Vitals

Pierce Brosnan as James Bond, British government secret agent

Monte Carlo, April 1995

Film: GoldenEye
Release Date: November 13, 1995
Director: Martin Campbell
Costume Designer: Lindy Hemming

Background

In London, April’s a spring month. The same is true in Monte Carlo, the “international byword for the extravagant display and reckless dispersal of wealth” (according to The New Encyclopædia Britannica‘s 15th Edition), where April temperatures remain steady in the mid-50s°F range. Already sophisticated, Bond fits in nicely with this world of the elite as he tracks Xenia Onatopp, the Georgian femme fatale with connections to the Janus crime syndicate.

After Xenia’s night of passion gives new meaning to the term “thunder thighs”, Bond sneaks aboard the yacht where Xenia hosted her deadly tryst. Once he discovers the dead Royal Canadian Navy admiral (named “Chuck” rather than Charles?), Bond realizes Janus’s plan to steal the prototype Tiger helicopter. He takes off across the harbor, but it’s too late; Xenia has already escaped with the stolen helicopter. Foiled again!

What’d He Wear?

Much of the clothing in this scene was also worn the day previously when we first catch up with 007 racing his classic DB5 along the windy mountain roads of Monaco, nine years after the prologue. In that scene, he was dressed comfortably for “a pleasant drive in the country” in a day cravat and a navy sweater. The next morning, for his investigation aboard the yacht, he ditches the jumper and day cravat for an elegant dark navy double-breasted blazer. Matt Spaiser provides a great breakdown of this outfit on The Suits of James Bond.

The navy blue worsted serge Brioni “Plinio” blazer is double-breasted with six brass buttons on the front with two to button, both left unfastened. The wide peak lapels – each with a buttonhole – sweep down to just below his waist line; the jacket’s slightly longer fit, the long lapel roll, and the fact that Brosnan keeps the blazer unfastened can make it look very large.

Bond’s blazer has a welted breast pocket and flapped hip pockets, just above the lowest button axis. The rear has double vents, allowing our action hero an even greater range of movement as he hops off and on various boats throughout this sequence. The action required of Bond here is likely another reason why he keeps the jacket open; not only does it allow him better access to his holstered Walther PPK, but it would be cumbersome for him to unbutton his jacket for a stunt, re-button it to look “good” while entering a room, unbutton it for a fight, etc. The blazer also has four scaled-down brass buttons on each cuff that match the six on the front.

The double-breasted blazer pops in and out of fashion every twenty years or so. Both George Lazenby and Roger Moore had sported them in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service and The Man with the Golden Gun (respectively), and my most recent post shows Roger Sterling wearing one as he joins Don Draper at a Hollywood party on Mad Men.

Bond wears a French blue semi-solid cotton shirt with white buttons down the front placket. His cuffs are rounded with a single button and edge stitching. The collar is left open with the top two buttons of the shirt undone. It’s almost definitely the same shirt from the DB5 sequence earlier.

The trousers are sand-colored Brioni Snello wool khakis. They are triple-reverse pleated (hello, ’90s!), which is an excessive amount of pleats, but there’s no denying that the extra roominess over his hips would make Bond’s initial leap over the side of the yacht much easier.

The trousers’ side pockets are slanted with edge stitching, and there is a jetted right rear pocket that closes with a button. The bottoms are cuffed with standard size turn-ups, and they break high over his shoes. His belt is brown leather with a gold-toned single-prong buckle.

More points are awarded to this outfit for matching the belt to the shoes, with tan socks continuing the trouser leg line into his footwear. Through a special product placement deal, GoldenEye landed several pairs of Church’s shoes for Bond. The pair featured in this and the earlier DB5 sequence are Church’s Chetwynd shoes, a pair of full brogue oxfords in “walnut brown” Nevada leather. More information about these shoes can be found on James Bond Lifestyle.

The exact shoes worn by Brosnan were auctioned by Christie’s in their “Film and Entertainment Memorabilia” auction on December 19, 2007 in London. The final sale price was £1,080 ($2,174 in real money), and simply described as “A pair of Church’s brown leather brogues, both inscribed inside in an unknown hand in blue ballpoint pen with wardrobe details (illegible) – worn by Pierce Brosnan as James Bond in the 1995 United Artists/Eon film GoldenEye” and accompanied by a letter of provenance.

GoldenEye was the first Bond flick to place an Omega watch on its hero, first in the form of a stainless Omega Seamaster Professional 2541.80.00 with a blue bezel, blue dial, date window, and stainless steel bracelet. It’s water resistant up to 300 meters, which is wise when spending so much time seaside. The precision movement is Omega’s 1538 quartz movement; Bond switches from quartz to the automatic movement 2531.00 Seamaster Professional in the next film, Tomorrow Never Dies.

It’s difficult to ascertain whether or not Bond is wearing his black leather Galco Executive holster for the PPK. While he probably is, the double-breasted blazer manages to conceal most of his torso even while blowing around in all of the action sequences.

The Gun

No surprises here, just Bond’s trusty Walther PPK. GoldenEye marked the last film where Bond’s standard PPK was his only issued sidearm until Quantum of Solace brought it back thirteen years later.

How to Get the Look

007 offers an elegant variation of the standard blue blazer and khakis for his seaside adventures in Monte Carlo.

• Dark navy blue worsted serge double-breasted 6×2 brass button Brioni Plinio blazer with wide peak lapels, welted breast pocket, flapped hip pocket, 4-button cuffs, and double rear vents
• French blue cotton semi-solid dress shirt with spread collar, front placket, and rounded 1-button cuffs
• Sand-colored wool Brioni Snello triple reverse-pleated khaki trousers with belt loops, slanted side pockets, jetted button-through right rear pocket, and cuffed bottoms/turn-ups
• Brown leather belt with gold clasp
• Walnut brown Nevada leather Church’s Chetwynd full brogue oxford shoes
• Light brown dress socks
• Black leather Galco Executive RHD shoulder holster, for Walther PPK
• Omega Seamaster Professional 2541.80.00 with stainless steel case, blue bezel, blue dial, and stainless steel bracelet

Iconic Alternatives has a great rundown of affordable options to channel elements of this, such as the oxford brogues, and many other 007 outfits.

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie.

Footnotes

To read Matt Spaiser’s expert analysis on The Suits of James Bond, check out his post here.