Jean-Emmanuel Deluxe on the startling discovery of a perfectly preserved belle epoque apartment in Paris. In 2010, auctioneer Maitre Olivier Choppin de Janvry discovered a 1900 Bonbonnière (a bijou apartment) in Paris at the Square La Bruyère. Under a thick layer of dust, he was entering a 140-metre square apartment untouched by human hand for… … Keep Reading
Gustav Temple meets a best selling novelist and an art forger to find out the difference between fake or fortune. When the subject of a blue plaque you have just seen outside a house in Saltdean answers the door, you are already questioning what is real and what is fake. For aren’t blue plaques usually… … Keep Reading
This year’s saunter sans purpose may start at the same place as before, yet it can never end up at the same place. This year’s Grand Flaneur Walk takes place on Sunday 11th May 2025, commencing beside the statue of Beau Brummell on Jermyn Street, London W1, at midday. This will be the fifth incarnation… … Keep Reading
To mark this year’s Day of the Dad, we are offering a free Chap tie or pocket square plus half price for a year’s subscription. This year, Father’s Day falls on 15th June in the United Kingdom, and we are making a generous offer to those who wish to reward their dear pater for his… … 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
The noble and ancient art of the shoe shine, long absent from our cities, has made a welcome return with the launch of Spit ‘n’ Polish Shoeshine booths. The first booth was opened at Marylebone Station in London. Spit ‘n’ Polish Shoeshine is the brainchild of Ronan McCarthy, who plans to put a shine back…
Just as the drinks industry becomes consumed by giant corporations, hell bent on designing unpalatable new alcopops by extensive use of the ‘focus group’ and ‘blue-sky’ marketing twaddle, comes a brand-new independent microdistillery, built from scratch right where Scotch whisky itself was probably invented. Kilchoman, based on the Scottish island of Islay, can lay claim…
A British company has turned the tables on the traditional exploitation of hat weavers in Ecuador. In the past, the straw harvesters and weavers of hats selling for up to £600 in the UK were receiving a pittance, while members further along the food chain were making handsome profits. Carry Somers decided to change all…
In an exclusive interview in The Chap, legendary actor, raconteur and author Stephen Fry puts forward some frank and unashamed views about headwear, including comments to the effect that Panama hats make him want to vomit. What started as a jovial discussion about the usual Chap matters, in which Mr. Fry waxed in his usual…