Have I got news for you about The Chap
Saturday, November 26, 2011 at 13:59 Amused to see The Chap magazine featured on Have I Got News For You last night.
It was a remarkable coincidence because only hours earlier I had asked myself the question, "Whatever happened to The Chap?".
For those who don't know, I'll let Wikipedia explain:
The Chap is a British magazine published six times a year by Gustav Temple, proposing a return to a dandified way of life, involving tweed, pipe smoking, brogues and finely pressed trousers.
Years ago Forest combined forces with Gustav Temple and his sidekick, Michael "Atters" Attree, and together we organised a party on a boat moored close to Blackfriars Bridge in London.
When I first saw the boat, in daylight, I was unimpressed. It was big, with a large outside area, but it looked and felt like a rusty old hulk. Gustav, however, loved it. To him it was a blank canvas and he saw its potential.
To be honest, I don't remember much about the actual event apart from the fact that it was on a Saturday night and the boat was heaving with 200-300 people (many of them dressed in Chap-style clothes).
I do remember that Gustav and his colleagues did a magnificent job decorating the boat and at one point there was a "smoking competition" that involved five people puffing on a cigarette apiece using a cigarette holder.
The winner was the person who smoked their cigarette in the fastest time. It was silly yet hilarious to watch. (I don't think health and safety would allow it now.)
Gustav and "Atters" attended one or two Forest events after that but I haven't heard from them for a while. I can report however that The Chap is responsible currently for two annual events – The Chap Olympiad and The Grand Anarcho-Dandyist Ball. The latter, now in its third year, takes place next week.
PS. If you're wondering why, out of the blue, I asked myself "Whatever happened to The Chap?", it was because of this blog post. Below it is a web banner and a link to The Chap website, hence the connection.
Reader Comments (5)
I remember going to one of Simon's events at Boisdale a few years ago, and as my wife and I got out of the train at Victoria I spotted these two immaculately dressed gentlemen striding along in front of us. "I bet you they are going to Boisdale's" I said, and sure enough they were.
It seems to me that Boisdale and the 'smoking crowd' are a particularly 'stand - outish' sort of bunch and Gustav Temple and his sidekick, Michael "Atters" Attree, are nothing if not that!
I spoke to them for some time when we were inside, and not only did they look immaculate, they also spoke in the same manner as they dressed, i.e. perfect gentlemen!
What is it with us smokers that makes us so bloody brilliant?
I am a bit curious as to why, Simon, you have chosen to speak about 'Chaps' when the matter of the Philip Morris failure to press their FOI request is the first item in your round-up and you have said nothing about it.
Does anyone know what happened?
"What is it with us smokers that makes us so bloody brilliant?"
Dunno, Peter - but maybe that's why (whatever the 'that' is) THEY want to destroy us as a breed. It's an Android Thing (probably).
And Androids just don't 'do' Style (in ANY conceivable sense).
Junican, I have nothing to say about the Philip Morris story because I don't know why the FOI request has not been pursued and I don't want to speculate.
If others want to comment there are two threads where you can do so: here (under Review of the Week) or on the Forest website (News Headlines). I see that you have posted a comment on the latter suggesting that Forest has treated the story as a non-event. If that was the case, we wouldn't have mentioned it at all!!
PS. The Chap item is a light-hearted post in keeping (I hope) with a blog that doesn't take itself too seriously.
Thanks for the response. I tried not to seem critical because that was not my intention. It simply seemed odd that what, to me, seems rather important was not commented on. No offence intended.
It would be interesting to know how this very curious turn of events has come to pass.