News Archives - The Chap

18th March 2020 News

FREE Digital Edition

It has come to our attention that many good folk will be confined to barracks during the coronavirus epidemic, and to while away the long hours in one’s homestead we are offering self-isolating chaps a completely free digital edition of The Chap. The risks even of popping out to one’s local newsagent are such that one is ill advised to make anything except the most essential purchases, such as kid leather gloves, tweed face masks etc – see A Chap’s Guide to Coronavirus for further advice. Our free digital edition is the 100th special anniversary issue, featuring Terry-Thomas, Leslie Phillips,… Keep Reading

12th March 2020 News

A Chap’s Guide to Coronavirus

It has come to our attention that there is a lot of fuss and panic over some new disease that causes people to buy entire shelves full of lavatory paper and don face masks. Since this publication is in the habit of offering what we feel is useful sartorial advice to gentlemen and ladies, we feel it is expected of us to offer an appropriate sartorial response to Covid-19. The initial government advice regarding the spread of coronavirus is for citizens to wash their hands adequately, steer clear of densely populated public places and wear gloves – so far, so… Keep Reading

3rd March 2020 News

Chap Joins SJC for Pop Up Shop

On Sunday 15th March 2020, The Chap is collaborating with famed vintage-style menswear brand Simon James Cathcart in a real bricks-and-mortar establishment in London. Within the splendid Georgian fittings of the Clerk’s House on Shoreditch High Street, SJC will be showcasing their new lines of menswear as well as some of their new womenswear collection. Meanwhile, The Chap will be purveying its gentlemen’s grooming products, pocket squares, books and magazines. On the evening of Sunday 15th March, Chaps and Chapettes are invited to share some complimentary gin fizz and join in a Cockney Singalong with Tom Carradine. Simon James Cathcart… Keep Reading

6th February 2020 News

The Chap Spring 20

The first Chap edition of the new decade is out now. Chap Spring 20 is our Hollywood Special, delving into the golden age of the city of dreams. Our main interview is with dapper actor Alec Baldwin, who delivers his firm views on menswear on both sides of the Atlantic. Featured profiles of Ava Gardner and Robert Mitchum look at why the work of these two Hollywood icons is still worthy of our attention, with a top five Ava Gardner film list. Living 60s legend Rita Tushingham spills the beans on playing a witch in The Pale Horse and giving… Keep Reading

28th January 2020 News

An Interview with Nicholas Parsons

As a nonagenarian, Nicholas Parsons radiates polite yet firm resolve on matters of neckwear: “I think the cravat is a very elegant form of dress, a colourful and sophisticated accessory. I own at least 30. What I don’t understand is, people wear an open neck shirt with a beautifully tailored jacket. This goes against the grain with me. A tie, or better still, a cravat, complements a jacket. I always wear cravats for my one man show.” Our conversation takes place in the secluded Buckinghamshire barn conversion where Nicholas resides with his adoring wife Annie. Exposed beams, brick open fireplace… Keep Reading

28th January 2020 News

Debonair Moustache Wax

Upon receiving an invitation to visit the famed Captain Fawcett factory of all things hirsute in Norfolk, my first concerns were sartorial. Would such a visit require the donning of white coats, plastic sunglasses and special safety equipment and, most importantly, would I be permitted to smoke my pipe? I buried these deep concerns for the 3-hour drive from Chap HQ, having secured a billet at the Dragonfly Hotel, situated a stone’s throw from Fawcett HQ in King’s Lynn. This was my first ever visit to the mediaeval city known for its prime role in the Hanseatic League of Ports… Keep Reading

31st December 2019 News

RIP Neil Innes

Neil Innes died unexpectedly of a heart attack on the night of 29th December at his home in Toulouse, France. Innes was one of the founding members of the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, writing and performing the group’s biggest hit, I’m the Urban Spaceman, which reached the Top 10 on the British charts in 1968. He is the third member of the Bonzos to pass, along with Sam Spoons in 2018 and Vivian Stanshall in 1995. “We found the sort of songs we wanted to learn from old 78 Gramophone records,” Innes said in 2004, “the breakable ones, which… Keep Reading

29th December 2019 News

A Good Year For The Chaps

2019 was a significant year for The Chap, with the celebration of 20 years of anarcho-dandyism and publication of our 100th edition in May. This special centenary edition featured the greatest chap of all time, Terry-Thomas, on the front cover and an interview with the greatest living chap Leslie Phillips. We also marked this momentous anniversary with publication of Best of The Chap, a collection of the finest articles from the last 100 editions in a splendid 300-page hardback volume. This was also the year we launched our very own eau de cologne, Flâneur, as well as its accompanying range… Keep Reading

13th November 2019 News

Chap Winter 19 Out Now

Issue 102 of The Chap celebrates the mad, the eccentric and the maverick artiste, commencing with a surreal conversation between actor Tony Pitts and comedian Vic Reeves. We also meet Dexys frontman Kevin Rowland, who discusses his long musical career and allows us a glimpse into his immense personal wardrobe. Maverick icons featured include Marilyn Monroe, Errol Flynn and David Niven’s army chum Michael Trubshawe, who received a name check in every one of Niven’s films. Sartorial features include a visit to Mason & Sons, the menswear maker and bespoke tailor housed in John Lennon’s old flat in Marylebone, where… Keep Reading

24th October 2019 News

Peaky Blinders Soundtrack

UMC (Universal Music Catalogue) is releasing the first-ever official soundtrack to the series Peaky Blinders, in a two-CD set spanning all five series, which will also be available as a 3-record vinyl release. Since the opening credits of the first series, using Nick Cave’s menacing Red Right Hand to set the sinister tone, music has been integral to the narrative and style of Peaky Blinders. A new version of Red Right Hand by PJ Harvey, only available on this release, has been specially recorded for the series, now available to stream from here. Also exclusive to the new soundtrack album… Keep Reading

19th September 2019 News

Revolution in the Bathroom

Men’s grooming brand Urban Jack declares itself to be on a mission to improve men’s skincare. “Every day,” they tell us, “mens’ skin goes into battle with environmental factors, from exhaust fumes to the unpredictable British weather. Throw in a gym session, a park run and one too many late nights, and it’s little wonder about the state men’s skin is in.” There’s nothing Chaps can do about environmental factors and the British weather, and too many late nights are always worth paying any price for, though naturally we can give gymnasia and park runs a wide berth. And then… Keep Reading

11th September 2019 News

Chap Olympiad at Goodwood Revival

This year sees the return of the legendary Chap Olympiad at Britain’s foremost vintage motorcar race meeting. Taking place over the weekend of 13th-15th September at Goodwood Motor Circuit, this year looks set to have decent weather, for once. As well as the roar of petrol engines in vintage Maseratis, Bugattis and Lamborghinis, flypasts in Spitfires and Hurricanes, a vintage fashion show and endless sideshow entertainment, visitors may take part in the Chap Olympiad thrice daily in the Over the Road area, at 11m, 2pm and 5pm on all three days of the festival. This will be The Chap’s fifth… Keep Reading