Greetings one and all.

The past issues of JQ have dealt in great detail with the specifics of how to live the Bond life: how to experience dining and traveling in the Bond style, how to dress like a Double-Oh and how to act in a time of war. Along the way, there were mentions of how a woman would be expected to behave in such circumstances, in other words how to be a Bond Girl. However, all the elements were never put together in one place to make a complete guide. This issue rectifies that problem.

A Bond Girl is called a “girl” because she has the best parts of being a girl (that is she knows how to have fun, and knows how to play well with others), while having the maturity and intellect of a woman. While she isn’t innocent by any stretch of the imagination, she isn’t unduly cynical about the world. A realist when she must be, a Bond Girl always maintains a positive attitude. While youthful in appearance, she knows that outfits that bare her midriff and everyone know the secret Victoria is keeping, aren’t for her.

A Bond Girl first and always is a class act.

DEMEANOR

Professional: You are often working with people you would not have chosen to be around and yet your responsibilities dictate that you be there. If a person you dislike is a capable worker, extend to them the courtesies of a polite hello, how are you, and goodbye at the end of the day. As long as they do their job, there is no reason for you to do anything more than yours. Personal vendettas have no place in the workplace. Period.

With those colleagues you do like, of course feel free to socialize as much as work will allow. Mind you, gossip is the surest way to turn a pleasant relationship into a nasty one, for you never know what another person might really be thinking or feeling. Keep the gossip to that month’s Jen and Ben crisis. Also, be sure to make sure no one feels excluded in your office. Exclusion, even if it is unintentional, will cause problems down the road.

Smile. At Everyone. Even if you don’t feel like it. There are studies that say that smiling will make you feel better, and even though I don’t know if that is true, I know that the person you smile at will feel better. Be kind to everyone you meet, and that includes all service staff you deal with. They are human too, and should never be spoken down to. It should go without saying (and yet still needs to be said) that the words “please” and “thank you” should bracket every request you make.

When you do something wrong, say you are sorry, and live up to your mistake. If you cannot do something for any reason, say so. Being honest about your capabilities is by no means a sign of weakness or incompetence on the contrary it highlights your strengths as a worker and displays your strength of character.

Personal: Your life is your own, to be sure, but that doesn’t mean that you won’t have an effect on others. Everything you do is going to have some sort of influence, and Bond Girls understand that and make sure that their influence is a positive one.

Be a friend. When you get involved with a lover, don’t drop your friends. Besides the fact you need to friends to give you a healthy perspective on your relationships, you always need time away from your lover to do the things your lover might not enjoy doing, or time to develop yourself, or time just to be in a relationship that doesn’t involve romance and or sex. Your friends were there first, and chances are they will be there after the lover goes away. Never forget that.

If you say the words, “If there is anything I can do,” mean it. It could be a grand gesture like getting a friend back to his or her home town in an emergency, or it could a smaller gesture like showing up with a bottle of wine and sitting up all night with your friend when he or she hits a rough patch. There is nothing fair socially or emotionally about a fair weather friend. James Bond isn’t that kind of man, and Bond Girls are not that kind of woman.

In a romantic relationship, be loyal. And when I say be loyal, that goes beyond the obvious ban on cheating. Be loyal by being there for them for serious professional occasions as well as personal ones. Be loyal by keeping the details of your dates and your pillow talk between yourselves. Be loyal by treasuring the gifts your lover gives you, while not gloating over it. Be loyal by being true, body, mind and soul.

If love letters are exchanged between the two of you, keep them near your bed for the duration of your relationship, in an appropriately locked box. When the relationship is over, move the box away someplace where your new lover can’t find it easily. It’s nice to look back on your past from time to time, but there is no need to rub your new lover’s face in it.

Of course, in most relationships, there comes a point when it is over. And when that moment happens, Bond Girls don’t cry in front of the other person. If the lover wants to go, there is no point in begging them, emotionally blackmailing them, or otherwise somehow trying to make them stay. They won’t. Let them go with a smile and a thanks for the time you had together. Keep yourself together until you are alone and then fall apart if you must. Keep in mind though, Bond Girls know the ones that are worthy of tears and the ones that just aren’t.

THE LOOK

Attire: In the Bond films we have seen women in suits (business and swim), we have seen women in all sorts of gowns and lingerie, women in shorts and tops, and even peeking out from under the sheets. What we have never seen a Bond Girl in is something that makes her look like a tramp. Bond Girls know if they have the legs to pull off short shorts, how much décolletage they can show without risking giving everyone a view to a thrill, and most of all they can answer for themselves that timeless question, “Do these trousers make me look fat?”

Bond Girls know what styles of trousers and skirts, suits and gowns, fit their body type best. They know what colors flatter their complexion, and which do not. They know that you wear business attire at work and they know which accessories to carry with them to turn an appropriately cut black business suit into a dazzling black dinner outfit, and most of all they know never to get the two looks confused. They know how to work Mary Janes to get them as much attention as stiletto heels.

Accessories: Leave the bangle jewelry for the evening events. During the day, simplicity rules. Small hoop or stud earrings and a simple watch are fine. If you are going to wear a broach on your suit or dress, make sure it doesn’t overpower the outfit. (The same goes for the scarf you might be wearing.) Pendants should also be simple. Again, for night events, bring out the flashier items, but don’t make that the centerpiece of your look. Flashing your jewelry does not speak of beauty; it speaks of someone so unsure of her own beauty, she uses artificial means to cover that up.

Hair and Makeup: Again, take note: Every time we have seen a Bond Girl in the office, her look has been pristine. Her hair is always neatly combed, wore down if it is in a short bob, or pulled back in an appropriate bun or roll. True, Doctor Jones did have her hair down in the field, but she kept it off her face. And those women who do elect to wear their hair down at evening events, remember this: The bigger the hair, the more you have to hide.

Have you ever seen a Bond Girl’s makeup look garish? Of course not. Bond girls understand there is a time to wear the red lipstick and the dramatic eye makeup, and that there is a time to look like you are not wearing any makeup at all. For those who need a hint, here it is: Stay with neutral tones for the office, in the daytime, and at somber events. The later the event, the more posh it will be, the more fun you can have with your makeup.

Everything – the outfit, the accessories, and the hair and makeup – should be in perfect balance. One item should not pull attention away from the other two, and certainly should not be the center of attention. You the person should be the center of attention.

In other words, Bond Girls know how to look fabulous in everything they wear because they have the confidence in themselves to go with it.

THE GIRL HERSELF

James Bond loves to take pleasure in great beauty, and his Bond girls are great beauties on the outside and the inside.

On the inside they take care of themselves. If they smoke and drink they keep it to a sociable minimum, and they don’t force others to drink and smoke along with them, if they don’t want to. Bond Girls know what their body can take, so they make sure to get enough sleep to get through the next day. They eat balanced meals so they don’t have to go on any crazy denial diets later on. They exercise regularly – and running away from exploding buildings and bad guys with Uzis does not count.

No matter how bad the girl is, Bond Girls know never to drink too much that they are no longer responsible for themselves. There is nothing attractive about a girl who can barely walk and talk for herself. Most of all, they never, ever, do drugs. They get high on the pleasures life gives them.

Most of all, Bond Girls are responsible – to their lovers, to their friends, and to themselves.

They drive their own car.

They fix their own flat tires and know how to jump-start a stalled car.

They do their own minor plumbing and house repairs.

They know how to buy electrical appliances without having a man around to do it for them.

They have their own money to buy what they want, when they want it.

They know enough about self-defense to save themselves in a dangerous situation.

They know enough about self-defense to know how to avoid being in a dangerous situation in the first place.

They know themselves and are at peace with who they are.

They know how to love a man.

They know in order to love a man the way he should be loved, they need to love themselves first.

Yes, James Bond has his girls, and he adores every one of them. But it is the ones he loves best that he knows are girls in the fun and lighted-hearted spirit only. The true Bond Girls are true women in every way.