Showing posts with label the chap. Show all posts
Showing posts with label the chap. Show all posts

27 Dec 2022

Why I'm Not a Chap

 
As readers of Torpedo the Ark will know, I have long advocated a revolt into style and celebrated the figure of the dandy. 
 
And yet, I've never quite bought into the charmed uprising advocated by The Chap; a British magazine, founded in 1999, that is dedicated to the gentlemanly way of life and seeks to defend old-fashioned values whilst, paradoxically, pioneering new trends in fashion. 

It's not the way of life or world-view being advocated that makes me uncomfortable, however. 
 
It is, rather, the chaps themselves whom I think suspect. For whilst the writers and editors of The Chap insist that they take their anarcho-dandyism [1] seriously, Gustav Temple and company ultimately remind me Tom Hodgkinson and chums at The Idler [2]
 
In other words, they are basically middle-class professionals [3] self-consciously trying to be something they're not, whilst satirising the sincere behaviour and beliefs of those who belonged to earlier generations. 
 
 
Notes
 
[1] Anarcho-dandyism is a particularly irksome contradiction in terms. However, those who wish to know more can click here to read The Chap Manifesto, or here to learn about several events staged by chaps over the years in order to protest the vulgarity of the modern world.     
 
[2] See the post of 29 December, 2012 entitled 'How to be an Idle Cunt': click here
      To be fair, it should be pointed out that Gustav Temple rejects any comparison between The Chap and The Idler. In a 2004 interview with Andrew Stevens for 3:AM  he says, for example, that whilst The Idler has its good points, its appeal is essentially more to contemporary slackers than to traditional gentlemen. To read this interview, click here
 
[3] Chaps mostly seem to inhabit the privileged worlds of publishing, journalism, academia, marketing and communications ... etc. They're quirky, but without being twisted; eccentric, but LinkedIn at the same time. You can meet these bourgeois anarchists (if you want to) by clicking here
 
     

12 May 2018

Mr. Erbil: Revolt into Style

Members of Mr. Erbil Gentleman's Club


I.

Some stories are just too perfect to be true: and the story of Mr. Erbil - a Kurdish gentleman's club spreading positive socio-cultural change via sartorial elegance - is one such story. For theirs is a genuine revolt into style that demonstrates the importance of fashion in the never-ending struggle with fundamentalism and militant stupidity (of whatever shade or stripe).

London hipsters should, I think, take note and learn from these Kurdish dandies that it's not only important to dress well and look good with lovingly-trimmed beards, one must also endeavour to construct an ethical life. In other words, as the chaps at The Chap have always rightly insisted, the key thing is to expand your mind at the same time as refining your wardrobe.
  
  
II.

While the autonomous region of Kurdistan in northern Iraq was somewhat sheltered from the war, in 2016 the black flag waving lunatics of Islamic State descended from Mosul and onto its borders. Most young men - and many women - joined the Kurdish military (Pashmerga) ready to fight not only for their way of life, but their very lives.

Obviously, armed resistance was absolutely crucial. But a small group of friends who liked to talk clothes and football over tea and shisha, realised the importance of also displaying cultural defiance in the face of an enemy that despises art, fashion, beauty and joie de vivre. And so, Mr. Erbil was founded, cleverly mixing Western styles with their own history and heritage.  

Starting with an Instagram page, they soon established a large following across social media and grew to over thirty members. They also launched their own line in men's grooming products and began to advocate for women's rights and equality across the Middle East (female activists and artists were invited to address events held in Erbil).

One can but admire and respect the founders and members of Mr. Erbil and send them the very warmest of fraternal greetings.


Notes

Mr. Erbil can be followed via: Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

For an excellent feature on Mr. Erbil in The Chap (13 Dec 2017) by freelance photojournalist Elizabeth Fitt, with pictures by Mustafa Khyat and Shwan Blaiye, click here.

This post is for my beautiful friend Nahla Al-Ageli at Nahla Ink