Roger Moore was the most stylish Bond – both on and off screen

“Who’s your favourite Bond actor?” Arguably the great levelling question for all British men, and usually a debate over the Christmas sofa as the re-runs of the franchise lull us into a Quality Street induced slumber. This year, the BBC has something different up its sleeve however; a new documentary will air on Christmas day centred around most iconic man to step into Bond’s well-polished Crockett & Joneses: Roger Moore.

This is great news for my festive viewing. Having grown up with a mild obsession with the Bond movies, Moore’s version of the world’s most famous spy was always my favourite. So much of that was due to his style. Yes, I have appreciation for Daniel Craig’s sharp Tom Ford tailoring and even for Sean Connery’s louche, blue terry cloth playsuit in Goldfinger, but Moore’s exuberant, decadent and, dare I say it, just-a-tiny-bit camp wardrobe was pure escapism.

The clothes worn by his version of Bond reflect a similar escapism in the films themselves, many of which possess the most outlandish plot lines in the series (Moore’s Bond is, after all, the only one so far to have fought in outer space and also donned a clown costume).

During the peak of his tenure in the late 1970s, Moore’s Bond embraced the colours, patterns and textures, as well as the accessories and inflated proportions that defined the menswear of the era: lapels were wide, trousers were flared, shirts were ruffled, flouncy neckerchiefs were de rigueur. While all Bonds have a clear dress code, I would argue that Moore’s Bond is the one with definable personal style – whether you agree that it’s aged well or not.

“My father was very particular about how he dressed,” Moore’s son Geoffrey told The Telegraph last year. “There was never any sense of being ‘off duty’, even at home.” He was boundary pushing, by small nudges on the needle; his safari suit in 1977’s Moonraker remains a benchmark of tropical style, and his sleek black polo neck with gun holster was later replicated in Daniel Craig’s Spectre era, a tender nod to his predecessor.

“His style is perhaps more timeless than it gets credit for,” says celebrity stylist Benedict Browne, whose clients include actors Will Gao, Ed Speelers and Sean Teale. “He was the only Bond to demonstrate the fool-proofness of a navy jacket and a light trouser combination. These are still best friends for any man, albeit perhaps with slimmer lapels and some soft knitwear underneath today rather than a wide tie!”

However, it’s not necessarily useful to conflate the clothes that Moore wore on-screen in his most iconic role to those he favoured away from it. After all, if you look at the roles he’s best known for, the wardrobes of his characters vary quite wildly. Arguably, this is intensified with hindsight due to the outre vibe of menswear in the 1970s, when the actor’s career hit the big time. During his time in The Saint, which ran from 1962 to 1969, he dressed far more conservatively - a short back and sides paired with tailored separates and era-appropriate striped slim ties.

It’s not too dissimilar when you look at thriller The Man Who Haunted Himself (1970) - in my opinion, Moore’s best film - where his sleek, simple black suits are accompanied by the merest hints of the new decade’s signature style: a moustache and bushier hair.

Contrast this with his televisual turn in The Persuaders! which ran for two seasons from 1971-1972, his last gig before his first outing as Bond in 1973’s Live and Let Die. His character here is Seventies style on steroids: kipper ties, shiny leather overcoats, navel-length neck scarves brushing against an exposed chest, and vivid, garish colour.

With such wild swings in style, and - unlike today - very few red carpet or off-duty paparazzi photos in this era, it’s hard to decipher how much of his characters’ garb reflected Moore’s personal off-screen style.. However, London tailoring house Mason & Sons provides us with a glimpse.

Run by Elliot Mason and his father, David, Mason & Sons has a long history with Bond - and, more importantly, with Roger Moore himself. In 2012, David Mason was responsible for relaunching the storied tailoring house Anthony Sinclair, who Bond aficionados will know, was the man behind Sean Connery’s on-screen suits during his tenure.

This was the year of the combined Bond fever of the London Olympics and Skyfall (remember Daniel Craig and the Queen jumping out of a helicopter at the opening ceremony?), and Madame Tussauds wanted to create a display of all six actors who had played the spy.

Due to the connection to Sinclair, they approached Mason to create the suit for Connery based on the historic designs they had access to. However, they also asked the house to create the suit for the waxwork of Moore, whose tailor, Douglas Haywood, had passed away in 2008. Not only was Haywood Moore’s on-screen tailor for his final three Bond movies in the 1980s, he was also his off-screen tailor too. Proof that, of all his roles, it is probably Bond’s more streamlined, sleek wardrobe in For Your Eyes Only (1981), Octopussy (1983), and A View to a Kill (1985), with sharper lines and less gimmicks, that most closely resemble Moore’s own style.

Similarly, after kitting out his waxwork in 2012, Mason became Moore’s tailor until his passing in 2017. Mason & Sons made him grey flannel trousers and navy blazers exclusively. After a lifetime being dressed in the most outlandish men’s clothing on screen, his uniform of choice was crisp, classic and straightforward.

“He certainly wasn’t an eccentric himself, so it makes sense that by the time he was coming to see us in the last few years of his life, he had started to dress in a very elegant, classic way,” says Mason. “He had lived beyond all the trends.”

Apart from style, I ask, were there any similarities between Moore’s on-screen and off-screen personas?

“I remember when Roger first came into our premises in Marylebone, his waxwork was standing there naked in the corner,” says Mason. “He sat, looked it up and down, smiled and said, ‘Not bad, but the package is far too small.’ He was very funny, and incredibly charming.”

It seems you can take the man out of Bond’s clothes, but you can’t take Bond out of the man.

From Roger Moore with Love airs on BBC2 at 9pm on Christmas Day