The second saunter sans purpose of 2025 will see the dandies of London face more bracing weather conditions than usual.
The Chap’s Grand Flaneur Walk has taken place every Summer since 2019, only interrupted by the global unpleasantness in 2020. Thus far, among five saunters sans purpose, only one has been marred by inclement weather, and that in the form of a very brief squall occurring while the flaneurs and flaneuses were safely ensconced in a comfortable hostelry en route.
All other Grand Flaneur Walks have been blessed with surprisingly warm conditions for early May in England. If anything, there have been complaints about it being slightly too hot for a dandy or dandizette to wear their favourite outfit, being forced to choose from the much smaller Summer compartment of their wardrobes.
Great claims are often made by the regular participants along the lines of “Oh, this is nothing. You should see my Winter wardrobe. That’s when the true colours of my dandyism shine forth to dazzle the passers-by.”
This year such claims will be put to the test, for the very first Grand Flaneur Winter Walk will take place on Sunday 23rd November 2025, starting at the same meeting point as ever: beside the statue of Beau Brummell on Jermyn Street, London W1.
But this time, where there is normally a sea of Panama hats, straw boaters, ladies’ parasols and linen, there will have to be sturdier clothing. Nobody likes a wet dandy, and so suitable protection will have to be carried (as long as it does not interfere with one’s elegant silhouette) against unpredictable elements.
Chill factor, too, will be a force conspiring against comfortable walking. We expect an array of greatcoats, overcoats, fur and suitable headwear to guard our sensitive strollers from the cold. Several racoon-based ‘Teddy Bear’ coats have been promised, along with boots made for far tougher climates than a soggy November day in London.
The purpose of the Winter edition of the Grand Flaneur Walk, however, remains unchanged: to start walking from our starting point on Jermyn Street, with no idea where the next step will take us, never mind the several hours we shall spend walking. Previous years have seen the flaneurs, guided by nothing more than whimsy and perhaps the smell of Earl Grey tea wafting from Fortnum & Mason, head in a certain (completely spontaneously and undetermined in advance) direction, only to end up miles away from where they believed that direction would take them.
Previous Grand Flaneur Walks have ended up in places as remote from central London as the edges of Whitechapel, Camden Town and Belgravia. Admittedly, with warm weather on their side and a cool breeze if they were lucky, strolling about sans purpose is no great sacrifice. It will be the true test of a flaneur or flaneuse’s resilience to see how far they get if it’s bucketing with rain, breaking into a thunderstorm or just plain brass monkeys.
There are of course secret hopes that it will be snowing on 23rd November, which will make for the most magical ambience, turning the Grand Flaneur Winter Walk into a fairytale of London.
