James Bond's Style Masterclass
Thanks for being a badass, Daniel Craig.
I’ve been binging James Bond movies recently (at least the Daniel Craig saga) and have come to a conclusion: It’s almost impossible to resist the urge to be at least a little bit more like James Bond.
There are too many reasons to list, but he has something for everyone. Are you into fitness? Yeah, he’s freaking ripped. Enjoy a 50 year old scotch or a good cocktail every once in a while, or in his case more than every once in a while? You like guns, or cars, or watches, or women? He does too.
But what I really nerd out about is James Bond’s style. Every movie, Daniel Craig gets even better dressed than the last, but there are some common themes that show up again and again.
Here is James Bond’s style masterclass - Cheers.
1. Buy a nice suit.
After Covid, the recommendation to spend money on a good suit might sound laughable, but after watching Daniel Craig kick ass in a suit for five movies in a row, I have to think there is something worth revisiting about the suit.
His go-to is usually a dark blue suit, and if you only have one suit in your closet, this is the one for you, too. Navy is acceptable for most situations where you would consider wearing a suit and it looks great on just about any skin, hair, eye combination so it will probably look great on you.
The color alone does not make a suit, however. Perhaps the most important aspect of a suit is its cut. It needs to fit you almost perfectly for you to achieve your full potential. If you aren’t willing to get a suit tailored to fit you, you are going to be better off wearing jeans and a polo that do fit you rather than a suit that does not. Just about any suit that you buy is going to need to get tailored at least a little bit, because something off the rack or out of the box is made for an “average” size and it is impressive how few people are actually “average.”
Finally, to achieve James Bond-esque results, you have to wear the hell out of the thing. It amazed me, seeing how many incredible suits he absolutely destroyed in every film. The reason why a suit seems so out of place today is because of how most men wear suits. We walk all stiff and up-tight and nobody likes to see that. It’s tough to put on a nice suit and not stress about spilling on it or snagging it on something, but that is exactly what you have to do if you want to be as suave as 007. He doesn’t care if he messes up his suit by wearing it hard, which frees him up to actually live his life while wearing a suit instead of letting the suit he is wearing determine the type of life he lives, which is how most guys do it.
2. Rotate your sunglasses regularly.
So, Casino Royale came out in 2006, and No Time to Die came out in 2021. In those fifteen years, styles changed quite a bit, but James Bond remained fairly classic in his wardrobe - not one to chase trends. This helped his looks from 2006 remain acceptable fifteen years later, but there is one area where he got a refresh for every movie - his sunglasses.
Everyone’s sunglasses from Casino Royale look pretty bad, but they were probably on-trend in 2006. The Vaurnet alpinist sunglasses from No Time to Die are pretty badass, but they might look silly to anyone who watches the movie fifteen years from now. And that is okay.
You can for sure go with a super classic pair of Wayfarers or Aviators and you’ll always look good regardless of trend. But if you want your style to edge more towards “modern,” switching up your sunglasses regularly is a great way to do it that doesn’t involve changing your entire closet. James Bond’s look remains fairly constant throughout this fifteen year period, and yours can, too. Next time you feel the itch to throw out all of your clothes and start over, try adding a new pair of shades to your rotation first, and see if it helps.
3. Khakis and a polo don’t have to suck.
If I have one major gripe about men’s style, it’s that too many guys wear a blue polo with a pair of khakis and think that they’ve done enough. It’s not that it’s a bad look, necessarily, but it’s been every guy’s crutch for the last forty years and it just reminds me of a middle-aged accountant, which is fine if you are in fact a middle-aged accountant.
I honestly didn’t think that the look could be redeemed until I saw Daniel Craig redeem it in Casino Royale. Seeing it done right made everything click for me and I realized why his look was characteristically different than every other guy I had seen do it wrong.
First, his pants actually fit him. I’m not sure when khakis made it alright for guy’s pants to fit absolutely terribly, but the first thing that comes to mind when I hear the word is a pair of pants that is too big in the waist, too big in the butt, and baggy around the ankles. Not Bond though. His khakis are trim and athletic - how yours should be.
Next, his khakis are really really light. They aren’t white, but they are closer to white than they are to brown. This is exactly where you want to be with khakis, because the khaki-polo look is a warm-weather look which means lighter colors.
Finally, his polo is dark navy. Dark navy looks clean and trim. It looks even better when you contrast it with the exceptionally light-colored khakis.
That’s all you need to make the khaki-polo look actually work for you. Make sure it all fits you perfectly and that there is a high amount of contrast between the dark blue top and the light khaki bottom.
You might not drive an Aston or work in Her Majesty’s secret service, but you can take some notes from 007’s style and you might feel just as suave even without all the rest.
