44 replies to this topic

[Brian Flagg]

There was a thread in the General Discussion some years ago about favorite outfits in all of Bond, but I couldn't find one specifically for Roger.

One of my not-so guilty pleasures is seing what Roger would be wearing in any given Bond film. I'll admit to loving his safari suits and pretty much anything he wears in TSWLM, especially the sand-colored suit he's wearing when he dispatches Sandor; I happen to own a lavender necktie very similar to Rog's. I've never had the opportunity to slap the hand of anyone holding onto it for dear life, however. I also like the safari jacket from MOONRAKER, his skulking outfit in FYEO, and his attire in OCTOPUSSY (another safari jacket). Somehow, Moore can wear these clothes and not look ridiculous. They go with the era, and after the stuff he wore in The Persuaders, it looks positively conservative!

What are your favorite/not-so favorite style choices in Roger's Bond tenure?

P.S. I don't include the clown outfit in this--somehow, I felt the need to state this...

[sthgilyadgnivileht]

Somehow, Moore can wear these clothes and not look ridiculous.

Yeah totally. The audience knew he was enjoying himself, and I think that helped. He can wear a suit on arrival to India and no one questions the absurdity of it.

[jrcjohnny99]

One of the great things about the 4 70s era Roger movies is that they 'look' so 70s; just as Connery's Bond will be permanently enshrined in the 60s, Roger's is for me that way for the 70s.
Nobody in the 70s looked cooler than Rog.

[DAN LIGHTER]

He always wore slacks cut high in the waist. I quite liked his ski get up in For Your Eyes Only and the get up he had on in the car chase. Very casual light brown. He had some of the best outfits out of all the Bonds

[DamnCoffee]

One of the great things about the 4 70s era Roger movies is that they 'look' so 70s; just as Connery's Bond will be permanently enshrined in the 60s, Roger's is for me that way for the 70s.
Nobody in the 70s looked cooler than Rog.

I completely agree. I ADORE the suit he wears upon arrival to Scaramanga's Island in The Man with the Golden Gun.

[Aris007]

I lov the suit he wears in The Spy Who Loved Me when he meets Naomi and Stromberg afterwards!
I hate though the suit he wears in the "What a helpfull chap!" scene!
His outfit in Live And Let Die in New York is great.

Generally Roger took the part in a tough season considering fashion. Everything was a hyperbole at that time! Roger tried and kept things in a balance between 60s and 70s.

[Brian Flagg]

He always wore slacks cut high in the waist. I quite liked his ski get up in For Your Eyes Only and the get up he had on in the car chase. Very casual light brown. He had some of the best outfits out of all the Bonds

The all-knowing, never-wrong IMDB lists Roger's height at 6'2" (which happens to be my height, as well) yet I always thought he looked shorter; must be his "barrel chest" that deceived me! Taller men tend to be ideal models and wear clothes quite well; Connery was also tall and looks great in his attire.

However, there's a special kind of charisma when a person can wear potentially embarrassing outfits and still be able to pull that look off! I remember seeing Duke Ellington in a concert video, and he wore a tomato-red sportsjacket with houndstooth slacks. He still managed to look oh-so friggin' cool and sophisticated. Roger has that same kind of great poise. You can't learn it, ya just gotta be it. I guess that's called "Star Power."

[right idea, wrong pussy]

Good thread. I quite agree that Rog looked cool in all sorts of outfits during his tenure. Even things many people dislike, like his white tuxedo in TMWTGG/AVTAK or his safari suits look quite good on him.

The only two Moore outfits I dislike are the banana skisuit in TSWLM and the all black snooping ensemble in MR. You're obviously right that Moore can pull off any outfit, since on most human beings that yellow skisuit would have me laughing off.

[jaguar007]

P.S. I don't include the clown outfit in this--somehow, I felt the need to state this...

How about the gorilla costume?

[Mr. Somerset]

I like the green suade jacket in FYEO. In fact I found one very similar years ago and have kept it. Very Moore-like. I always liked his safari attire in TMWTGG, MR and OP. Suited his Bond well. My least fave, I'll go with the ski suit in TSWLM. Lot of good points made here on that look.

[Brian Flagg]

On page 174 of James Bond: The Legacy, there's a black and white photo of Roger with Barbara Bach at a premiere for TSWLM and he's wearing a safari jacket over a turtleneck. Moore looks to be at the peak of his popularity and glorying in his supreme position in the entertainment world at that place and that time. Spectacular!

[Safari Suit]

I always think how increadibly lucky I was that this name wasn't taken.

[Brian Flagg]

Roger wears some great clothes in 1969's Crossplot. I like how his then-ultra modern office has a closet full of suits, I especially liked that navy blue one he wears with the light blue necktie and matching pocket square. Rog looks dapper in those clothes, as the styles of 1969 were still in the timeless, classic mode, with tnarrow neckties and lapels. A far cry from the stuff he wore in The Persuaders!, just a few short, but revolutionary years later.

[jrcjohnny99]

On page 174 of James Bond: The Legacy, there's a black and white photo of Roger with Barbara Bach at a premiere for TSWLM and he's wearing a safari jacket over a turtleneck. Moore looks to be at the peak of his popularity and glorying in his supreme position in the entertainment world at that place and that time. Spectacular!

That is a great pic and truly Rog in his glory days!

[Brian Flagg]

On page 174 of James Bond: The Legacy, there's a black and white photo of Roger with Barbara Bach at a premiere for TSWLM and he's wearing a safari jacket over a turtleneck. Moore looks to be at the peak of his popularity and glorying in his supreme position in the entertainment world at that place and that time. Spectacular!

That is a great pic and truly Rog in his glory days!

Not the same pic, but another photo from that same day.

 Rog_and_BB_1977_Cannes.jpg   24.12KB   36 downloads

[Solex Agitator]

This is indeed a terrific thread! I have always been partial to Roger's pre-title MOONRAKER turtleneck and blazer. The Moore era is a stitch in time!

The only Moore outfit that I absolutely abhor is the LALD matching denim ensemble. It is painful.

[Mr. Somerset]

Great thread!! Roger was the coolest. I love the double breast overcoat in LALD. I have a green safari shirt that I call my TMWTGG shirt (though it's not exactly like his). I also took to wearing black turtlenecks for awhile. Go great with almost anything. I always felt that had he worn a black turtleneck with that brown leather jacket instead of that white button down during the city hall sequence in AVTAK, he might've looked a bit younger.

[AMC Hornet]

If only I looked as good in black slacks and turtle neck (where can I get a brown leather shoulder holster for a magnum revolver?). Check out the end titles of Starsky and Hutch - the ensemble makes Owen Wilson look almost as good.
Isn't Roger's coming ashore on Scaramanga's island jacket more or less identical to George's bullfight on Papa Draco's birthday rig (or is that Rigg?)

[RJJB]

There is an intersting book: Dressed to Kill James Bond: The Suited Hero. It covers clothing styles of all the Bond movies through Goldeneye, along with some other films in which the leading man's clothing style is important.

The photos in the book definitely prove just how ridiculous Roger Moore was in the role of James Bond. His style of dress, facial expressions and attempts to appear as tough leading man are documented here. Having reduced the role to a joke, he is nothing but a failure in the role.

[Solex Agitator]

Ouch. That's a total buzz kill...

[David_M]

The photos in the book definitely prove just how ridiculous Roger Moore was in the role of James Bond. His style of dress, facial expressions and attempts to appear as tough leading man are documented here. Having reduced the role to a joke, he is nothing but a failure in the role.

First of all, millions of fans and a run of seven extremely successful films, including one that held the title of highest-grossing Bond for 16 years, proves he was far from a failure.

Second, Roger can hardly be blamed for the excesses of the era. Fashion just plain sucked in the 70s and there was no getting around it. Indeed, a peek at what other men were wearing on screen -- and on the street -- in those same years will show Roger was practically a model of restraint, sartorially.

Now if you want to go after his cravats and wide lapels on The Persuaders, that's another story...

[RJJB]

The thread is "Roger Moore Style" and for me the RM style is a failure because it reduced James Bond to an ongoing farce. The movies may have made money, but success came at the ruination of the character for the meager talents of second-rate actor.
Just my opinion.

[DR76]

Frankly, I found Moore's 1970s wardrobe in the Bond films rather conservative for the period. I never understood why so many fans made a big deal about it.

He wore the following in "LIVE AND LET DIE":
Roger Moore in LALD

He wore this in "THE SPY WHO LOVED ME":

Moore in TSWLM


He wore this in "MOONRAKER":
Moore in MR


And this in "THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN":
Moore in TMWTGG

The photos in the book definitely prove just how ridiculous Roger Moore was in the role of James Bond. His style of dress, facial expressions and attempts to appear as tough leading man are documented here. Having reduced the role to a joke, he is nothing but a failure in the role.

I thought this thread was about Moore's 1970s wardrobe, not his performance as Bond.

[RJJB]

I guess I interpreted the thread to include all his style, not just his wardrobe, thereby including his mannerisms, etc.

[Jim]

And this in "THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN":
Moore in TMWTGG

Lovely suit, that.

Some of the rubbish they shoved him into in For Your Eyes Only, though - ghastly.

[David_M]

The thread is about his threads, man. :-)

Regardless of what one may think about Roger's interpretation, money talks. It did for Fleming, whose chief interest in the films was how much profit they earned him, and it certainly does for EON. I'm always amused by attempts to hold up this or that Bond entry as "art," when it's always been about the dollar (or pound) and always will be. On that score, Roger was a phenomenal success. And at the risk of committing heresy here, I'd suggest that "second-rate acting" is a hallmark of the series, and that's when we're lucky.

Anyway, the point is that he may have failed you, but he didn't fail his bosses, or the millions who kept buying tickets knowing full well what he was about to give them.

Back on topic, the interesting thing about Roger's "style" is stuff like the safari suits, which one is tempted to assume were his idea. No other actor before or since has worn them, and I'm hard-pressed to think of anyone anywhere else who did, so maybe they were a case of "Roger" super-imposing himself over "Bond," as with the cigars and calling women "darling."

The rest of it -- like the loud plaid suit near the end of TMWTGG -- are unfortunate but a product of the times, and would likely have been forced onto any lead actor, as witness Connery's pink "clown tie" in DAF.

[Solex Agitator]

The rest of it -- like the loud plaid suit near the end of TMWTGG -- are unfortunate but a product of the times, and would likely have been forced onto any lead actor, as witness Connery's pink "clown tie" in DAF.

I have always been shocked by how much chatter is heaped upon Connery's pink tie. I do not find it offensive in the least. In fact, I never once even considered it until it was brought up in these forums. I think it is stylish and of the period. And if given any serious consideration - I find it ironic given that Bond has a license to kill. It works for me.

Edited by Solex Agitator, 30 November 2009 - 09:36 PM.

[Solex Agitator]

The rest of it -- like the loud plaid suit near the end of TMWTGG -- are unfortunate but a product of the times, and would likely have been forced onto any lead actor, as witness Connery's pink "clown tie" in DAF.

I have always been shocked by how much chatter is heaped upon Connery's pink tie. I do not find it offensive in the least. In fact, I never once even considered it until it was brought up in these forums. I think it is stylish and of the period. And if given any serious consideration - I find it ironic given that Bond has a license to kill. It works for me.

[Solex Agitator]

The rest of it -- like the loud plaid suit near the end of TMWTGG -- are unfortunate but a product of the times, and would likely have been forced onto any lead actor, as witness Connery's pink "clown tie" in DAF.

I have always been shocked by how much chatter is heaped upon Connery's pink tie. I do not find it offensive in the least. In fact, I never once even considered it until it was brought up in these forums. I think it is stylish and of the period. And if given any serious consideration - I find it ironic given that Bond has a license to kill. It works for me.

[DR76]

Some of the rubbish they shoved him into in For Your Eyes Only, though - ghastly.

What rubbish? I'm looking at the screencaps for the movie right now. His wardrobe seems basically conservative.