plain-hemmed bottoms, another “fashionable” touch that this suit thankfully managed to save itself from.
The pants are held up by a black leather belt with a squared steel single-prong buckle.
Bond keeps with his brown motif by wearing a pale ecru dress shirt, likely made by Moore’s traditional shirtmaker Frank Foster. The collar length has grown with the decade, and the length of the collar points is at an all-time high. However, this shirt is noticeably different from Moore’s earlier shirts as this one has tab cuffs rather than cocktail cuffs. Tab cuffs are also very unique and difficult to find, with the button fastened on an extended tab rather than just on the cuff itself. They are slightly more utilitarian than cocktail cuffs but still lack the basic functionality of standard barrel cuffs.
Similar to the suit worn by Fleming’s Bond in the novel, Bond wears a wool knit tie, except this is in brown rather than the black of the book. 1979 was the height of the “wide tie era” (despite what the costumers of The Godfather, Part III might have chosen), but Moore’s Bond is again saved from this overly “fashionable” trend in this scene with a slightly slimmer tie – due to it being a wool knit – tied in a small four-in-hand knot under the narrow spread of the large shirt collar.
These are probably also the most intense sideburns that Bond ever sports, at least until Pierce Brosnan’s scraggly beard in Die Another Day.
Continuing the trend of digital watches started by Bond in The Spy Who Loved Me, Bond wears a stainless SEIKO M354-5019 on his left wrist. We only see a few glimpses of it under Bond’s sleeves, but publicity photos show that Bond is indeed wearing his SEIKO with this suit.
Moore poses with his watch and his eyebrows.
Bond breaks away from wearing too much brown by slipping on a black belt and his black horsebit moccasins, a casual pair of slip-on shoes with a tall heel.
The Gun
Moonraker is the only movie where Bond never uses his signature Walther pistol. Instead, the only real gun we see him firing (besides the “laser gun” in the film’s unmentionable final act) is a beautiful Holland & Holland Royal double-barreled hammerless shotgun that Drax uses for hunting pheasants and Bond uses for hunting snipers. Holland & Holland is one of England’s premier shotgun manufacturers, with their site still offering Royal models for upwards of £65,000 for a bespoke model.
Some fancy engraving involved here.
The Holland & Holland shotgun uses its patent self-opening system sidelock ejector with hand-detachable locks, two triggers, and either a manual or an automatic safety. The barrels can range from 25″ to 32″ long with a chopper lump and a game rib. The 12-gauge shells fit into 2¾” chambers. The Royal model has a traditional scroll engraving pattern in either a color-hardened or a bright finish, with the serial number engraved or inlaid in gold. The walnut stock is polished and oiled to the desired measurements of the individual who orders it, as all Holland & Holland shotguns are bespoke.
Drax hands off the shotgun to Bond, offering him a chance to shoot. Bond meekly protests, stating that he’s probably not as good of a shot as Drax. Of course, we know Bond’ll have a trick up his sleeve as no one could ever get the drop on Moore’s Bond. After Bond doesn’t shoot down any birds, Drax tells him: “You missed…”
Bond found the Holland & Holland to be more powerful than his usual PPK but discovered that he might have an issue with concealibility.
Bond waits until the sniper falls from the tree, then responds:
… Did I?
How to Get the Look
If you’re going hunting but want to look better than the guys from Duck Dynasty, Moore’s Bond lays the groundwork for a very sartorially-friendly day of pheasant shooting.
- Light brown heavy Donegal tweed suit:
- Single-breasted 2-button jacket with wide swelled-edge notch lapels, flapped breast pocket, slanted flapped hip pockets and ticket pocket, dark-brown suede elbow patches, 4-button cuffs, and long double vents
- Flat front trousers with belt loops, wide legs, and flared plain-hemmed bottoms
- Pale ecru dress shirt with long point collar and 1-button tab cuffs
- Dark brown wool knitted tie
- Black leather horsebit moccasin slip-on shoes
- Black leather belt with a squared steel single-prong buckle
- SEIKO M354-5019 stainless digital watch
Do Yourself a Favor and…
Check out the movie.
Footnotes
Of course, Matt Spaiser gave this suit excellent coverage on his blog, The Suits of James Bond.
Moore was the Bond that I grew up with and I took OO7 very seriously back then…until I got older, started reading the Fleming books and realised that I’d been watching some kind of “Carry On” movies that had a very slender link to the Connery Bonds of the sixties. Regardless, I always thought Moore cut a dashing figure as Bond. But that f#%^+*g Seiko digital watch!
Great write-up on an outfit that I wouldn’t have thought of including. I may have said it before, but I like these posts of yours on these outfits. I’m gonna have to watch every one of these films (Bond and otherwise) just to see the wardrobes again.
Moore was certainly a very fun Bond, but it is indeed the Connery films that I take more seriously as solid espionage stories, especially my personal favorite From Russia With Love. I pop in Moore’s often as fun background noise that I am familiar with, and I happened to notice the great tweed suit I had overlooked during my recent revisit of Moonraker, which I do not watch all that often. I totally agree with you on the inappropriate Seiko; as a watch connoisseur, what would you recommend for Bond, particularly with a sporting tweed suit?
And thanks very much for the kind words! Be careful- once you start noticing the suits, you never go back. I pull my hair out if I’m watching something and don’t have a notepad nearby to jot down clothing worth covering here.
PS – Congratulations on the recent wedding anniversary. I saw it on Thursday’s post but have hardly had a free moment in front of a computer in the last week!
I can’t slam Roger Moore too much. He kept the franchise going at a time when his kind of Bond film was what audiences (not necessarily Bond fans) wanted to see.
As for his watch, it would have made more sense to see him with something simple on a brown alligator strap. Maybe in yellow gold, too. For the late Seventies, this might mean a Patek-Philippe Calatrava, perhaps in yellow or white gold. Or maybe a Rolex DateJust in steel with a black dial. Or a Rolex Explorer 1016, with its minimalist dial. Something a little understated. That would seem to fit or match the suit he was wearing. Anything BUT a digital watch, despite the fact that the whole world thought that this was where wristwatches were headed in future.
I’m no real watch connoisseur, since I will happily wear a dive watch with a suit (good enough for Bond, so I can’t argue http://teeritz.blogspot.com.au/2011/05/bond-fan-fiction-no4-this-ones-typecast.html), something that a true connoisseur would scoff at. But who cares what a connoisseur thinks, anyway!
And thanks for the congrats regarding my wedding anniversary. Seventeen years with my very own Bond Girl.
Oh, I’d never trash Moore. One of the most fun actors to watch; it would’ve been something to see him in material like Goldfinger and Thunderball, movies which perfectly balance the classic fun and serious Bond formula, in my opinion.
I knew you’d be the guy to ask! I’m sure a man with Moore’s style would’ve preferred one of the watches you mention, but the filmmakers likely through the Seiko at him to fill Moonraker‘s product placement and Star Wars-wannabe needs. People complain about the product placement now, but Moonraker is one of the prime offenders!
That is an EXCELLENT story! Well-written, in a style that Fleming would certain appreciate, and with a fun twist that ties together two of my favorite characters. I should really delve into the archives as I’ve only gotten to read the more recent ones. Always fun to see the accompanying photos as well; the watch, suit, and glass would make great cover art for a spy novel. On that note, any chance of a Teeritz-penned novel hitting bookshelves?
Yeah, it just seemed that a thin dress watch on a crocodile strap would be the way to go with the outfit he wears in this scene.
And I agree about the rampant product placement in this film. The Moore era was where it really took hold.
Thanks for the kind words about the story. The first installment was set in the early 1950s, but I found that Markov was going to be a thorn in Bond’s side as the story wore on, so I updated it. If I can figure out the main plot, then there is a story buried in there. However, it takes me away from the screenwriting that I dabble in normally. I’d prefer to have a few finished screenplays under my belt. And if you read any others, you may find some discrepancies where firearms are concerned.
Product placement is interesting to me. It can be distracting in some films, whereas in other works and media – especially books – it is more character-defining than corporate. Imagine a man who drinks 18-year-old single malt Scotch but wears a digital Timex Indigo. Compare that to a man who wears a vintage Omega but drinks Budweiser. Fleming’s novels always had the brands specifically mentioned throughout, a habit pulled off with varying success by his successors. I myself am wont to using brands when I write, and I’ve noticed the startling authenticity of those mentioned in your stories (the one you sent me, by the way, sent me running to my cabinet for a double shot of Maker’s 46).
As I read through your stories, I’m seeing a lot that would make Fleming proud. I’m also a screenplay writer myself (or at least a wannabe), but I think people would love seeing your writing in addition to its translation onto a screen. By the way, what (or should I say “who”) is the inspiration for Markov? Excellent character.
I wouldn’t worry about firearms discrepancies either. Fleming made quite a few himself; as The Spy Who Loved Me readers may know, there is no such weapon as a Smith & Wesson Police Positive!
Love this. This is pretty much my every day look from late September through early April or so (with a sweater under on the cooler days). I don’t have the shoulders to pull off those monster lapels, though. And court security frowns if I show up with an H&H.
Max, I’m very glad to hear it! I’m on the lookout for a good tweed suit myself and it’s good to hear that you’re able to successfully sport one during “tweed season”. This would look very good with a sweater as well. Is yours also brown like Moore’s? I’ve seen some good gray tweed that I’ve been considering, but brown evokes fall for me. Do you have any recommendations?
And I’m sure court security would frown, but at least with admiration behind the frown. H&H has crafted some truly magnificant pieces. I once had my hands on a Royal (an over-and-under, not side-by-side) and was awed by it.
Mine is a three-piece in a very pale green/gold with brown overcheck. The lighter shade of nonetheless fall colors gives it range, especially if you swap the waistcoat for a darker sweater. I opted for a summer tweed. You can always don an overcoat if need be, and a riding-weight tweed suit will turn into a roving sweat-lodge in most indoor settings (which, unfortunately, tends to be where I spend most of my time). If you can get expertly measured, this is a nice resource: http://www.harristweedshop.com/suits-index.html
As far as stand-alone coats, I have eight brown and four gray in various weights. The brown run the gambit of tan to what I would call a dark walnut. About half are herringbone and half plaid. About half are closely-tailored with the ticket pocket, the other half feature the roll collar, bellows pockets, swing-back, looser fit. Unfortunately I only have Two Shades of Gray. One plaid and one herringbone in each. The lighter herringbone works well when I’m feeling all Dirty Harry or Three Days of the Condor.
Frankly, eBay is a goldmine for tweed. I’ve gotten quality, vintage Harris tweed jackets for between $15 and $100, which runs about 70-90% less than new retail. With a low buy-in you feel more freedom to experiment (and to cast off the occasional dud) and to part with an extra few dollars for tailoring.
My H&H is a bolt gun in, surprise surprise, .375. I’ve never had my hands on one of their shotguns, but I’ve personally dribbled drool on a .470 NE double rifle.
How about looking at Bond’s white single button linen suit from Moonraker?