We zoom in on Timothy Dalton’s no-nonsense approach to Bond’s wardrobe.
Timothy Dalton’s tenure as James Bond marked a significant departure from the character’s previous portrayals. Known for bringing a darker, more serious tone to the role, Dalton’s Bond was more introspective than previous incarnations and his wardrobe reflected this shift. Gone were the flamboyant suits and carefree elegance of Roger Moore; in their place came a style that was distinctly 1980s, grounded in practicality and muted sophistication.
But if you try to mentally conjure up Dalton’s iconic looks, you might struggle. In this respect, he is similar to George Lazenby, and may be a drawback of not appearing in more films. Think of Sean Connery and there are the Anthony Sinclair suits, the white dinner jacket under diving gear, or the camp collar shirts from Thunderball, while Roger Moore is synonymous with safari jackets and dinner jackets.
It is certainly true that it becomes harder for an actor to stand out from what came before while retaining the Bond look. However, Pierce Brosnan’s Bond style is defined by those Brioni suits, and Daniel Craig’s look is probably best remembered for the navy Sunspel polo shirt that has a fleeting moment in Casino Royale. His portrayal was much more casual on top of those badly fitting suits that came later. For Dalton, his wardrobe choices reflected the character’s darker turn, even if they didn’t carve out a distinct sartorial identity.
The 1980s fashion influence
It’s fair to say there are hits and misses among Dalton’s wardrobe. I remember when I first saw The Living Daylights and loved the moment when he fastens the collar on his dinner jacket with Velcro, thereby covering the triangle of white shirt that might give him away before stepping into action on the balcony. It’s a small but quintessentially Bond moment, and is the costume that defines Dalton’s Bond for me—a practical example of adapting formalwear for his mission.
However, in other scenes, the costumes feel less fitting. The leather jacket with jeans as they escape the police in Czechoslovakia is a prime example. It just doesn’t seem Bond to me, feeling more like something out of a typical 1980s action movie than 007.
Dalton had a significant influence on his wardrobe choices, resisting the more flamboyant fashion trends of the time to ensure his outfits matched Bond’s serious nature. While the influence of 1980s fashion is evident in Dalton’s suits, they avoid the worst excesses of the era, but are sometimes let down by being ready-to-wear rather than bespoke. Bond’s more casual attire mirrors contemporary fashion sensibilities, with baggy clothing that is now very dated. Licence to Kill is particularly bad in this respect and the clothing is frequently at odds with how we expect Bond to dress.
This contrast between Dalton’s darker portrayal of Bond and the loose, somewhat uninspired fashion of the time creates an interesting dynamic. While his wardrobe choices serve the character’s tone, they fall short of becoming timeless Bond staples.
The Dalton look
The Dalton look is ultimately defined by function over form. His wardrobe choices were practical, often at the expense of timelessness. The 1980s influence is apparent, but Dalton’s resistance to flamboyance kept his Bond grounded—serious, sombre, and at times, rebellious against the sharply tailored figures of his predecessors.
Some rather questionable choices were made by the wardrobe department for Licence to Kill, and I wonder how much that impacted its perception among fans. While the film’s darker tone and gritty storyline were ahead of their time, it doesn’t look much like a Bond movie.
Dinner jackets and formal suits
The most iconic outfit from Dalton’s two movies by far appears after the titles of The Living Daylights. Sent to Bratislava to assist in General Koskov’s defection, Bond wears a dinner jacket with a shawl collar and pleated front shirt.
What makes this costume stand out is the moment in which he fastens the collar with Velcro. It’s more than just a clever trick—it’s quintessentially Bond. It’s a perfect blend of practicality and flair, subtly reminding us of Bond’s capacity to mix sophistication with lethal intent. It’s the first of three different dinner jackets Dalton wears in The Living Daylights, and while all of them look fine to me, the Velcro makes it Dalton’s only truly iconic look.
In Licence to Kill, his dinner jacket at the casino in Isthmus feels much more dated, perhaps because of the overlarge lapels, and for me, it’s a definite miss. The film opens on Felix Leiter’s wedding day, with Bond and co dressed in light grey morning suits with winged collar shirts and cravats. Personally, I find such outfits horribly uncomfortable—especially the winged collar, which I’d avoid like the plague.
Mission specific clothing
For the training exercise in Gibraltar, all double-O agents are dressed in black jumpsuits and combat boots to parachute into the landing zone.
Bond is still wearing his parachute rig as he jumps on top of the Land Rover, which is just as well as it turns out. Presumably it’s the reserve chute he deploys to escape from the Land Rover as it plummets towards the sea. At the end of the film Bond is all in black again – a classic Bond look – as he returns to Morocco to confront Brad Whitaker.
The black polo is similar to that worn earlier with the blouson, and the black trousers make the outfit practical for night-time infiltration without drawing too much attention.
For the Mujahideen attack on the Russian airbase Bond is disguised in Afghan clothing. He wears a baggy shirt and trousers, brown leather waistcoat, and traditional headgear, while on his feet it looks like he’s wearing 14-hole Doc Martens. The boots are seen in closeup during the high altitude fight on the cargo net as it dangles out of the plane. While the Afghan outfit is probably difficult for most Bond fans to pull off in every day life, Doc Martens are practical and extremely comfortable.
Suits
When Bond visits Q’s workshop, he wears a grey suit that look good on Dalton, although as usual, I would have preferred it sans waistcoat. The suit really stands the test of time and, unlike Bond smoking in the office and Moneypenny’s large glasses, there’s nothing that particularly dates it.
Afterwards, in the MI6 safe house, Bond wears a checked jacket with a knitted tie. The tie is a typically Bondian choice but, although it’s nowhere near as bad as Roger Moore’s in The Man With The Golden Gun, I’m not keen on the jacket at all. Later in M’s office, he wears a navy pinstripe three-piece suit, which is very 1980s—everyone aspired to be a stockbroker or banker during this period. In Tangier, he wears a tan suit with no tie. It probably suits the climate, but I’m not a fan.
When he returns as 007 in Licence to Kill, Dalton wears two suits, again without ties. They’re a far cry from Sean Connery’s tailored suits and far too large for Dalton. The shoulders seem more pronounced than the suits in The Living Daylights, but that could be because the jackets simply don’t fit properly.
Casualwear
The casual outfits are where Dalton’s clothing goes particularly wrong. Many clothes were quite baggy in the mid to late 1980s and this is reflected in Dalton’s wardrobe, which has aged badly. For example, in the Morocco scenes of The Living Daylights, he wears a beige blouson with a typical 1980s loose fit. It’s some consolation that Felix Leiter is wearing an even worse jacket. In Licence to Kill, Bond wears a dark blue unstructured jacket over a loose-fitting white shirt on Sharkey’s boat and in the scenes that follow. Unfortunately, the jacket fits terribly. He wears a similar jacket with matching trousers over a blue shirt at the Barrelhead Bar.
Probably the best of Dalton’s casual outfits is in the sequence where Bond helps Kara flee to Vienna in The Living Daylights. He wears a chunky ribbed sweater over a shirt, paired with a rather large leather jacket and dark trousers. It’s practical for cold weather, but it doesn’t scream James Bond.
In Licence to Kill, Bond arrives in Isthmus wearing a black shirt with two breast pockets and dark grey trousers. While the shirt is loose-fitting by today’s standards, it’s not a bad look, though still a little dated. And a shoutout for Bond’s black pyjamas after being captured by Sanchez’s men.
The impact of Dalton’s style on the Bond legacy
Despite many reservations, Dalton’s wardrobe did have its highlights, most notably the dinner jacket with the Velcro-fastening collar in The Living Daylights. However, his suits, being off-the-peg rather than bespoke, lacked the sharpness and refinement seen in previous iterations of Bond. The influence of 1980s fashion—with its loose fits and relaxed tailoring—left Dalton’s wardrobe feeling more dated than timeless. Ultimately, while there were some innovative touches, the clothing from Dalton’s era hasn’t aged well and is generally forgettable.
Dalton’s darker, grittier portrayal of Bond, while pivotal in reshaping the character, wasn’t mirrored in his wardrobe. Instead, it’s his portrayal—rather than his clothing—that leaves the lasting impact on the Bond legacy.
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