Houndstooth Suit

[storeynicholas]

Someone with better research or typing skills than mine will, I hope, post some references to James Bond. The black and white houndstooth suit was a favorite of the paper James Bond. I don't recall if the celluloid ones wore it also.

I did mention, in the bit of the thread that moved off elsewhere, that, for the golfing duel against Goldfinger at Royal St Mark's Golf Club (based on The Royal St George's, at Sandwich - captaincy elect of which was Fleming's, when he died) the Bond of the book drove down in an old hound's-tooth tweed suit and I also seem to recall, had his gun-metal cigarette case on the passenger seat beside him............I am fairly sure that Sean Connery did not have the same outfit for the film. The car changed too: the Bentley became an Aton Martin - OK - probably the most famous Aston Martin of film history -even, maybe, apart from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang - the most famous car in film history....There's a thing!
NJS
I'm not going to cheat and edit - some details of the above need correction (it's about 39 years since I read the book): first, the suit is described as 'his old yellowing hound's tooth suit' - it doesn't say tweed and, I am fairly sure that tweed wouldn't yellow as does worsted and my own suit (brought to life partly as a result of this passage in the book) is worsted and has yellowed so that too could now only really do for a drive in the country! The car of the book was an Aston Martin DBIII (not a Bentley) and the car of the film was a DB5. But the moral is - go for tweed rather than worsted for a black and white hound's tooth.
NJS

[dopey]

I recall that Bond may have taken it with him on a trip to the US as well - was it Live and Let Die or Diamonds are Forever? (more likely the latter)

[storeynicholas]

I recall that Bond may have taken it with him on a trip to the US as well - was it Live and Let Die or Diamonds are Forever? (more likely the latter)

I'll try to ask him! But he has given up late hours in his retirement and Chelsea is 2 hours ahead of Rio....
NJS

[storeynicholas]

Dopey, There's a thing! In For Your Eyes Only, Bond wears an old tweed hound's tooth suit - so it was tweed after all! I am still looking for other references.
NJS

[culverwood]

I had a lovely black and white hounds-tooth check three piece suit. I would have said it was a heavy worsted but this was in the seventies from a Savile Row tailor now long gone so I cannot confirm.

I used to enjoy wearing the trousers with a morning suit jacket and waistcoat instead of stripes. Definitely not a suit for the city but fine for the West End.

[Cary Grant]

I just had an odd jacket made in a navy HT on cream ground. Small tooth. Would make a nice suit... probably a 2 piece, narow notch lapels, etc.