Bond initially treats a small detail of dress as evidence of character. To him, the Windsor knot suggests vanity and even social unreliability, showing how quickly appearance can become the basis for a wider judgement about another person.

The important turn comes in the final sentence. Bond recognises that this reaction is a prejudice and consciously decides to set it aside. The passage therefore does more than record a preference about clothing; it shows a distinction between having an instinctive judgement and allowing that judgement to determine one’s assessment of someone.

More broadly, the quotation reflects how social conventions, style and class-coded signals can influence perceptions of character. It also presents self-correction as part of sound judgement: first impressions may be immediate and strongly felt, but they can be reconsidered when there is insufficient evidence to support them.