Fashioning James Bond: Costume, Gender and Identity in the World of 007

Fashioning James Bond provides the first full-length critical study of the costume and fashion evident in the James Bond films. Its methodological approach includes research generated from archives, close textual analysis of the costumes and fashion brands presented within the James Bond films, interviews with families of tailors and shirtmakers who assisted in creating the look and fashion for the character of James Bond, and critical reception and the marketing strategies for the films, promoted to create a James Bond lifestyle. In it, Chapman questions why costumes are an important tool for analysing and evaluating film, both in terms of the development of gender in the James Bond film franchise and how it evokes the desire in audiences to become part of a specific lifestyle construct through the wearing of fashions as seen on screen. It researches the agency of the costume department, director, producer and actor in creating the look and characterisation of James Bond, the villains, the Bond girls and the henchmen who inhibit the world of 007. In doing so, this book contributes to the emerging critical literature surrounding the combined areas of film, fashion, gender and James Bond.