News Archives - The Chap

3rd December 2020 News

Raffish Pocket Square

Brand-new pocket square from The Chap adds a touch of decadence to evening wear Following the recent launch of our new eau de cologne, Raffish, we commanded designer Caroline Lindop, who had designed the packaging for said gentleman’s fragrance, to come up with an accompanying pocket square. “Who is this pocket square for?” was her simple yet penetrating question. “Ah,” came the wistful reply, from behind the curls of smoke rising from the chaise longue in Chap HQ. “Like the scent bearing the same name, it is for the gentleman with a louche side, who puts on evening wear at… Keep Reading

10th November 2020 Interviews/News

Geoffrey Palmer

Several years ago, Alex Smythe-Smith met the lugubrious actor, who recently passed away aged 93, at his home in Buckinghamshire When I interviewed Geoffrey Palmer several years ago, I conducted what I believed to be a credible amount of preparation via research. My overwhelming desire to be aptly primed was based on the instinct that my subject would neither compromise his expectations nor tolerate any misinformation on my part. In short, I didn’t want any cock-ups on the catering front. Geoffrey Palmer’s directness initially veered towards intimidating, particularly on a couple of topics. Those matters I will reveal shortly. However,… Keep Reading

2nd November 2020 News

The new edition: CHAP Winter 20

Our Winter 2020 edition features an extensive interview with Sir Ranulph Fiennes, who discusses how he switched from a long career in the army to the life of an explorer, his discovery of the lost city of Ubar, how he got kicked out the SAS and how he tried to cure his vertigo by climbing the Eiger. Other encounters with remarkable men include an afternoon with fizz-swilling bon vivant and cabaret singer Champagne Charlie, as well as Australian hat maker Blake ‘Blakesby’ Canham-Bennett, whose headwear creations have travelled as far as Siberia and Egypt. Professional Egyptologists John and Colleen Darnell… Keep Reading

1st November 2020 News

Sean Connery 1930-2020

Gustav Temple pays tribute to the only actor who successfully captured all the attributes of the character of James Bond on screen 2020 has not been a good year for the James Bond oeuvre. First we lost Pussy Galore (Goldfinger, 1964) played by Honor Blackman, in April, then Mrs Bond (On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, 1969), played by Diana Rigg, in September. But now the figure at the very top of the tree in the world of 007 has gone: Sean Connery is dead. Ian Fleming was not impressed with Bond producers Cubby Broccoli and Harry Saltzman when they introduced… Keep Reading

29th October 2020 Fashion/Features/News

Clare Bradley, British Sewing Bee Champion 2020

Minerva Miller discusses practical glamour and the lost art of mending with this year’s Sewing Bee Champion and vintage enthusiast Clare Bradley While watching the first episode of the 2020 series of The Great British Sewing Bee last April, one of the contestants immediately stood out: wearing a vintage inspired dress, she expressed her enjoyment of ‘vintage events’ at which there was ‘lots of gin’. This was Clare Bradley from Winchester, whose accurate sewing skills, consistency and creativity eventually led her to win the competition. Clare’s plucky cheerfulness and steely determination (think a combination of Celia Johnson and Jane Marple… Keep Reading

25th September 2020 News

Juliette Greco

Juliette Greco was the rebel dandizette, new bohemian icon and existentialist chanteuse of post-war Paris, says Sunday Swift If you were looking for one figure that exemplified the existentialist movement, in her music, her aesthetics and her rebellious persona, it would be Juliette Gréco. A 1960 article in Life magazine declared Gréco as the “soul of post-war Paris” and she went on to perform and record for over 70 years. “I don’t take orders well and I’m not very obedient,” Juliette Gréco said in a 1999 interview for The Guardian. She belongs in a new category of dandy, setting her apart… Keep Reading

22nd September 2020 Fashion/News

Chap Pocket Squares

The imminent launch of a brand-new pocket square design sees the restocking of our coveted breast pocket adornments The launch of our new eau de cologne Raffish has led to the inevitable question: which pocket square is the correct one to wear alongside this decadent gentlemen’s fragrance? The solution seemed to be the design of a brand-new pocket square bearing the raffish credentials of the scent itself. To this end, we asked our resident pocket square and fragrance label designer Caroline Lindop: please design a motif that captures the louche spirit of a chap setting off at midnight in search… Keep Reading

11th September 2020 News

RIP Diana Rigg

With the passing of Diana Rigg, Sunday Swift reflects on her most iconic role, Emma Peel in The Avengers, ahead of a full tribute to the actress in our next edition The female dandy, AKA the cointrelle, quaintrelle, dandizette, lioness, peahen, chapette or dandyess, receives less attention than her male counterpart. Many words have been written about the immaculate dandyism of Patrick Macnee in The Avengers. With the passing of Diana Rigg, we turn our attention to Steed’s partner Emma Peel and her impeccable fashion sense. Steed’s controlled, sharp, traditional Edwardian-inspired dandyism seems, in many ways, strikingly contrary to… Keep Reading

17th August 2020 News

Video: Autumn 20 Contents

A short videogramme showcasing the splendid contents of our latest edition, available now in all good newsagents and from here The latest edition of The Chap is so packed full of stimulating content that we felt it could only effectively expressed via the medium of video. In this one-minute snapshot of our 164-page Autumn issue, you will glimpse the mod style of Martin Freeman, the eccentric elan of cyclist Tom Simpson, the pastel chic of Palm Beach style, the vintage Riviera style of designer Scott Simpson, plus some groovy beat girls shaking their capri pants to cool jazz. Further items… Keep Reading

11th August 2020 News

Chap Autumn 20

The new edition celebrates summer on the Riviera, via Worthing, Mont Ventoux and Tiger Bay, Cardiff Chap Autumn 20 is the second edition of this gentleman’s gazette published during lockdown and, if anything, the limitations have pushed the editorial team to produce a no less sensational edition than under normal circumstances. View a short video here Heading the contents is a lengthy interview with Martin Freeman, who waxes lyrical on mods, clothing, acid jazz and poorly dressed actors. We also meet cockney singalong maestro Tom Carradine; author Alexander Larman, who discusses his new book about the abdication of Edward VIII;… Keep Reading

7th August 2020 News

Raffish Eau de Cologne

Hot on the heels of Flaneur comes a new gentlemanly scent that is more appropriate for night mischief Last year The Chap released its first fragrance for men, Flaneur, which was designed to be worn during daytime strolls about town in flannels and straw boater. Now comes a brand-new scent to be worn by gentlemen when darkness falls and one’s top hat, walking cane and monocle are summoning the spirit of midnight adventures: Raffish Raffish has been designed to perform an altogether different function in the life of a gentleman than Flaneur. When the mood takes a fellow to step… Keep Reading

17th June 2020 News

Sebastian Horsley

A decade after Sebastian Horsley’s death, Gustav Temple recalls the decadent flash of dandyism that was extinguished on 17th June 2010 Dandyism is a setting sun; like the declining star, it is magnificent, without heat and full of melancholy. Charles Baudelaire, 1863 On this day ten years ago, Sebastian Horsley died aged 47 of a heroin overdose. Having befriended this charming libertine a few years previously, a world without him suddenly seemed unsurmountably empty, and at liberty to run its absurd course without this dark satanic dandy to laugh at it. Just as each previous era needed its Lord Rochester, its… Keep Reading