“There are dinner jackets and there are DINNER JACKETS. This is the latter.”

The words, uttered by Vesper Lynd in Casino Royale underscore what could be the thesis of the entire Bond franchise: Clothes matter. There are countless other spy-action franchises (Mission: Impossible, the Bourne series,) that are just as thrilling that don’t have the je ne sais quoi that James Bond does. The man is known as much for his clothing as he is for almost any other aspect, save Bond Girls and the awesome gadgets from Q Branch.

Being the James Bond fanatics that we are, and the supposed fashion experts we claim to be, we have finally decided to accept the task of ranking the greatest outfits in the entire James Bond series–all twenty-five films,* going through them chronologically. We’ve decided to pick our favorite outfits from each films, then choosing or favorite among those in a NCAA bracket-type contest. This also gives us an excuse to watch all of the Bond movies in order, the way they were meant to be seen. This is our Everest, and we intend to scale it enthusiastically and plant our flag at the top victoriously. And by flag, we of course mean a custom-made Tom Ford suit.

Dr. No

You’re not mistaken. We’re kicking off our list not with a tuxedo, or even a suit for that matter. We’re going with that powder blue number Bond wears on Crab Key in Connery’s first foray as 007. Look…this is gonna be a long list if you think every choice we make is “Bond in a Dinner Jacket.” To do so would be lazy and do a disservice to the varied palate that is James Bond’s wardrobe.

From Russia With Love

We’re not sure if it’s the suit itself, or how movies were shot back in 1963, but a simple charcoal grey suit just works here. Simple suit. Simple white shirt. Simple black tie. Simple pocket square. You don’t need to break out the logarithm tables to dress well…you just need to get the basics down and have Savile Row tailor Anthony Sinclair cut your suits. Not to be outdone, Bond’s Istanbul counterpart Kerim Bey must have a man in London himself, judging by the fact that he’s giving Bond a run for his money in the film.

Goldfinger

Before Jay-Z made it a thing, Bond was the original purveyor of “all black, everything,” as he did here in 1964’s Goldfinger, one of the most-love Bond films of all time. This black getup, worn by our hero on the titular villain’s private jet, flown by the most iconic Bond Girl name ever, Pussy Galore. The grey three-piece he changes into mid-flight was a close contender for our choice for this film, but again, we didn’t want to shoot the moon right at the start.

Thunderball

Vaguely reminiscent of Bond’s all blue outfit in Dr. No, we love this blue pinstripe shirt from Thunderball worn when Bond visits Largo on Palmyra. Functional, yet…blue.

You Only Live Twice

Sometimes, a suit is just a suit. Other times, they look like they were made for the person in them. With James Bond, the latter is the case. It’s scenes like this that show that a bespoke suit is the way to go, if you can afford it. And if you can’t, you can afford to take it to a tailor at at least make it look less like you’re wearing your dad’s clothes and more like an adult.

On Her Majesty’s Secret Service

For George Lazenby’s only outing as Commander Bond, we’re choosing the whole Bond-in-a-kilt shot for several reasons: A) While James Bond the character may have Scottish roots, Lazenby himself was Australian. B) If you’re gonna have Bond wear the traditional garb of the Highlanders, why not have the only Scottish Bond (we’ll let you “guesh” if you don’t already know,) and the man to later star in the “Highlander” films wear it?! Nonetheless, the fact that double-O George was a model didn’t hurt the look of his James Bond, and actually made for a very stylish spy, in keeping with the series’ tone.

Diamonds Are Forever

In maybe Connery’s goofiest Bond film, we see the white dinner jacket make its appearance in Las Vegas, at Willard Whyt’s casino. With Plenty O’Toole by his side (surely her given name.) While this may just be the weakest entry in the Bond franchise during Sean Connery’s stint as Bond, we get to see Blofeld in drag, a kidnapped Jimmy Dean, and our favorite Bond Villain duo ever, Mr Kidd and Mr, Wint, who we swear were lovers.

Live and Let Die

We now move into Roger Moore’s tenure as James Bond, and we’ve chosen this killer combo of a sleek black short-sleeve and khaki pants that 007 sports when commandeering the two-seater plane (prior to clipping said plane’s wings.)

The Man With The Golden Gun

Bond…Karate Bond. We don’t get to see our spy in clothing that isn’t a bespoke suit or at least some sort of classic, tailored look, so we wanted to feature this scene with James in a karate gi, which of course could have been worn by Sean Connery in “You Only Live Twice” when visiting Tanaka’s ninja camp.

The Spy Who Loved Me

Ah, our first choice that features Commander Bond in his Naval regalia. The officer’s dress coat, combined with what Sterling Archer would refer to as his “tactil-neck,” blends the spy world with Bond’s formative career in Her Majesty’s Navy, and dammit, it works really well together by showing how military tradition has such a versatile and influential effect on men’s style.

Moonraker

This may be a bit of a cop-out, but it’s our article and dammit, we like the Moonraker suits.

For Your Eyes Only

We love the monochromatic Navy blue outfit here, for its simplicity and as a nod to Commander Bond’s service in the Royal Navy

Octopussy

We know, we know. It’s Bond as a clown. But even though this isn’t a

obvious choice (or even something we’d usually even consider,) we can’t just pick a cool Tom Ford Suit or white dinner jacket every time. It takes a very strong man with a lot of confidence to pull this off with a little panache, and Moore makes this almost not ridiculous or terrifying.

A View To A Kill

No, your eyes aren’t deceiving you. And no…we’re not complete morons. This is in fact supervillain Max Zorin played by all-time great actor/dance aficionado Christopher Walken. The fact is, Roger Moore, in his final turn as our hero, was looking straight up gaunt in this film, and we didn’t think we’d besmirch the memory of Sir Roger by featuring a less-than-flattering photo of the man. Rest in peace, old boy.*We do not count, nor will we ever count, the 1967 version of Casino Royale. It may also be argued that 1983’s Never Say Never Again is not an “official” Bond film, but since it features Sean Connery back as 007, we will acknowledge its existence, but not feature it on this list.

