Gustav Temple meets the eighties pop star who stepped out into music hall on a European tour last year. During the eighties, lots of people were wearing suits and there was even a brief flirtation with the 1940s. But your 80s look always seemed to come from the heart. How important are clothes to you… … Keep Reading
After six years in the Nissen Hut, the bicycles, briefcases, hobby horses and bowler hats are coming out to play again. Contestants observe the Chap Olympiad motto: Slower, Drunker, Better-dressed The Chap Olympiad began in 2005 and soon became one of the summer’s social fixtures in London. Growing from 25 people, two bottles of gin,… … Keep Reading
The flaneurs on this year’s saunter sans purpose braved unusually clement May weather to stake their claim on the streets of London. Photos by Soulstealer Photography The morning of Sunday 11th May 2025 was a day much like any other on Jermyn Street. A few tourists poked their heads into the windows of menswear stalwarts… … Keep Reading
Readers submit themselves to the ultimate sartorial assessment. Please send photographs to chap@thechap.co.uk “Why of course I am,” writes Gary Horsfield, “except once a week I let my Chap tie clip down and go Tap Dancing with the Jolly Boys.”Sir, patch pockets on a blazer with no badge, no pocket square and no shirt cuff… … Keep Reading
I still find the Eurostar really rather wonderful. You get on a train at St. Pancras and alight some two hours later at Le Gare Du Nord into a different world, where the attitudes, tastes, smells, people and culture are as different from London as sand is to salt. Undeniably, it is quite an anomalous… … Keep Reading
From the eleventh floor balcony of a hotel overlooking the Pacific Ocean, the horizon flashing with lightning, brassy wisps of Mariachi music wafting up from somewhere through the heat of the night, was the sense that we were definitely in Mexico. It had taken nearly 20 hours to reach this moment of Mexican awareness, though… … Keep Reading
On a recent trip to Rajasthan, I discovered that not only does India possess its famous wealth of history and architecture, but it is also one of the most natural habitats for the travelling Chap. My journey took me first to Delhi, only nine hours away by plane but, as soon as you land, the… … Keep Reading
Holly Rose Swinyard meets Vintage Egyptologist Colleen Darnell to discuss Egyptology, vintage fashion and 1920s women. What was it about Egyptology that originally interested you and how come you decided to take the fashion of the period on as well? Egyptology is my main field of academic research, so I received both my BA and…
Gustav Temple watched Robert Eggers’ new adaptation of the vampire classic and missed the camp and humour of all previous versions. Robert Eggers long-awaited version of F.W. Murnau’s Nosferatu, lavishly funded by Universal Pictures, lacks all the essential ingredients that have made many previous vampire movies into masterpieces. The plot, characters and cast – with…
Gustav Temple treads in Bogie’s footsteps to be fitted with a Borsalino Fedora. “When your head says one thing and your whole life says another, your head always loses.”Humphrey Bogart’s line from Key Largo (1948) rang in my head as I mounted the steps to Burlington Arcade in London. I may have been a long…
Gustav Temple reviews the new documentary about the life of Humphrey Bogart. “I like people, yachts, chess, politics, a good drink, a good wife, nice kids. I had those.”Humphrey Bogart Hollywood’s ultimate man’s man, and his troubled relationship with alcohol and history of treating his many wives roughly, may not seem the ideal subject for…
