This Might Be the Most Influential Menswear Outfit in Movie History

The thing about James Bond—the point of James Bond—is that almost every man in the universe wants to be him. They want to date Halle Berry, stumble across a pen that’s also a gun, and take the wheel of an Aston Martin. They also lust after the handmade bespoke suits and shoes that are central to Bond’s impossibly cool (if slightly outdated) appeal. The costumes—from Sean Connery’s dinner jacket in 1962’s Dr. No to Daniel Craig's more recent Tom Ford-ified take on the look—defined what a well-dressed man should look like for generations. And, purposely, it's all riotously out of reach. There’s almost nothing attainable about Bond’s enviable lifestyle—which might explain how one of 007’s most basic outfits has become one of the most influential men’s looks in movie history.

About that look: late in 2012’s Skyfall, Daniel Craig’s Bond walks through the Scottish countryside toting a shotgun. He's wearing a Barbour jacket, an almost-teal sweater, jeans, and brogue boots. From a fashion perspective, there’s practically nothing exceptional about this outfit, especially in 2018, where the man with the most technicolor tigers embroidered on his outerwear wins. You could drop Craig in San Francisco, New York, or London in any year over the past several decades and he would still look well-dressed: it’s carefully considered style, but not very exciting. But that hasn’t stopped the outfit from catching fire on Reddit. On the site’s Male Fashion Advice (MFA) forum it’s been dissected, discussed, and broken down by budget several times over. Recently, a post duplicating the outfit in three different price tiers was upvoted almost 8,000 times (for context, the top three posts over the past week barely reached that number combined).

But why is this oh-so-basic vibe Internet catnip? “Unlike [Bond’s] suits or tuxes, this outfit seems accessible to most users' lifestyles, so it's easier to imagine actually going out and wearing those clothes,” Nigel, a moderator for MFA, tells me. That means everything from the broader categories of clothing—blue jeans, built-to-last British outerwear, dashing brogue boots, and an easy-to-wear sweater in a color that won’t put you to sleep—to the brands represented: Barbour, All Saints, and Crockett & Jones, all easy enough to find and buy (or at least save up for). Together, the pieces form a menswear 101 textbook, featuring the sort of building blocks recommended over and again to new menswear fans: investment-grade clothing from brands that are said to never go out of style. “A lot of [MFA] users prefer basic outfits executed well,” says Nigel. “People starting out want strict instructions on how to dress well, so these kinds of posts featuring a list of items for a specific but basic outfit at various budgets become very popular very quickly.” That's why this outfit is arguably the most influential in Bond history. While other Bond looks—the dinner jacket, or the “Goldfinger Suit” from 1964—might be more memorable or more unique, the Skyfall outfit is the one that any guy could wear. It’s also the one most guys actually want to wear. And it doesn’t hurt that it’s all modeled by the historically stylish Bond, and worn by the handsome Craig. “James Bond is already a cultural ideal of a certain form of masculinity,” says Nigel.

Watch Now

Diddy Has Always Been a Style God

Skyfall’s costume designer Jany Temime says that she felt a ton of responsibility going into Bond series (she handled costumes for Skyfall and 2015’s Spectre) to keep the main character as handsome as ever. But she also didn’t want to create a Bond that was unrelatable. “I wanted to do my Bond like a Bond you could really imitate,” she tells me. To that end, she used plenty of handmade, bespoke items, but also turned the spotlight on classic British brands, like that Barbour jacket. Temime actually modified that one by pulling off some small details to make it even more simple, but guys are comfortable with a tiny bit of waxed-cotton embellishment: she’s heard the Skyfall outfit helped sell plenty of the Barbour Beacon Sports Waxed Jacket (the option closest to the “X To Ki To" Beacon Heritage Sports Jacket worn in the movie and is no longer in production).

Getting cast in the Bond movies isn’t just a goldmine for actors. The brands starring in them also feel the effects long after the movies (Skyfall? More like windfall). In Skyfall, when Craig’s Bond needed to stay warm on the streets of Shanghai, he turned to a Billy Reid peacoat. Six years later, Reid’s brand is still reaping the benefits. “The Skyfall effect has lingered well after the movie,” Reid tells me over email. “We had such demand for the peacoat that we had to take a significant inventory position on raw materials to meet the orders, which have come from all over the world. It is still one of the top-10 selling items for us every fall.”

Nigel says the subforum has gathered around other popular movie outfits, too: Ryan Gosling’s Scorpion jacket from Drive, and Mandarin-collar shirts like the ones worn by Joaquin Phoenix in Her. Fantastic Beasts’ Newt Scamander was even a style icon for a hot second. “Nothing that took off as much as the Skyfall post, though,” says Nigel. Which isn’t exactly a surprise: where a white satin jacket with a gold scorpion or even a Mandarin collar might be too bold for some guys, a Barbour jacket and a pair of sturdy boots isn’t exclusive to a globe-trotting super-spy—it’s just good style. And the dream of having at least a piece of Bond’s lifestyle, especially when it’s this damn easy, is too good for most guys to pass up. “Of course,” Temime says, “you need to have the body to ever look like him, but one could dream.” Conveniently, MFA thought of that, too. Alongside the Barbour jacket and Omega watch, there’s one more ingredient to the outfit: a personal trainer, listed for £75 an hour.