>> suits by Doug Hayward of Mount Street,
Mayfair, although Moore’s own predilection
was for the sports jacket, which he wore with
impunity throughout his tenure, from Live And
Let Die in 1973 through to A View To Kill in- Particularly arresting was the Donegal
tweed jacket with elbow patches he wore in
Moonraker and the narrow-shouldered, Texan-
sized checked jacket he chose for The Man
With The Golden Gun. But it’s his safari suits,
blousons and slip-on shoes that we’ll remem-
ber him for, a ham-fisted combination that is
difficult to forgive, though strangely easy to
admire. It is testament to the series’ art direc-
tors and stylists that the 1970s films are so
kitsch that Moore’s wardrobe often seems tame
by comparison.
Moore was replaced in the mid-1980s by
the politically correct Shakespearian lounge
lizard Timothy Dalton, a man who was never
going to convincingly play a clotheshorse.
He had a liking for slim, knitted black ties
and structureless suits, although he was too
intent to play with Bond’s image to really be
a hit with the public. Dalton became Bond
during a time when the boffo box-office
heroes – Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis
and Arnold Schwarzenegger – were far more
interested in wearing T-shirts than suits, no
matter how unstructured, so even though
The Living Daylights had a neat melancholy
not seen since the 1960s, Dalton only lasted
two films.
It’s rather a shame that Dalton didn’t feel
happier in his character’s skin, as he was
potentially far more intriguing an actor than
Brosnan, who for some was little but a more
manly Moore in a better suit. In several
ways, Brosnan was the most traditional Bond
of all, dressing in beautifully cut three-piece
Brioni suits, Church’s brogues and Jermyn
Street shirts. He didn’t look timely so much as
rich; his style was unmistakably synonymous
with expensiveness.
This was one of the many reasons why Daniel
Craig has had so much success with the role.
By the time he joined the franchise, in >>
EDITOR’S LETTERDECEMBER 2007
On the eve of potentially an even bigger Bond film,
Craig graced the cover of British GQ for a third time.
Photographed by Greg WilliamsJANUARY 2012
Craig’s fifth British GQ
cover. Photographed by
Sam Taylor-Wood at the
actor’s behestJANUARY 2012
Between 007 activity, Craig returned to talk fame,
tattoos and his role in David Fincher’s English-language
version of The Girl With The Dragon TattooDECEMBER
2007
In an interview with
GQ’s John Naughton,
Craig spoke of how
the role of James Bond
had changed his lifeDECEMBER 2006
As Casino Royale launched a reboot of the series, GQ
got up close and personal with its leads, Eva Green and
Daniel Craig04-20EditorsLetter_3351554.indd 38 12/02/2020 09:50
38 GQ.CO.UK APRIL 2020