Bond's Hat

CmdrAtticus

I've mulled this over a few times in the past but never really researched this topic very thoroughly and would be interested in any other members input.

In the novels Fleming only mentions Bond wearing a hat on a few occasions that I recall. I have not reread all the novels for a while and my memory may not be that correct on this, but I only remember him wearing them when he was usually undercover, such as when he was in the US in DAF or was impersonating Hilary Bray
in OHMSS. There was the moment he first met Vivienne in TSWLM and she only mentions a soft black hat.

Fleming owned a black homberg, though it was said he more often carried it than wore it. There is an image of him in a fedora and that may be the one he describes Bond wearing in TSWLM.

All of this has made me always wonder if Bond went hatless most of the time - based on the fact Fleming rarely mentioned him wearing one, and he was usually meticulous about what Bond was wearing in the stories - or if he actually did wear one and Fleming just decided not to comment on it. It was pretty rare for any professional in the early 1950's - especially in England, to go out sans hat. Looking at street photos from that era it seems that as the decade progressed the average man had some type of hat on at the beginning of the the 50's but as it advanced towards 1960 one begins seeing more men sans hats.

I realize Connery wore them a few times in the films and they got tossed onto that rack in Moneypenny's office, but I'm sticking with the character's attire in the novels.

So on a daily basis - Bond hat or no hat?

Blackleiter

CmdrAtticus wrote:

I realize Connery wore them a few times in the films and they got tossed onto that rack in Moneypenny's office, but I'm sticking with the character's attire in the novels.

Lazenby is also wearing a hat when we first see his silhouette in the PTS.

superado

Based on memory, yes it seems that Bond wore hats primarily when undercover. In LALD, I think, is such an instance when he was undercover in New York while being hosted by the US government, but the hat he wore also came with other kit that included nylon underwear and of note, he also sported a buzz-cut! In FRWL while SMERSH was reviewing his file, the candid photos of Bond taken without his knowledge had him hatless. In TSWLM, he did wear a hat, along with a dark overcoat/raincoat that seems more for practical purposes and in the scene in which Vivien Michaels first sees him as he stops at the Dreamy Pines motel because of a flat tire, he's standing in the rain at the door and she even thinks he might be another gangster.