Each actor's best dressed film

Rating by general wardrobe, not disguises and 'practical' gear and whatnot (e.g. won't mark Octopussy down for the clown and gorilla suits nor Moonraker for the spacesuit).

Connery
Best: Thunderball
Controversial perhaps. How could I not pick GF with its iconic grey three-piece? Well, this rating is by film not by outfit, so GF's batting average is brought down by that weird terrycloth number by the pool alas.
TB on the other hand features an eclectic selection of beachy seersucker shirts, a nice long-sleeve polo (Shrublands scenes), and a midnight blue dinner suit.

Honourable mentions: GF and FRWL (nothing wrong with the suiting in the latter, but all a bit same-y compared to the summer holiday vibe of TB).
Dishonourable mention: DAF - That short pink tie... ugh.

Moore
Best: Moonraker
Polished tailoring (for the era, which is not my favourite sartorially in any event). From cream suits in the tropics to tweed in the country.

Honourable mention: TSWLM - nice blazers and dinner suit. LALD also has some nice outfits (overcoat in NYC, the black short sleeve shirt... alas there was also that fishing getup with the wifebeater).
Dishonourable mention: AVTAK - a lot of casual attire 'of its time' but it just didn't suit (pun not intended) James Bond, not least of all James Bond nearing 60.

Dalton
Best: The Living Daylights
Nice enough suitng, particularly in that scene with Koskov at MI6's country estate. Open-necked tan suit in the scene with Pushkin also good.

Dishonourable mention: LTK - baggy, cheap-looking, unflattering. The pink(?) shirt with rolled up sleeves when he has coffee with Sanchez was an OK look, but otherwise, a most sartorially displeasing film.

Brosnan
Best: Goldeneye
This was tough as I think Brosnan is consistently the best-dressed Bond. I'll give it to Goldeneye though as I like some of his 'preppy' getup in Monte Carlo like the navy sweater in the DB5 joyride scene and the gold-buttoned blazer on the yacht. Grey suit when he's getting chewed out by M is also nice.
Somewhat contrary to my rule on 'practical' gear, but the black commando outfit in the PTS is also damn cool.

Honourable mention: TND (e.g. overcoat in Hamburg airpot paired with a sort of reddish brown tie) and TWINE (e.g. cream suit with open necked dark blue shirt).
Dishonourable mention: DAD - nothing bad really, just less interesting than the others wardrobe-wise.

Craig
Best: Quantum of Solace
Probably the best cut of suit (before they became too short/tight). Casual attire is also good (e.g. cardigan worn while at Mathis' house), plus dark coloured polos which are a step-up on the t-shirts he wore in CR.

Honourable mention: SPECTRE - complaints about suit sizing aside, there was some good stuff like the white dinner suit and the brown linen suit with knitted tie combo.
Dishonourable mention: NTTD - mainly for that dressing gown-looking cardigan during the jeep chase. Wearing your fathersh clothes, perhapsh.

Good rating. I think I agree with just about everything you wrote.

I think QOS was onscreen Bond's first time in jeans (the infiltration of the hotel at the climax).

Brosnan's chocolate-brown leather jacket in TND's pre-credits action is very nice. Also really like his tie in the 'back in London' part of TWINE's pre-credits.

Seem to remember an overview of AVTAK that said 'An elderly Moore just can't get away with a suede jacket', chiming with what you've said CJB.

Excellent topic, and I wish I could add more, but, despite being something of a clotheshorse myself, I haven't paid all that much attention to Bond's attire, the obligatory tuxes excepted. I will note that I loved the tropical attire in TB, and that I think Cregg-Bond has been generally the best dressed of them all. That is particularly true of his accessories, especially his sunglasses, which have been smashing.

Phantom Commander wrote:

Good rating. I think I agree with just about everything you wrote.

Thanks!

Blunt Instrument wrote:

Seem to remember an overview of AVTAK that said 'An elderly Moore just can't get away with a suede jacket', chiming with what you've said CJB.  

Ha, indeed. Patrick Swayze he was not...

Perilagu Khan wrote:

Excellent topic, and I wish I could add more, but, despite being something of a clotheshorse myself, I haven't paid all that much attention to Bond's attire, the obligatory tuxes excepted. I will note that I loved the tropical attire in TB, and that I think Cregg-Bond has been generally the best dressed of them all. That is particularly true of his accessories, especially his sunglasses, which have been smashing.

I'll give the Cregg wardrobe its due in that, from CR onwards, they tried to liven things up a bit beyond just wearing a suit and tie all the time and giving him solid 'smart casual' attire.

Probably worth its own thread looking at things beyond just attire, but there's a discussion to be had as to whether Bond wearing a 'bag o' fruit' everywhere these days is just him being a fastidious fogey or just a carry-over from the era of literary and early cinematic Bond when middle class urban men wouldn't be seen in anything less formal beyond their front porch.

Watched GE for the first time in yonks recently.

From a sartorial perspective, note that Bond is wearing relatively conservative suiting - grey and navy suits with white shirts and contrasting ties mostly, while Trevelyan wears a dark suit with a greyish-green shirt and a similarly coloured tie. 006's wardrobe is very mid-90's: I recall that particular shade of olive(?) green being popular as well as the style of having a tie 'blend in' with a similarly coloured shirt.

Trevelyan's getup is more 'of its time' in a sense. It's the attire of a nouveau riche gangster in the hypercapitalist Wild East of Yeltsinskaya Rossiya.

Bond is, however, called a 'dinosaur' and a 'relic' in the film and is mocked by Trevelyan for supposdely not joining the 21st century. His suits reflect these things you could say. Brosnan's tailoring in Goldeneye wouldn't look out of place on Connery 30 years prior.

You may contrast this, of course, with Moore and Craig (from SF onwards) where the decision was made to lean into the trends of the day rather than go for more timeless cuts.

I look forward to your sartorial reviews of every Bond film, CJB. But that means you sitting through the Creggers again.

I remember one of the wardrobe people on the Brosnans saying 'modern, but not trendy' was the look they were going for.

Perilagu Khan wrote:

I look forward to your sartorial reviews of every Bond film, CJB. But that means you sitting through the Creggers again.

CASINO ROYALE
I could see Bond's little finger through his iddy biddy blue swimmers.

Blunt Instrument wrote:

I remember one of the wardrobe people on the Brosnans saying 'modern, but not trendy' was the look they were going for.

They succeeded. As mentioned, I think Brosnan was probably the most consistently best-dressed Bond and perhaps the one whose wardrobe was the most timeless. He never wears something that makes you instantly think you're watching a movie from 199X, whereas Moore's flared trousers, big lapels and wide neckties were already dated by the time he shot his last Bond film.

Blunt Instrument wrote:

I remember one of the wardrobe people on the Brosnans saying 'modern, but not trendy' was the look they were going for.

They succeeded. As mentioned, I think Brosnan was probably the most consistently best-dressed Bond and perhaps the one whose wardrobe was the most timeless. He never wears something that makes you instantly think you're watching a movie from 199X, whereas Moore's flared trousers, big lapels and wide neckties were already dated by the time he shot his last Bond film.[/quote]

There was just no escaping the 70s...

Indeed. Of course, fashion (and pop culture) moved at a different pace in those days. There was a distinct look to the 70's as there was to each post-WWII era that we don't really have anymore.

We're almost half-way through the 2020s, meaning the 2010s are well behind us, but can anyone say what the 2010s looked like in terms of style and whatnot? Not that easy in the age of social media and information oversaturation.

CJB wrote:

Indeed. Of course, fashion (and pop culture) moved at a different pace in those days. There was a distinct look to the 70's as there was to each post-WWII era that we don't really have anymore.

We're almost half-way through the 2020s, meaning the 2010s are well behind us, but can anyone say what the 2010s looked like in terms of style and whatnot? Not that easy in the age of social media and information oversaturation.

Aesthetics were effectively frozen in the 90s and have changed very little since. 1994, 2024--what's the big diff?