World style domination

Togged up in thick socks, brogues, tweed plus fours and a cardie, in various tones of rust and mustard to acknowledge his obsession with hi-worth metallurgy, Goldfinger comes off not as menacing but as cuddly, clumsy, comedic - Wodehousian, even - while slender, urbane Bond, in black sports casuals and a Doherty-esque trilby, looks much more the Gary Player-ish, 19th hole barfly. Photograph: Kobal

Back in the 60s, the default setting kit for a megalomaniacal nutcase, hellbent on world domination, was a vaguely Chinese tunic with buttons fastened all the way to the top. Accessorise with a vicious scar, a fluffy white cat and a big chair nicked from the Big Brother Diary Room, and you have the archetypal Fleming bad boy. The initially scary Blofeld appeared in seven Bond films, played variously by six different actors (including Telly Savalas), but his Maoist suits remained a constant. Photograph: Kobal

Christopher Walken stepped in to play Zorin when David Bowie turned down the role, and you can see the Thin White Duke's influence in his steely Euro style. As one would expect from the product of a botched Nazi experiment, computer-chip mogul now resident in France, Zorin was coolly particular, hygienic and stylistically aloof rather than overtly fashionable, but in the odd scene his choice of closely tailored, three-buttoned suits predated similar ensembles by Prada by several years. Photograph: Allstar Picture Library

It's a good job this guy had some elaborately menacing dentistry to fall back on because, from the neck down, Jaws' outfit shows the distinct influence of nothing more intimidating than a crooning Terry Venables. Actually, strike that; take off the head and you have a smart-casual, Tarby-at-Wentworth style that bears more than a passing resemblance to the outfit Gordon Brown wore on his recent holiday to Suffolk. Photograph: Allstar Picture Library

Played by Christopher Lee, Scaramanga's easy Catalan style paid unfortunate tribute to the US leisurewear craze of the 70s; so the shirt-cut white suit has a ghillie collar and feminine buttons, making our baddie look more benign Austrian pharmacist than ruthless assassin. The outfit is saved from terminal naffness by some choice accessories: nice cufflinks and a gold cigarette lighter that turns into a hand gun. Photograph: Ronald Grant Archive