Louis Christou on how his attempt to join the O.T.O. led to an interest in artist, occultist, Thelemite, visionary and hermenaut Austin Osman Spare. In my late twenties, I briefly dabbled in the murky waters — or in Sigmund Freud’s words, the black tide of mud — of occultism. I read Colin Wilson’s tome on… … Keep Reading
Zack Pinsent has been around the Chap since he was 17 years old and, when he had just left school, and has now become a very successful maker of Regency clothing, as well as organiser and host of the Grand Regency Ball at Brighton’s Royal Pavilion. So here we are in your Brighton tailoring atelier,… … Keep Reading
Minerva Miller steps out into the Tuscan sun with a gaggle of Italian, British and French devotees to dandyism. On a visit to Rome in April of this year, the Queen joked that she and the King enjoyed ‘any excuse to be in Italy’, and after a visit to Tuscany you can see her point.… … 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
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
Over a hundred dapper chaps and chapettes sauntered sans purpose through London. On Sunday 5th May 2024, a crowd assembled at the junction of Piccadilly and Jermyn Street, London W1. Usually the only notable aspect of this corner is the life-size statue of the great dandy Beau Brummell, but on this day even the Beau…
Gustav Temple and Alexander Larman sample the carnivorous delights of an elegantly art deco eaterie in London. What kind of a name is ‘Air’ for a street? one might ask, while meandering on the frontier between St James’s and Soho in search of a restaurant. Surely all streets contain air – although in this smog-filled…
In an excerpt from CHAP Spring 24, Torquil Arbuthnot provides a chronology of the publication from 1999 to 2012. 1999 A chance meeting in the Portobello Road leads to the founding of The Chap magazine, when penniless artist Vic Darkwood chances upon boulevardier Gustav Temple’s market stall. Temple is selling “genuine” pieces of celebrity masonry,…
The Chap will celebrate 25 years of publication with our grandest party ever on 12th October. There have been many ‘nights of a thousand waistcoats’ over the years, but 2024 is the year for the grandest chap party of all. This year we celebrate twenty-five years on magazine racks and doormats, and thus shall be…
