How Pierce Brosnan sidestepped the tuxedo ban

When Pierce Brosnan signed his James Bond contract, it included a curious clause about how he could dress in other movies: he “was not allowed to wear a tuxedo in any other film.”

That became a nasty surprise for the team behind “The Thomas Crown Affair,” a remake of the 1968 classic whose pivotal heist happens at a formal ball — a setting that practically demands tuxedos.

Cutting or rewriting the scene would have been painful, so costume designer Kate Harrington and Italian tailor Gianni Campagna were tasked with outsmarting the contract.

How did they get around the clause?

The jacket

To an untrained eye it looks as if Brosnan is wearing a standard black tuxedo.

Professionals spot the trick instantly: this isn’t a tux at all, but a deep-navy dinner jacket.

The giveaway is the absence of satin on the lapels, pockets, and trouser stripes — the key detail that separates a tuxedo from a regular jacket. The lapel shape, fabric-covered buttons, and other subtle cues also lean toward an evening suit. Thomas Crown’s outfit is definitively not a tuxedo.

The shirt and the bow tie

Black-tie etiquette requires a buttoned-up white shirt and a neatly tied black bow tie (unless the invitation specifies a different color).

Brosnan wears his shirt with the top two buttons open, and the white bow tie is draped loosely over his shoulder — the opposite of proper black tie.

But what about etiquette?

Dressing like that for such an event would normally be unacceptable. We can see every other guest wearing a black bow tie, which means it’s a strict black-tie affair with no room for improvisation.

If a guest arrives underdressed, the host or maître d’ will always provide the right shirt and bow tie. Strolling around with an open collar and a dangling bow is both sloppy and disrespectful.

Still, a wealthy eccentric like Thomas Crown can get away with it at a charity gala. At a more formal evening — an opera premiere or a diplomatic reception — even someone of his stature would be asked to either change clothes or leave. Enormous wealth doesn’t grant the right to ignore the host’s dress code.