TOP 3 TIES WORN BY JAMES BOND 

Rep stripe ties in the UK run diagonally top left to right, while in the US they run top right to left. So, if you like the color combination of the Royal Navy tie, you might be able to find it from a US vendor, as are many of the rep stripe patterns popular in the UK. Knit ties, especially the black silk knit tie, have been popular in what is known in the US as Ivy Style.

It's a valid point regarding the protocol for wearing military ties. I'm contemplating whether it would be acceptable to wear the Royal Navy tie as a tribute to my grandfather, who served in the Royal Navy during WWI. Personally, I find solid color ties more versatile, and their timeless appeal contrasts with the multitude of patterns and designs in later years. It's unfortunate that fewer men are opting to wear ties nowadays. On the bright side, those of us who still do can discover high-quality ties at bargain prices in vintage and thrift stores!

I'm the same with Roger Moore, he was the current Bond when I started watching the movies.

I'm a younger "Chap in training" and the Bonds I most associate with the franchise are Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig. Excellent presentation of the difference of ties. I'm quite happy I found your channel.

I agree on the Royal Navy and black knitted tie.

I purchased a pure silk , grenadine tie, in navy. As both Sean Connery and Daniel Craig wore one as Bond. A simple yet elegant look, due to the body and texture of the weave. Works very well with a gray or charcoal suit. I tend to stay away from stripes, for the very reason you mentioned, one never knows the significance of the pattern.

All I wear Kint tie and rep tie

Just a bit of clarification. Connery's ties from T&A were of grenadine silk, which is actually woven, but since it's an open weave can give the impression of a knitted tie. Also, they were a very dark midnight navy rather than black.

Good video. I picked up a Turnbull & Asser, midnight blue, (gaberdine?, fine horizontal weave pattern) tie that was sold through Bergdorf Goodman in NY. I think it's perfect Bond. How it came back to Blighty I don't know. I didn't pay huge money for it. On RN tie.... "what ship were you on"... I asked my grandfather that question a few years ago, just before he died. I knew he was a sailor in the war, along with his brother, but he refused to talk about the war "why do you want to know about that, it was only a few years of my life when I was young and it wasn't very nice" he once said.. so I thought I'd ask him about his ship, His reply "I wasn't on a ship, I was on the landing craft" And that's all he'd say. My grandmother was hovering about and chipped in "He went up to Scotland to train. All his "friends" got killed. He brought home an American's coat and his brother pinched it and sold it" And that's all we know about his time in the war. When he passed away, we found he had been issued with a blazer with a "Combined Operations" embroidered pocket badge. I don't think he ever wore it. I'd have bought him a decent RN tie if I had thought of it, but he was of the opinion that he and his comrades had been forced into fighting, he didn't even open a medal issued to him during the 2000s. I've got his old sailor's knife though. He gave that to me as a kid, I'd found it in his coal bunker that he kept his hedge trimmers in. edit- "grenadine" tie... chap in comments below bought the same style

Ash. I agree with you on the Royal Navy and black knit tie. I especially like the Sean Connery blue grenadine tie from Dr No and from Russia with Love. And this brown knitted tie in Goldfinger that he wears with the tweed jacket. Best regards Ron

At this point in time, I have more than two hundred ties in my collection, more than ninety-five percent of which are silk, and the other five percent wool or silk-wool blends. My favourite ties have a paisley pattern, followed by those with geometric shapes in a repeating pattern. Striped ties, of which I have dozens, are a distant third choice. And I don't have a single solid colour tie in my entire collection, as I personally find them rather drab, and defeating the very purpose of a tie -to lend colour, interest, and personality to an outfit. I agree with what you say, Ash, about knitted ties adding an element of interest through texture, but even in this category, my knitted ties sport paisley patterns, geometric designs, or stripes. I came of age watching the Roger Moore series of James Bond films, and those are the ones I remember best, and they are certainly the ones that had the greatest impact on my sense of style as an adolescent male who began to think about how clothing could project an image and create an impression on others. And I agree with your choice of James Bond tie here. -The burgundy tie with the small repeating pattern is, to my taste, the most elegant, the most interesting, and the most versatile.

Thoroughly enjoyed this, thank you Ash. Something I don’t see often today is the willingness demonstrated during the Connery era for gentlemen to mix and match blacks and greys with blue and navy items. A navy knitted tie with sky blue shirt and grey suit is rarely seen now but that’s a combination I enjoy wearing, as seen in Dr. No. I’m aware that some of Turnbull & Asser’s ties were designed for Bond films but I also suspect that some worn on screen were in their archives anyway. It’s nice to think that Fleming or his fictional spy could have walked into the shop and picked one up, like you or I and it would have been deemed suitable attire for a gentleman’s pursuits. I have a number of their ties and they are indeed not cheap but their quality is sublime. One that I own is in the same design as the Tomorrow Never Dies square silk tie but in blue and navy with pink squares, quite different to the brown, navy and sky blue squares tie worn by Pierce Brosnan. Kind regards, Rob.

Great choice for the ties

Being a few years older, Connery was always my Bond. As to the ties, the Royal Navy tie is gorgeous, but even as an American I think it would be inappropriate for me to wear. I have several vintage knit ties including a black one and I find them to be wonderful workhorses for casual events.

Yes, I agree. The grey three piece suit from Goldfinger is my favourite.

Moore was the first Bond for me as well. Live and Let Die. I recently picked up 2 solid knit ties, and they are working well with some of my patterned shirts. Great video as always.

I grew up with Moore as Bond. All of his movies were good except for View To A Kill. He was too old by that time. I saw a few of his in the Theaters. I think all Bonds were good though. Wish Lazenby could have made more films. He brought a latent sense of ability to the role. Great video Ash.

My favourite article ❤

Hi Ash, Thank you for answering my question so thoroughly. You put a lot of energy and research into this video. I think I speak in the name of all chaps when I just say: Thank you. I give my top three picks as well. 1) Royal Navy Tie / Roger Moore >> I actually have this tie with two twists. The order of the red and white color is reversed and the stripes run in the American fashion. I wear this tie all over the world, except in the UK. It is too close to the original. 2) Brown tie with blue diamonds / Pierce Brosnan / Tomorrow Never Dies 3) Blue & black micro squares / Daniel Craig / Quantum of Solace

That was fun ! Thanks .

Love your videos. I have learned so much from your information.

Still have my black knitted (actually, my father's) and a whole bunch of school / alumni ties - in fact loads of ties - many corporate gifts - all for Oxfam one day.

Well said, and excellent choices for your three ties! Thank you for the mention. I have found that knitted ties can work well in half windsor and full windsor knots because four-in-hand knots tend to look sloppier in a knitted tie due to the lack of an interlining. Have a look at George Lazenby's knots in On Her Majesty's Secret Service for a good example of a knitted tie in a half windsor. One of my many knitted ties is from Turnbull & Asser, and it knots so small that I find that only a full windsor knot is suitable for it. A four-in-hand knot with it ends up the size of a pea! The Alexander Olch tie in No Time to Die was made in a special width of 3 1/2 inches in a dedicated shape for Daniel Craig because they didn't like their ready to wear versions in 2 and 3 inches wide. I would have chosen the navy grenadine tie that Connery wears in five of his Bond films. I have about 15 of them in different shades and different grenadine weaves (mostly the garza grossa that Connery wore), and I wear them with almost everything!

One of my favorites is a brown knitted tie from Mason&Sons as worn by 007 in Goldfinger in the Swiss Alps, goes splendidly with my brown tweed jacket emulating the look. I would love to wear the RN tie but I would never do it out of respect and if I may ask do the stripes from the left shoulder down denote the theme 'From the heart to the sword' ? or is this myth?

Great video, Ash! Most relaxing! Thanks!

Brilliant! I have a penchant for knitted ties and have several, including a really nice rifle green one as an ode to my previous life. For business scenarios I use an ode to my services colours; the official tie has a crest on it with is simply not advisable for security reasons.

missed the fact the Q, Desmond L. is wearing a household division regimental tie

Hi Ash, Really enjoyed your video, great facts and entertaining, too. (it made me dig out my service tie)

Hi Ash, I am just a few years olders than you but saw the same 2 Bond movies in a double feature here at Hoyts Cinema in George Street, Sydney Australia with my father when I was a boy. Hooked on the Bond franchise ever since and it was I think only the first or second time I had been to the cinema.

Ah... what a wonderful rabbit hole to go down! One of the benefits of growing up in America is that you get to wear whatever sort of tie you like. British gentlemen of a certain age and social class find themselves restricted (at least theoretically) to ties associated with schools, regiments, and clubs. Freed from these strictures I feel at liberty to choose my tie's patterns, colours, and textures purely on what works best with the outfit and occasion. And that works very well for me. Just don't wear a tie (or badge, etc.) associated with membership of an organization to which you aren't entitled.

I agree with you your choices. However the tie which captured my imagination was the Kazan tie worn by James Bond (Daniel Craig) as seen in Quan­tum of So­lace. It only featured in a couple of scenes at the end, but it really made an impression on me. I searched high and low on the internet and I could not find it. One of my local gentlemen’s outfitters came to the rescue with a very close match; although it is not silk and only polyester, it is virtually identical. To this day, I pair it with a crisp white shirt and a charcoal suit and refer to it as my Bond outfit.

The RN tie you show was originally intended to be worn by off-duty or retired RN officers only, though this does not apply today. Don't know when that changed, but may have been early 1990s when several such changes occurred.

I've got two black knitted ties (and two burgundies). Three inches wide. But I didn't (and wouldn't) pay 196USD a piece for them.

Great video! I checked out the Benson & Clegg website. I didn't realise that UK universities also have their own ties. I should pick up a University of Wales tie. I graduated from Swansea University in 2007

my favorites are also turnbull and asser as well, the diamond silk from tomorrow never dies and the stripe silk from die another day. the solids are great and easy but you can get any, the turnbull and asser are pretty unique. to bad they are $$$$$$$

I'm still trying to figure out the Knitted Tie look.

George Lasenby should've had more Bond movies. But then if he did, we probably wouldn't have Roger Moore.

In the books, was Bond presented as well dressed or a little awkwardly dressed. Being a military man and an orphan, I would expect Bond always looking slightly out of place in a suit or tuxedo. You could argue that wearing a submariner with a NATO strap in a suit is a little awkward.

I am a fan of all Brosnan ties, I have 3 or 4 of them, and Craig's ties I have 3 or 4 of them but not one of no times to die because I find it borrowing and not unique.

Perfect topic for you! Didn’t ‘Yes Minister’ explain the CMG?

Every man needs a dark knit tie for funerals, weddings and job interviews, but it also goes brilliantly with patterned shirts and jackets without clashing with anything. Anyone who’s read “Day of the Jackal” will have noted that the hero’s favorite tie is his black knitted silk, which he wears with “his habitual striped shirts.” Forsyth had clearly read his Fleming. Go thou and do likewise.

Hey Ash, Knitted ties are hard to "pull-off" in my opinion. I think I wore a burgundy colored knit tie with a dark navy suit cut from a slightly thicker wool fabric and it looked fairly dapper, but other than that, I mostly wore them with sports jackets (smart casual) looks. Maybe it's my build (tall and slightly thin) that's not working in tandem with this type of tie... Who knows 🤔 Anyway, take care!

❤

@The Chap’s Guide - can’t remember if I’ve asked you before but…have you seen the 2022 film, “The Outfit,” about an English cutter who works for a vicious family of gangsters in 1950s Chicago?

When I started watching the Bond films Mr. Brosnan was the current Bond and therefore I like him quite a bit in the role. Having seen most of the Bond films by now (excluding the most recent one, don't know why honestly though...) I like the "Connery Bonds" as well as the "Brosnan Bonds" best, though there is something to be said for the "Craig Bonds" (though I *really dislike* his suits... too much of the "one number too small even on an athletic body" going on here) though ironically enough I don't like most of the "Moore Bonds" - not because of his style, he avoids falling most of the seventies and eighties fashion traps elegantly enough, but the films themself are just a tad bit too silly for my taste😆. But the looks that still stands out to me are the lovely knitted ties Connery wears in "Goldfinger" with ever so slightly less formal combinations and suits, especially the brown knit tie that goes with the tweed jacket that has been mentioned by Mr. Ronald Poppe and the *exceedingly awesome* fine glen check three-piece that is crowned by a navy knit tie. But then I sometimes feel that the "Connery" Commander Bond was generally *extremely well dressed* in my humble opinion. Best regards Raoul G. Kunz

Have you ever watched Dickinsons real deal ? David Dickinson nearly always wears a suit and tie also a pocket square . Very smart sometimes a bit flashy and over the top with gold jewellery,but seems to be the best dressed presenter on tv.may not be your thing but take a look.

Sir, What is your opinion on charcoal ties? Are they a better choice than black ties or are they also associated with funerals?

Hi Ash. Are you planning a Chaps guide tie ? I would think that you have plenty of followers a make it a viable option

I did not notice a tie with a Windsor Knot. Has that style gone out of fashion?

probably next movie will be before his 007 times

Diamonds are forever has to be the worst fashion style for bond.

I actually want Elliot Page to be the next Bond just for the ridiculousness of it. The world has gone mad and will eventually reach its tipping point with all this wokery.