The Chap Olympiad 2018 took place on Saturday 14th July in Bedford Square Gardens, Bloomsbury. Never in the field of human clothing was so much worn by so many; especially considering the 28-degree heatwave that swamped London that day. Ignoring details such as climactic conditions, Brown-in-Town, appropriate daywear for a civilised garden party, the guests… … Keep Reading
At the start of Rupert Everett’s new film, we see the Oscar Wilde we know – decked out in evening clothes, telling the titular fairy tale to his two sons. The 1997 film Wilde with Stephen Fry has several scenes like this, which show Wilde as a loving father. And then Everett as Wilde breaks… … Keep Reading
A fashion photoshoot at Hornets Kensington is not just people with cameras taking pictures of people in clothes. It is an opportunity to immerse oneself in the world of Bill Hornets, doyen of this parade of little vintage menswear shops along a quiet alley in Kensington, where so much more than mere clothes is purveyed.… … Keep Reading
The Sussex seaside town of Eastbourne is an odd place for a gentleman, especially two chaps dressed as if auditioning for a regional theatre production of Death in Venice. My dining companion and I shuffle along the seafront, bright linen suits attracting the glare of the sun; the confused glances of the mostly octogenarian citizens… … Keep Reading
It has been discovered that Thomas J Mace-Archer-Mills Esq, a familiar face in television interviews during the Royal Wedding, was a fraud. Mace-Archer-Mills cut the mustard on television, with his upper class accent, traditional attire and air of authority on all things royal, and passed comment on the Royal Wedding without anyone questioning his credentials.… … Keep Reading
The new film written by and starring Timothy Spall uses a format with which readers of The Chap will be familiar. The style of Kind Hearts and Coronets, in which Dennis Price played the lead while all the other roles were played by Alec Guinness, has been taken even further with Stanley, a Man of… … Keep Reading
The first run of our specially designed Chap Pocket Squares proved so popular that they have gone into a second run. In addition, designer Caroline Lindop, who created the first selection, has created a stunning new series of art deco pocket square designs, based on original art deco designs of the 1920s. In response to… … Keep Reading
‘GBR’. It sounds, does it not, like something out of the Sixties? ‘Great British Rail’, at best, or ‘Godawful Bloody Rations.’ So at first glance, the none more upmarket Duke’s hotel in Mayfair – on impeccably swank Duke Street no less – might be forgiven for giving their new premier restaurant another name. With none… … Keep Reading
Lunch at somewhere as legendary as Simpsons-in-the-Strand cannot be taken at a hurried pace. At least half an hour should be spent on pre-prandial chit-chat with the knowledgeable Joshua, Senior Bartender in Simpsons’ tastefully refurbished upstairs cocktail bar. Thankfully the extent of the refurbishment seems to have been no more than a lick of Farrow… … Keep Reading
On Saturday 14th July, The Chap Olympiad welcomes 1500 eccentric chaps and dapper debutantes to Bedford Square Gardens in central London, for a completely unique day of sartorial elegance and sporting mayhem. The purpose of the Chap Olympiad is for chaps and Chapettes to try and beat each other at games such as Umbrella Jousting,… … Keep Reading
I used to live near Hoxton, many years ago, before it was gentrified. I remember when just mentioning its name elicited a giddy thrill of horror amongst polite people; one friend of mine, unironically, told me that I was ‘very brave’ for going there, unchaperoned, after dark. How times change. Now, it’s no longer the… … Keep Reading
Sophie’s steakhouse in Chelsea is one of those places that’s called ‘a London institution’, but then so was Bedlam, and nobody would think of going there any more. Yet the comparison is an unfair one. Sophie’s, which first opened in 2002, was ahead of the curve of the apparently never-ending Goodmans and Hawksmoors that came… … Keep Reading