ISSUE 112
SUMMER 2022
EXPAND YOUR MIND, REFINE YOUR WARDROBE
MORGAN MOTORS
GET CARTER
FRENCH ELEGANCE
BELFAST DANDY
ENGLISH GIN
GENTLEMEN V PLAYERS
ISSUE 112
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DAMON HILL “BEING DASTARDLY AND JUST WINNING AT ALL COSTS DOESN’T SIT COMFORTABLY WITH ME. I’D RATHER BE A GENTLEMAN RACER”
SEND PHOTOS OF YOURSELF AND OTHER BUDDING CHAPS AND CHAPETTES TO CHAP@THECHAP.CO.UK FOR INCLUSION IN THE NEXT ISSUE
Alexey Ostudin hails from the currently unfashionable country of Russia, but that didn’t stop him out-Chapping all other entrants for the coveted title of Star Chap, with his choice of attire while boarding the Trans-Siberian Express.
“Please peruse this little snapette of myself,” writes Matt Stannard. “I’m wearing my usual attire, all vintage clothes apart from the cords. The tie is of course a Handlebar Club tie and the moustaches are styled with Debonair Moustache wax, the excellent collaboration between The Chap and Captain Fawcett.” The use of newspaper as a pocket square is highly original, sir, and is very ‘on trend’ with environmental concerns.
“I had to send you a postcard photo from my renewed wanderings after a two-year pause,” writes Simon ‘What’s wrong with denim?’ Doughty. “I was accosted by a vintage gendarme in the antique market of old town Nice.” If the dummy could speak, he would be echoing our own sentiments, sir; to wit, “I see you are hatless today, monsieur?”
Russell and Sara Nash found it too inconvenient to field the constant barrage of questions about their splendid outfits, so they hopped on the Queen Mary to get away from it all. The other passengers observed strict cruise liner etiquette of never mentioning any Agatha Christie novel set on a ship.
“Although duelling is long forbidden,” writes Max Knoth, “some unsavoury elements still challenge you on the open streets, accompanied by their gutless henchmen.” Sir, the pen may be mightier than the sword, but the umbrella is clearly mightier than the Strawberry flavoured Mr. Freeze Ice Pop.
Sartorial
BELFAST DANDY Readers who browse the fields of Instagram may be familiar with Paul Stafford, who regularly posts images of his vast wardrobe while roaming the streets of Belfast. We asked Paul what it’s like being the dandiest cat in the city @paulstafford1 PHOTOGRAPHS BY LEE MITCHELL WWW.LEEMITCHELLPHOTOGRAPHY.COM @LEEMITCHELLPHOTOGRAPHY
“I didn’t want to just ponce around in a beautifully cut Mark Powell suit, I wanted to use the city as a backdrop to who am and what these areas or people are to me. I try to convey the underlying stories of what Belfast was, its great inventors, architects, poets and writers, but also its rebels, villains and victims”
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The famous line attributed to Terry Hooley, the Belfast godfather of punk, is ‘New York had the haircuts, London had the trousers but Belfast had the reason’. My parents moved to the south of Ireland in the late 70s, just as the mod revival and then two-tone were kicking off, and when I returned to Belfast at weekends all my friends had suddenly become fully fledged mods and rude boys. Living in a small border town, I felt like I’d missed out on this really exciting movement, so I set about reinventing my own image, first by copying the dress sense of my friends but gradually
re you Belfast born and bred? I was born and bred in Belfast, growing up on the Falls Road in the west of the city. Carnaby Street it was not, but in spite of the ongoing political and social issues, the area – and in fact the city – was rich with music and fashion, and I’m led to believe that there was a smattering of Bowie clones and glam rockers hiding behind barricades. But it was Punk that really set the city alight; okay, maybe a bad analogy when talking about Belfast, but in this case appropriate.
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Suit: Thomas Farthing London Shirt: Mark Powell Cardigan: Cipriani Shoes: Joseph Cheaney
Sartorial
PRATT & PRASAD: THE FINISHED SUIT Gustav Temple finally collects the bespoke suit for which he has waited eight long weeks and made four visits to his tailor In the previous edition, we chronicled the lengthy process of having a bespoke suit made by Pratt & Prasad. In fact, so lengthy that the suit wasn’t finished until the subsequent issue
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“Haddon proudly pointed out some of the key features, such as the luxurious roll on the lapel, the generous armholes, the vampiric sweep of the scarlet lining. If I were a different type of person I would have given this talented tailor a high-five”
y fourth stroll along the windswept boulevards of Clapham was repetitive in more ways than one: on each visit to Pratt & Prasad, I felt obliged to don the same black vintage suit I had worn to the first consultation so the comparison could be made. I knew this would be the last time I would wear this ensemble of mismatched blacks and weights of fabric. Goodbye, old friend, I said to it, brushing yet more lint off the lapels; you have served me well but now the Platonic shadow in the cave is to be replaced by the Real Thing. Haddon was nearly as excited as I was, forgetting to offer me the usual cup of tea in his haste to show me his creation. I saw it immediately; a lone black figure nestled among the bright violets and pastel blues of Haddon’s more adventurous clients. A plain black wool suit like this only really comes to life when it’s put on. And it wasn’t only the suit that sprang into life. The trousers slid on like a pair of silk pyjamas, and when I put on the coat, my carriage was instantly more erect, almost as if some form of orthopaedic back brace had been applied. Haddon proudly pointed out some of the key features, such as the luxurious roll on the lapel (compared to the flat, lifeless lapels on the vintage coat); the generous armholes, entirely concealed from the outside; the tightly jetted pocket flaps; the vampiric sweep of the scarlet lining. If I were a different type of person I would have given this
talented tailor a high-five. Instead I merely nodded, knowing as well as Haddon did that this suit would alter my bearing in the world. The street welcomed a different man when I left Pratt & Prasad. A slightly taller, more elegant man with a more confident step. Every movement in a bespoke suit is a pleasure; every gesture rewarded with a gentle yielding of the cloth. It is as if the suit is asking its wearer: what do you want to do next, sir, and how can we assist you? No matter how fabulous a vintage garment one may have acquired and how well it seems to fit, there is nothing quite so harmonious and satisfying as wearing a suit that no other man will ever inhabit so precisely. n
www.prattandprasad.co.uk
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Photo: Ross Robertson @roo_withaview
Chap Life
THE SECOND GRAND FLANEUR WALK Gustav Temple reports on the second instalment of this saunter sans purpose, which became the greatest assemblage of walking canes in London since 1815 PHOTOGRAPHS BY ROSS ROBERTSON @ROO_WITHAVIEW
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fter two years of not being permitted to wander anywhere, with or without destination, a large number of flâneurs pressed their pantaloons, polished their canes and cultivated new buttonholes for the second Grand Flâneur Walk. On Saturday 14th
May, some sixty five impeccably turned-out Chaps and Chapettes assembled at the entrance to Piccadilly Arcade, watched over by the statue of Beau Brummell, to hear a tract about the flâneur to set the dandy heart ablaze. With the words of Charles Baudelaire ringing in their ears, the
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flâneurs spent a long time displaying their outfits and preparing themselves for the gruelling task ahead – namely to walk a few hundred yards around the corner for a bracing cup of coffee from the kind folk at The Gentlemen Baristas on the corner of St James’s Street and Piccadilly. From thence the flanerie proper commenced, and our intrepid flâneurs and flâneuses made it all the way to the Guinea Grill in Mayfair, where a long pause was taken for refreshments. This convivial break was only cut short by an unruly mob of soccer fans, preparing themselves to watch the FA Cup Final on television later by pouring lager continually down their throats. When they saw the quantity of walking canes being carried by many of our number, they kept their observations on our peacockery to themselves. We were then turned away from the Golden Eagle on Marylebone Lane, because there were
“too many of you”, yet around the corner, the aptly named Angel in the Fields welcomed us with open arms into its opulently stained-glass interior. This was where debate hotly ensued among the flâneurs, as to whether the heat, by then at its fiercest, was too much for a further 45 minutes’ walk to Camden, where libations awaited us at the Camden Watch Company. Half the flâneurs braved the beating sun on Regent’s Park, the other half boarded an omnibus. Needless to say, the flâneurs on foot got there first; such is the exquisite, random, unpredictable nature of true flanerie. The Chap extends a hearty thank you to all those who attended, and especially to the generous folk at the Camden Watch Company. The Grand Flâneur Walk demonstrated that, even in today’s obsession with rigid schedules, appointments and not wasting time, a simple stroll by 65 dandies can still be turned into a Happening. n
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Drink
THE VALLEY OF THE GINS Gustav Temple discovers a fascinating connection between ancient Egypt, King Tutankhamun, The Queen, Downton Abbey and a delicious new gin PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE VINTAGE EGYPTOLOGISTS: JEN SCHULTEN WWW.HERCAMERAOBSCURA.COM @HERCAMERAOBSCURA THANKS TO RENEE LEMIEUX FOR THE INTRODUCTION
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hat connects Her Majesty the Queen, the Earl of Carnarvon, Highclere Castle, Howard Carter, Downton Abbey and Vintage Egyptologists John and Colleen Darnell? The answer lies in a brand-new British gin on the market by the name of Highclere Castle Gin. I joined a cross continental online cocktail party to learn more, hosted by Colleen Darnell, familiar to readers of this publication as a supremely stylish archaeologist who, with her husband John Darnell, is widely known for her extensive field work and
expertise on ancient Egypt. She is also the owner of probably the finest vintage wardrobe this side of The Valley of the Kings. Colleen introduced Adam Von Gootkin, co-founder (with Lord and Lady Carnarvon) of Highclere Castle Spirits, who gave us a potted history of the gin they launched a few months before the covid-19 pandemic in 2020. “Lord and Lady Carnarvon have preserved more than just a castle and an estate; they’ve preserved the quintessentially English country way of life. On the inside of Highclere Castle you have this
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95 John and Colleen Darnell, gin-loving Egyptologists