Gustav Temple visits Master Hatter Jayesh Vaghela at Lock & Co to have his original Edwardian top hat restored. Where do you start when restoring an original Edwardian top hat such as mine?The first thing I do is give it a good clean, using plain old tap water. One of the main reasons for the… … Keep Reading
Gustav Temple bespeaks a two-piece suit from bespoke tailors Pratt & Prasad, and finds that having a suit made reveals a lot more about the man underneath it than his sartorial preferences. As I meander along the fully gentrified upper regions of St John’s Hill, Clapham, it occurs to me that seeing a tailor is… … Keep Reading
You know when you get a new pair of brogues, and then all your other brogues suddenly look tired, old and worn-out next to them? Acquiring a Sussex Tweed cap has the same effect on all your other tweed caps. My collection of bakerboy caps numbers only a modest seven, but when The Windover joined… … Keep Reading
There are few items of clothing more in line with the ideology of Chappishness than the blazer. A three-piece tweed whistle will always serve as a winter staple, but for a single garment that denotes both a sense of old-world savoir-faire and go-to-hell exuberance, only a blazer will suffice. The origins of the blazer lie… … Keep Reading
An association between a 1960s blues guitar legend and an English country clothing store seems unlikely, but it is just this odd, eccentric twist on the traditional that makes Cordings of Piccadilly unique among its Jermyn Street neighbours. Eric Clapton became co-owner of Cordings in 2003, but that milestone was only one of many in… … Keep Reading
It is fitting that a shoemaker founded in 1880 brings out a new range, 138 years later, named after that founding year. Loake was set up by three brothers, Thomas, John and William Loake in Kettering, Northamptonshire at the house of Thomas Loake. In 1894 the company moved to much larger premises in Kettering, where… … 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
A stocking for every occasion? Well, they haven’t yet brought out a Tweed Seam (The Chap will be the first to inform you when they do) but as a one-stop-shop for luxury hosiery to match any outfit, the ladies at What Katie Did know a thing or two about dressing for an occasion. As well… … Keep Reading
Laird Hatters supply the more fashionable parts of London with sterling bowlers, Fedoras, trilbies, Homburgs, Baker Boy Caps and many other styles. They loaned us a choice selection of titfers and we hit the mean streets around Strand, London to photograph them. The full shoot was published in CHAP Spring 17 Photography: Peter Clark Models:… … Keep Reading
The Dilemma faced by a chap when deciding what to wear during the longish hottish British summer, or when sauntering through far-flung lands, can be a sticky one. When the season finally prevents the donning of 18oz tweed three-pieces, where does one turn to find sartorial solace on sunnier days? Many modern lightweights lack the… … Keep Reading
You’ve seen him here, you’ve seen him there – that Chap who flows through life like a shark in the water. with barely a ripple. The embodiment of sartorial elegance and purposeful intelligence, an individual so elevated as to be almost beyond envy and beyond desire. To observe him is to sit in the silence… … Keep Reading
Like the idiot uncle or embarrassing aunt, one’s feet are not for public consumption. Uncovered, they dislodge any sense of dignity, and even on a good day can be mistaken for distended offal. Handsome fellows they are not. And yet, loitering at one’s southernmost extremity, these unsightly outgrowths are integral to a Chap’s upstanding and… … Keep Reading