Sharp Stylings #57: James Bond

We can learn so much from yesterday’s fashion icons.  And living in a post-Mad Men world means we can even enjoy aspects of current male fashions! Every Friday, I’d like to start your weekend off right with a little style inspiration from either then or now. Hopefully, my fellow Mod enthusiasts will find the whole or some detail of the whole to appreciate and maybe even adopt.

Man, what happened? This holiday season just knocked me out! I'm slowly crawling out of a blogging black hole... slowly.

So, let's get to it. James Bond. He's been all over the place lately, because, y'know, Skyfall, which I still haven't seen. I think I need to see it soon, though, especially after dreaming about it last night (yes, dreaming). And I hope the movie is as awesome as my dream was... I mean, it better include a scene in which he engages in a swordfight (with his hands tied behind his back) by using his nose to nudge his girlfriend's sword into position to battle their opponent... and actually wins. And his beaten opponent better transform into a winged demon and fly away in defeat. If these scenes aren't in Skyfall, I'm going to be very disappointed.

But one thing I know I'm not dreaming about is that James Bond is helping to bring the tab-collar back into style for men's fashion! For years, it seemed so difficult to find good tab-collars, but things may be changing thanks to Tom Ford's designs for the new James Bond film.

And if you want to talk about 'Sharp Stylings'... friends, from what I could tell in the commercials, Skyfall contains what might just be the most bad-ass sharp-styling scene in all moviedom: James Bond, in a clean tab-collar shirt with pointed collar and french cuffs under a slim grey suit, adjusting his cuffs after narrowly avoiding a blow-out behind him. Hey, if you're gonna face death, you might as well look good doing it!

Image from The Suits of James Bond.

Now, there's no doubt I'm on Team Craig when it comes to past James Bonds. Heck, Casino Royale's opening sequence even dwarfed my previous favorite James Bond opening sequence... yup, the one from Octopussy! Sorry, Roger Moore...

But no matter how styling, how tough, how bad-ass the Daniel Craig James Bond is, well... there will always be one better. When it comes to suave James Bond style, you all know the score: 

Image from The Compass.

Yup, I'll drink to that.

Sharp Stylings #8: Raymond Hawkey

We can learn so much from yesterday’s fashion icons.  And living in a post-Mad Men world means we can even enjoy aspects of current male fashions! Every Friday, I’d like to start your weekend off right with a little style inspiration from either then or now. Hopefully, my fellow Mod enthusiasts will find the whole or some detail of the whole to appreciate and maybe even adopt.

Let's spend some time today diggin' on Raymond Hawkey (circa 1970) cold loungin' on a Saarinen chair and table.  First off, like I've said before, guys into Mod style should NEVER be afraid of color. Here, he beautifully blends the muted blue shirt with a fantastic muted earth-tone tie which also includes baby blue stripes to match the shirt. The lavendar/blue pocket square brings it all together in a nice package wrapped up in a dark suit with clean, thin lapels and nice slim pants! Just a beautiful combination all around, including his cufflinks, which you can see in a B&W photo from this session in the new Brian Duffy photography book. The way he's put this whole outfit together, you'd think he had the eye of a graphic designer. Oh, wait! I almost forgot... this is Raymond Hawkey we're talking about... one of the most influential mid-century graphic designers!

Hawkey is most known for how he helped revolutionize book cover design, not to mention graphic design in general, in the late 1950s/early 1960s. By blending sans serif typography with photographic elements (something not done at the time), he helped create a visual style that still lasts to this day. I'm sure many Mod-oriented graphic designers today would recognize the influence of his style on their work.

The first book design to hit the public's eyes was the cover to Len Deighton's The IPCRESS File, which was considered shocking at the time:

Some other Hawkey designs include covers to subsequent Leighton books along with those featuring most people's favorite super-suave spy:

 

Raymond Hawkey passed away last year at the age of 80. And from the obituaries I've read, he remained dapper and well-dressed until the end. According to the Guardian, he never owned jeans or trainers. Heck, I wish I could make the same claim! But one thing I can learn from Hawkey, aside from his great designs, is that you don't let age get in the way of looking sharp.