The fine gents over at The Chap, Gustav Temple and Vic Darkwood, have just released their latest work, The Chap Almanac – an Esoterick Yearbook for the Decadent Gentleman.
Again filled with witty anecdotes and priceless lifestyle guidance, the Almanac is the ideal compendium to the Quarterly magazine and their previous book publication The Chap Manifesto – Etiquette for Modern Men. True to form the Almanac is a revolutionary tome.
Each section of the Yearbook includes a charming dates from history section. Useful pieces of miscellany include the following:
- 18th January, 1904 – Birthday of Cary Grant in Bristol. As well as being a suave and dapper fellow he was a keen user of LSD.
- 16th March, 1872 – Two soccer teams played in the first FA Cup Final, beginning a tradition of Saturday afternoon fisticuffs.
- June 18th, 1178 – Five Canterbury monks reported seeing an explosion on the moon attributed as the origin of the lunar crater.
- 30th March 2003 – Mother’s Day, when all decent gentlemen send their houseboys to the maternal nest with a dry martini and a single red rose.
One of the highlights in this year’s publication are the small sub-sections, peppered throughout, describing the use and wearing of various hats, one of my favourite topics. Here are some more samples to whet your appetite:
The Fez
One of the hats acceptable for indoor usage, the Fez may be worn comfortable whilst reclining on a chaise lounge dreaming of foreign lands. Soaring away on a flight of fancy is far more appealing to a gentleman than actual physical travel. This chap’s jaunty headgear, coupled with a pungent hasheesh and the attentions of his Bedouin boy servant, provides him with a one-way ticket to Elysium.
The Bowler
Unapologetically old-fashioned, the Bowler has had a long and unfortunate association with the unsavoury practices of gainful employment and religious extremism. Happily, it is currently enjoying a rehabilitation in musty reading rooms across the land as the only piece of headwear sturdy enough to retain the contents of a brain brimming over with tempestuous romanticism and abstruse literary knowledge.
Deliciously tongue in cheek and brimming full of useful advice for the modern gent. Signed copies can be obtained for the extraordinarily cheap price of £10 from Old Hat, Fulham High Street, Fulham, London.