Welcome back to the Gentleman's Gazette. In today's video, we'll discuss the
second film in the Kingsman film franchise and
analyze what it gets right and wrong about classic men's style.
As you may have guessed from the intro sequence, this video is the second
in a series analyzing the style of the ongoing
Kingsman film franchise. If you'd like to see the first video
which covers Kingsman: The Secret Service from 2014,
you can go here. (link in description box).
As we said in that video, these films would seem at first glance
to be right up the alley of a classic menswear enthusiast
featuring things like black tie, sharp suits, and
other menswear ensembles. And the cover for the kingsman organization
is even a tailor shop on savile row but what we'll be
examining today is how closely this second film in the series
hues to the tenets of classic men's style.
As before. if you're looking for a review of the film in terms of watchability,
we will briefly touch on that toward the end but our focus today is on the
clothes themselves. So with that said, let's get
into our review of Kingsman: The Golden Circle from 2017
starting as we did in the previous video with a breakdown of the specific style
choices of each of the main characters. Eggsy has now assumed the code name of
Galahad and he starts this movie in his
signature outfit from the previous film, the
navy pinstriped suit. In his civilian life however, we do still see him in his
typical streetwear ensembles of polos, ball caps, and sneakers. We see
more different kinds of outfits from Eggsy in this film
including a gray-blue double-breasted suit with the standard blue,
pink, and brown rep tie, a white shirt, and tv-folded white pocket square. A fairly
well-known black tie ensemble of Eggsy's that was featured in
a lot of the film's marketing consists of an orange velvet
dinner jacket with black velvet peak lapels and side vents,
a white shirt with regular buttons, a black velvet
batwing bow tie, white tv-folded pocket square,
black trousers, and gold cufflinks. Again, when compared to the standards of
classic black tie, some of these details aren't quite
correct. We wouldn't advise that you wear a black
tie ensemble with a regular dress shirt but rather a
more formal tuxedo shirt. The orange color is of course quite bold
and typical tuxedo jackets should have no
vents. Rather than double vents, however, two
vents can be acceptable on a black tie jacket
though ventless is most correct. Other ensembles we see
Eggsy wear in the film include a charcoal suit with a pink pinstripe, a
plain navy suit, and toward the end of the film,
formal military attire. We can also see that
some of Eggsy's oxfords in this film themselves have broguing. Further
illustrating our point that the two types of shoe
are not mutually exclusive. While it may be a bit into spoiler territory here,
we do see Colin Firth's Galahad again in the second film in the series. First,
we see him in a flashback wearing a white shirt and navy pin dot
tie. Later in the film, he's reintroduced
wearing a sporty grey zip-up, plain white t-shirt, track pants,
white sneakers, and an eye patch. He's also shaving with a traditional
double-edged safety razor and if you'd like to see our videos on
that topic, you can go here. (link in description box). Other outfits we see
from Harry in this film include his standard navy pinstriped
Kingsman ensemble, a plain light gray double-breasted suit,
a plain charcoal double-breasted suit and
morning dress with a pink waistcoat and tartan trousers,
as well as a white carnation boutonniere. The character of
Merlin is again seen wearing a v-neck sweater,
this time in a two-toned grey and brown design,
white shirt, black or very dark blue plain tie, and his signature club master
glasses. We later see him in two other outfits:
one consisting of a flat cap tartan patterned field jacket with belt
and gray pants, and the standard navy pinstripe Kingsman
ensemble that we've discussed several times.
Before the character of charlie played by Edward Holcroft
appears in the second film as well, we see him first in streetwear then in
outfits consisting of horsebit loafers, a flat cap,
and a signet ring, a double-breasted trench coat,
an ocbd shirt navy crew neck navy puffer jacket and
parka and maroon chinos with the Hermes belt.
also making a return. The new kingsman agent to assume the code name of Arthur
is seen in the film wearing a navy double-breasted suit with a
faint blue overcheck, a white tv-folded pocket square,
white shirt, and the pink blue and brown striped repp tie
that the old Arthur also wore. The villainous henchman named
Charles played by Keith Allen wears an ensemble consisting of a powder blue
suit with narrow-peak lapels, a blue striped shirt, white belt, and
white loafers while going sockless. Meanwhile the
henchman Angel or Angel played by Tom Benedict
Knight is first seen wearing a mauve jacket
with narrow lapels, a pink shirt with a Cuban collar, a gold
necklace, dark jeans, and a white belt while also
going sockless. He's later seen in a navy blue single
breasted suit with peak lapels, a navy shirt, and a blue textured silk
tie. We typically wouldn't advise going for this sort of
tone-on-tone look but if you'd like more information about
monochromatically inspired outfits, you can find our video on that topic
here. We'll again briefly touch on some of the female characters in the film
starting here with the main villain Poppy Adams played by Julianne Moore.
To match the aesthetics of her secret lair, she often dresses in generally
1950s styles including dresses and matching
high-heeled shoes as well as a bowling outfit. Her goons
meanwhile will wear things like letterman jackets, soda jerk outfits, and
bellhop outfits. We also see Poppy in a floral print
dress at another point in the film. The character of Roxy has now assumed
the code name of Lancelot and the first time we see her in the
film, she's wearing a more typically Kingsman-inspired ensemble consisting of
a gray double-breasted jacket with a Prince of Wales check pattern in
light blue, a white shirt and repp tie and the
standard tv-folded white pocket square. Meanwhile, Halle
Berry's Ginger Ale is something of a statesman
counterpart to Merlin and we first see her in a vest white
shirt and string tie with an overall businessy look. We later
see her in the standard statesman-styled ensemble of
jeans, charcoal western-style jacket, and a
v-neck sweater and all the while she wears club master
glasses as well though in a more feminine cat-eye style.
Looking at another example of black tie, we'll go to the character of the king of
Sweden played by Bjorn Granath. He wears a
standard black tux with satin peak lapels, a
pleated shirt and a black bow tie, as well as a white square-folded
pocket square. We later see him in a more casual outfit of
white shirt, black pants, and gray v-neck sweater
as well as formal royal or military attire
toward the end of the film. His Swedish guards meanwhile have a distinctly
18th century look about them. Now, we'll look at the style of some of the
statesman agents: the American analog to the Kingsman organization.
We'll start with the character of Tequila played by Channing Tatum.
We first see him wearing a denim-on-denim
ensemble of jeans and a denim jacket as well as a belt buckle that looks like a
flask, tan cowboy hat, western-style white shirt
with snaps instead of buttons, brown boots,
brown gloves, and aviator-style glasses. Another notable piece of outerwear for
the character is a traditionally styled shearling jacket in tan and off-white
and toward the end of the film, we see him assume the role of a Kingsman agent
wearing an ensemble consisting of black boots,
a charcoal suit with a rust-colored pinstripe,
white shirt that also has a thin stripe, a Kingsman repp tie,
white tv-folded pocket square and a black
bowler hat. The character of Champagne or Champ as played by Jeff Bridges is first
seen in a western-style grey jacket with peak
lapels and also a darker gray vest as well as a
white shirt that again, has snaps which seem to be a standard
feature for the statesman. He's also wearing a neckerchief, gray
cowboy hat, statesman lapel pin, jeans, and a signet
ring. We later see him in variations on this
outfit as well as an all ivory double-breasted
suit, white shirt and various gold accessories
toward the end of the film. The final statesman to discuss
here is Whiskey as played by Pedro Pascal.
We first see him in a black-colored western jacket
as well as a black hat, a white shirt, and a black
grenadine tie. Another ensemble consists of a
black leather jacket, white t-shirt jeans, and what might appear to be Wellington
style boots. Other features of his outfits include a
studded belt, a dark brown hat, similarly two-toned
jackets, a striped grenadine tie, skiing attire
and typical denim-on-denim statesman ensembles. Next up, some more unremarkable
characters that are still examples of typical menswear. The first of these
would be the President of the United States as played by Bruce Greenwood
who wears a typical black suit, white barrel cuffed shirt,
red solid tie, American flag pin, dress watch and black belt and black
shoes. The black suit is a typical ensemble for
many politicians but overall, we find the color of black to be
fairly overrated. You can find our video on black
suits here and our video on why we think black is the most overrated color in
menswear. (link in the description box. We also see a lawyer character
named Pruitt played by Jeff Ricketts late into
the film who wears an unremarkable ensemble of a
charcoal suit, white shirt, blue grena faux tie,
and blue pocket square. Eggsy's friends or mates as the Brits would say,
typically wear street wear though toward the end of the
film, they can be seen in suits at Eggsy's wedding also
accented by carnation boutonnieres. And finally here, we'd be remiss not to
mention the various outfits worn by Elton John who plays
himself in this film. These consist first of a
sparkly and sequined show business outfit, an outfit
with a tracksuit and tennis shoes, what can only be described as a peacock
outfit, and late in the film, more traditional
morning dress. So how would we characterize the style
of the second film overall? It seems to be a bit less
inspired at least in the realm of men's tailoring.
The Kingsman agents have less overall variety in their wardrobe
choices and when other characters wear suits,
they're either unremarkable and boring or more clearly
influenced by modern style. Though in some cases, this
can be appropriate for their characters and when considering characters like the
statesmen, the villains, and of course Elton John,
things really do get more into the realm of
costumes. So what do we think of the film in terms of its overall watchability
then? Well, even though I enjoyed the first
film just as much for its plot as for its wardrobe choices,
I would say that personally, I found this second film in the
series to be less entertaining on both counts
and as with the first film, this one too has an
R rating for its gratuitous action, violence,
gore, and occasional crude humor and subject matter. In other words, it's not
exactly gentlemanly on all fronts if that should
impact your desire to see it but again, it does approach the world of
menswear and a gentleman's lifestyle with what
can be described as an aspirational or appreciative tone and
for that, we can compliment it. This film features fewer memorable
quotes than the first one does. Think of things like "Manners maketh man."
or "A suit is a gentleman's suit of armor." for example,
but it does still show that being well-rounded in gentlemanly pursuits
is something worth looking after. For example, a
flashback sequence toward the beginning of the film features Eggsy and
Galahad in a section about table manners and silverware placement. Later, formal
dinner conversation includes topics as diverse as art the
economy and technology. In other words, what these scenes are
illustrating is that it's not enough just to look good to be a gentleman,
you've also got to be well-rounded in your pursuits and
ultimately respectful as well. Overall then,
if the Kingsman films serve as an entry point into the world of classic menswear
for young me,n action film fans, or anyone else,
we see this as a good thing. Just remember that
their menswear advice shouldn't be followed as
strictly as the mission briefing of a super spy.
In today's video, I'm wearing an outfit somewhat inspired by a few of the
different Kingsman characters. Of course, you've seen Raphael in what
would be considered a more standard issue
Kingsman suit before in navy with white pinstripes,
but I've gone for something a bit more casual - mostly inspired by the Merlin
character. It consists mainly of a white shirt and
black cardigan sweater and the shirt has a
semi-spread collar and regular barrel cuffs to fit more
easily under the sleeves of the sweater. The pin dot tie in burgundy red
jacquard silk which is from Fort Belvedere
is a bit more Galahad-inspired and I've got it tied in a
larger knot today to accommodate the wider spread of the collar.
Also from Fort Belvedere are my socks which are in
dark gray with a burgundy and white clock pattern
to provide a bit of visual interest as well as to harmonize with the tie
and the grey scale elements elsewhere throughout my outfit.
My trousers are plain charcoal and my shoes are
black and cap-toed and therefore somewhat formal.
They are darby shoes rather than oxfords but I felt that this was fine because as
we've already established the kingsmen themselves play a little
bit fast and loose with this rule. You can find the tie and
socks that I'm wearing in today's video in the Fort Belvedere shop
along with a wide variety of other menswear accessories
that could suit both a super spy as well as the average man who just cares about
proper men's style.