DRESSED TO KILL: James Bond - The Suited Hero

by Nick Foulkes, Neil Norman, Nick Sullivan

The impact of the Bond films on popular culture is impossible to overestimate. Dressed to Kill follows the sartorial transformations of the hero in a suit from the 1960s chic of the Nehru-collared jacket in Dr No to the classic Italian tailoring by Brioni in GoldenEye. Carefully researched texts and copious illustrations trace Bond's influence as a male style icon on many dimensions of popular culture, from action sports to advertising - as well as on the man in the street.
Bond fans, movie buffs and fashion aficionados will all find new and illuminating material in this volume, which brings together a broad range of previously unpublished documents including filmstills, advertising, and candid images of the Cold War ambience of which Bond was a product. Although many books have explored the fascinating history of the 007 films, this is the first to demonstrate what made the Bond character a modern myth, and the world's most famous secret agent.

200 pages, Hardcover

First published September 24, 1996

Reviews

[Fraser Sherman · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book looks at James Bond as a fashion icon: the styles in the original Fleming novel, Bond's taste in cigarettes and liquor, and the fashions of the film. In one section, Jay McInerney discusses how blown away he was by Sean Connery's elegance in the early films, back when American men didn't dress very elegantly; others look at how the series' fashions have adapted with the times, worked or not worked (a lot of people apparently found Dalton's look too blue-collar). Good, but obviously specialized so your rating may go up and down depending on your interest in the topic.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Photos and essays about the style of James Bond and its cultural significance.