News Archives - The Chap

23rd July 2021 News/The Chap Travels

A New Twist on an Old Ride

Gustav Temple tries out VR technology to overcome a phobia of fairground thrill rides. Disclosure alert: I am terrified of rollercoasters. My idea of hell is to be strapped into a rollercoaster carriage inching its way towards a peak, quaking at the anticipation of the tipping point that will quickly plunge us into a stomach-churning descent, and then up again for more staring in horror at the abyss below. So when I was invited to accompany my teenage son on a new spin on the fairground thrill ride, using VR technology to simulate the journey, my first instinct was to… Keep Reading

8th July 2021 Fashion/News

Gareth Southgate’s Lucky Tie

The England manager’s switch from a lucky waistcoat to a lucky tie has immeasurably increased the fortunes of his team. At England’s last major football tournament, Gareth Southgate was seen at every match sporting a plain blue waistcoat from Marks & Spencer, as reported in 2018 by this very publication. At this year’s European Championship, the waistcoat was consigned to Mr. Southgate’s wardrobe and a new superstitious sartorial token chosen: a lucky tie. To be precise, a polka-dot knitted tie from small Hackney-based menswear brand Percival. Southgate is to be commended for deliberately choosing a small independent label for his… Keep Reading

25th June 2021 News/Reader Offers/The Chap Drinks

The Sexton Hip Flask Offer

A thrilling opportunity to acquire, along with a Chap Hip Flask, a bottle of The Sexton Irish Whiskey. Viewers of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory will recall that five golden tickets were inserted into five random Wonka Bars, each one guaranteeing the finder a visit to the Chocolate Factory and a lifetime’s supply of chocolate. The Chap, in association with The Sexton Irish Whiskey, has created a grown-up version of this thrilling competition. Our new batch of 30 hip flasks has just been released. 12 of them entitle the purchaser to a free whole bottle of The Sexton. What is… Keep Reading

7th June 2021 News

The Summer Edition

The Overlook Revisited edition anticipates a return to the frolics and fun denied to the world over the last year. CHAP Summer 21, out on 17th June, marks the promised return to ‘normality’ by celebrating those who have taken a joyously abnormal approach to life. Our main interview is with the triple Oscar-winning star of Lincoln, Gangs of New York, There Will Be Blood and countless other exceptional movies. He reveals the methods he uses to immerse himself in the tough roles he chooses, and how difficult it can be to get out again. Our first proper photoshoot for over… Keep Reading

31st May 2021 Fashion/News

Adjustable Costume Competition

In conjunction with vintage-inspired Japanese menswear brand Adjustable Costume, we are running a competition to win some of their fabulous accessories. To enter the draw for one of these fabulous prizes, all you have to do it sign up to our newsletter, and you will then receive details of how to enter. The competition closes on 15th June 2021. For the last ten years, with owner Kazuki Kodaka at the helm, Adjustable Costume has been recreating clothing items from their favourite films of the 1940s, 50s, 60s and 70s, along with recreations of iconic clothing items such as Winston Churchill’s… Keep Reading

27th May 2021 News/Reader Offers

Father’s Day Gifts

Some suggested cadeaux for the papa in your life, ranging from the mildly generous to the worshipful This year, Father’s Day falls on Sunday 20th June. Dads across the land, while they quietly fix lawnmowers, construct bird boxes and oil all the hinges on the bathroom cupboards, are blissfully unaware that their scions are rampaging around barely open shops, breaking into a cold sweat at the range of gifts available. ‘Hasn’t he already got about fifty trowels?’ one wonders, while grazing the garden implements. Ditto shovels, spades, garden shears and those little garden forks that no-one else knows the use… Keep Reading

11th April 2021 Features/News

The King of Spin

With the sad loss of The Duke of Edinburgh also comes the loss of one of our finest cricketing royals. Steve Pittard salutes Prince Philip’s marvellous contribution to the princely pastime. The Corfu Compton first gave notice of his sporting prowess at Cheam prep school. The blue-blooded biffer – ‘highly unsympathetic to stonewalling’ – crashed a quickfire 19 coming in as last man. At Gordonstoun he captained the Ist XI, and had to contend with beastly Scottish pitches that had only just been grazed by sheep. The establishment only taught him how to waft the willow – gentlemen didn’t bowl… Keep Reading

24th February 2021 News

The New Edition

CHAP Spring 21, out now, looks back at the Roaring Twenties and compares that thrilling decade to the 2020s. There has been much talk recently of the imminent dawning of a golden, post-pandemic cultural explosion in the arts and a return to the hedonism of the Roaring Twenties that came just after the First World War and the Spanish Flu pandemic. Our new edition delves into this first flowering of music, dance, literature, art and cinema of the 1920s, starting with the force of nature that was Josephine Baker, who took Paris by storm in 1925 as an exotic dancer… Keep Reading

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