The Return of the Chap

The following piece might not describe me to a tee (after all, I am a multi-faceted man), but it comes pretty close on some fronts. This is me, when I have money. This is me when I feel like going out to good places, with good people and enjoying my (albeit sedom acknowledged) good life. This is me, the chap. Not everyday will you see me in a Zegna or Celine tie, but I wouldn't have it any other way either, who wants to look and feel the same everyday anyway?

The following article is from the House of Manfred website. They happen to be one of my favourite tie makers (they have a store in Karachi too, besides Paris and Sydney). As the home page boldly claims, these are ties of mischievious refinement. That's me- ditto. Mischeivious Refinement. Nice phrase and nice ties. Oh, and you can add all the places mentioned in the article to my list of places to go.

The chap is here, and here to stay. Enjoy the piece, and feel free to judge

-------

Written by: Martin Raymond.

“Burlesque dancers are the hot ticket for corporate entertaining. Barbers are back in style. The new Bond is blond and the plot is dark. Everyone wants their office to look like a gentlemen’s club. Say farewell to the middle-of-the-road metro-sexual and hello to the chap as men reassert themselves with sharp suits, sure shaves and raffish wit.

Like his suits, the chap likes his smells clean and polished. In London, barber shops such as Gentlemen's Tonic, Dunhills Pankhurst and male grooming products such as Taylors of Old Bond Street are doing roaring sales. And in Europe generally young chaps are driving grooming product sales up by a considerable margin.

The young chap’s sudden penchant for fat collar shirts, cufflinks, tailored suits, and chisel toed shoes, has seen a reversal of fortunes for traditional menswear labels. His wardrobe includes tweed jackets, sea island cotton shirts, flat front pants, V-necks (a must have) and even-cravats.

This is after all a world for the unreconstituted male. Its one where new manly environments such as London’s Fifty Club (a nightclub with a fantastic casino on the side), Amsterdam’s Mansion (a bar that looks like an old style gents’ club), or Phillipe Starck’s Faena Hotel in Buenos Aires, sizzle with male testosterone and the occasional burlesque inspired cigarette girl.

The gentleman’s club, the library, the den, the gaming room, the billiards room – these are the sorts of atmospheres a new spate of restaurants, bars and clubs are trying to emulate.
it’s about old fashioned male values: club sports, pin-up girls, leather armchairs, garden sheds and men-only retreats.

Even the James Bond franchise is on the new chap act with its long-awaited remake of Casino Royale, one of Ian Fleming’s darkest and cruellest books, starring Daniel Craig, the first blond Bond, but with the three m’s: Maleness, Machismo, and Manners.

In the book, Fleming's descriptions of the casino, it's salon privees, the women in them, the champagne and caviar served, and the card and roulette games played, are amongst his most closely observed, taut and masculine.

This bond smokes cigarettes from Morelands of Grosvenor Square (a Balkan Turkish mixture), drives a Bently Coupe, drinks dry martinis (three measures of Gordon’s, one shot of vodka, a measure of Kina Lillet, in a chilled glass with a thin slice of lemon peel).

Manners are also in vogue again: good posture, intelligent conversation, witty (but not cruel or ironic) ripostes.

Also key is a super modern wardrobe that contains at least two fabulous suits; shirts in male peacock colours of blue, green. pink, and at least six in ‘George Clooney’ white; underpants 9 boxer or briefs at least 14, to change daily, and for dates); sports jacket, le style anglais (at least three: city, country and for casual onboard dressing down); jeans and t-shirts, assorted, in plain colours, and 14 to 20 ounce cotton - pair these with good shoes (leather uppers, leather soles).

As for ties, go for a big knot and strong stripes. Bring to the boil with a splash of vintage aftershave and your just about getting the picture.

Once again, pedigree and provenance matters. Switched-on men know that price is no longer an issue; only prestige matters.

For the new lad, buying cheap was all about buying twice. For the new chap, old hand at connoisseurship that he is, buying well is all about buying quality, and if he has those good old Gatsby instincts, buying quality in quantity to boot”. ~~

-- Martin Raymond is based in London, he not only spots trends on all six continents but edits Viewpoint Magazine to boot. He is a regular contributor on Trends and Business to the BBC, and co-founder of the Future Laboratory.