On such small things the world turns

Macbeth: i'm just happy to see you ;)

31 Days of Bond Fashion

DAY 5: THE SONIA RYKIEL SUIT as seen in GoldenEye (1995).

In 1995, the Bond franchise (not known for being progressive, then or now) made arguably its most progressive move ever: casting a woman to play M. Given tacit permission for reform after Stella Rimington became Director-General of MI5 in 1992, the new Brosnan era could address some of the allegations of sexism being hurled their predecessors. So, enter Judi Dench. As usual with a Bond film, her first impressions through fashion were everything. 

Costume designer Lindy Hemming turned to French designer and writer Sonia Rykiel for the task: a cream suit in a heavy crêpe fabric, with pewter buttons and a Mandarin collar (the latter tying in nicely to M’s past in Hong Kong). Dench wore it with dark brown sheer tights and chocolate brown shoes from Joan & David. Rykiel was known for creating bold, practical and modern clothes, and for being an inventor of several techniques – she was the first fashion designer, for example, to put seams on the outside of a garment. M’s suit look had an undeniable feminine touch: the patterned collar of the blouse, the bow embellishing the jacket and the skirt that fell to just above her knee. The femininity was intentional, and departed from the conventions of more masculine power suits of the 80s and 90s. Hemming had no intention of ignoring that M was a woman. “The Secret Service is a bit of a man's club,” she said in later production notes, “so I tried to make her look polished, pretty, nice and womanly to combat any feeling of a masculine head of security.” 

In short, it was a suit well suited to calling Bond a “sexist, misogynist dinosaur”.

The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes (1991) - The Boscombe Valley Mystery

Gloucester: I don't want to be your father.