The Third Grand Anarcho-Dandyist Ball in Pictures

The Chap’s annual shindig on 3rd December was a spectacular soiree attended by the most eccentric of trouser, rakishly angled of headwear, co-respondent of shoe and brilliantined of barnet in the whole land.

With a broad theme of spivs/cads/bounders/femmes fatales/dembob darlings, the Chap’s sartorially astute and imaginative followers managed to fill the vast 1937 Ballroom in the Camden Centre with their usual eclectic melange of styles, ranging from Victorian bounder to Edwardian cad and of course 1940s spiv. The ladies raised the tone somewhat, in splendid ball gowns, flapper dresses and sleek 1940s suits. King Spiv himself, Viv the Spiv, introduced the acts (while seemingly vending contraband Lucky Strikes and nylons from a suitcase at the same time), which commenced with Professor Elemental. This Chap hop artiste took to the stage – amid gasps of horror – hatless!

It turned out that, while mingling with chums outside the venue on the street, some local ragamuffin (remember this was in King’s Cross) whipped the Professor’s pith helmet clean off his head and scarpered with it. A few helpful gents gave chase, but their heavy tweed overcoats slowed them down, and our little scamp disappeared with the Professor’s Topi.

Naturally, all the gentlemen offered the use of their hats for the performance, and Elemental ended up with more hats than he’s arrived with. Further acts included some high-flying swing dancers and Fat 45, a jump jive swing orchestra who kept the guests on their toes until the last Tube had long gone. Chaps appreciate any excuse not to use public transport, and this was the most welcome reason.

Our secretary was kept furiously typing missives on her Remington, dictated by lovestruck guests, whose tear-stained vellum was personally delivered to the object of their desire by Mr. Bell, the Chap’s resident butler.

The Chap wishes to extend a huge thanks to our partners, Bourne & Hollingsworth, who, as well as dressing the entire venue, provided a range of retro cocktails served by nimble-fingered barstewards.

Photographs by Russ Bell.
in "The Chap"













The Vintage mafia


With lipsticks rather than guns in their garters, The Vintage Mafia are perfectly preened party molls on a mission to make London’s huffy vintage nightlife scene more accessible. The capital is drowning in swing-tastic soirées, but they can intimidate those who haven’t mastered pin-curls or lack an encyclopedic knowledge of rockabilly. ‘Elitism goes on at many vintage nights and some people feel too intimidated to dance,’ Mafia member Miss Bethan Gwenllian Garland observes.’

We asked these scene queens where else they like to twirl their full skirts on a vintage night out in the city. So, from left to right as pictured…

For a night off head to Feeling Gloomy
Miss Bethan Gwenllian Garland

‘A bit of an odd choice, but this is one that all the girls and I really enjoy, even though it’s not a vintage night: Feeling Gloomy. All of us came from an alternative background and grew up listening to that kind of music. I’m a Smiths fan, so I love to hear “Cemetery Gates” and a bit of Suede. They’re very open to how people want to dress at Feeling Gloomy. We’ll go in all our vintage finery – no one bats an eyelid and we have a good old dance.'

For dancing head to Swing Patrol, Dalston
Miss Gemma King

‘There are swing dance lessons from Swing Patrol at Passing Clouds every Wednesday and bands upstairs, normally of a vintage jazz ilk, from the Cakewalk Café. Every time I’ve been there, there has always been a good crowd, and you are never short of a dance partner or two. If you want to go to a vintage night but not get swamped by people who have been into the scene for years, it’s a good one. I had my birthday there and it was great because my other half could watch the bands while I had a dance!’

For tropical cocktails head to Hula Boogie
Miss Jeni Yesterday

‘It’s got to be Hula Boogie at South London Pacific: a celebration of 1950s kitsch tiki culture. Think Elvis in ‘Blue Hawaii’: brightly coloured cocktails, bamboo and palm trees everywhere and hula girls. I went to see [tribute act] Black Elvis there – and I won a Blue Hawaii cocktail! The night is all about 1950s jive and rock ’n’ roll – don’t expect any swing or lindy hop. Although it’s for vintage aficionados and people who know how to jive, you’ll often find lots of curious newcomers who want to go to an interesting venue.’

For the edgier side of the 1950s head to Stumblin' Slims
Miss Naomi Thompson

‘The Blues Kitchen is doing Stumblin’ Slims - a new event at Village Underground. It sounds like it’s going to be a bit naughty: a dirty 1950s prom meets garage meets rhythm ’n’ blues meets rock – the sound of the American underbelly of the time. There aren’t many good new ’50s nights – and many are just aimed at serious dancers – so this sounds fun and fresh. I’m interested to see what everyone is wearing: the ’50s is characterised by the teenager so maybe Capri pants and cardigans, bullet bras and sweaters – and hopefully some full dresses. I hope people will go to a bit of effort.'

For glam socialising heads to The Candlelight Club
Miss Lisa Smuterella

‘I love The Candlelight Club. There are lots of speakeasy-type events but this is very classily done. It’s nice to be somewhere that feels authentic and sophisticated. Most of the nights when we girls all get together are hazy, but here you can sit and talk as there are lots of tables. It’s a good place to meet different strands of the vintage community: there’s everyone from hipster types to the more serious vintagistas.

For a big one head to The Grand Anarcho Dandyist Ball
Miss Fleur de Guerre

‘This only happens once a year, but it is coming up: The Chap’s Grand Anarcho Dandyist Ball, in a 1930s ballroom in Euston. They always have the best-dressed people, bands and fantastic cocktails from the 1930s to ’50s. We’re big fans: we had a Vintage Mafia team at this year’s Chap Olympiad, for which we had matching dresses in all the colours of the rainbow. The whole aim is “cheat with panache”, so we rigged it by being extremely eye-catching. We competed in Ironing Board Surfing: Miss Naomi Thompson was on the ironing board and we carried her up and down – and, of course, we won!' The Third Grand Anarcho Dandyist Ball is on Dec 3 at The Grand Hall.
in Time Out.
For information on The Vintage Mafia visit www.thevintagemafia.tumblr.com

Train travel: A new golden age

"Travel back to the wonder years of rail in this beautiful compendium of art and illustration. Through luggage labels, maps, posters, advertisements, promotional brochures, napkins, and other colorful ephemera, All Aboard! Celebrates our romance with the railroad. Its pages provide a nostalgic look at rail travel as it used to be, from the exciting early days at the turn of the century through its heyday in the '40s and through World War II. Lynn Johnson and Michael O'Leary have collected hundreds of period images, from Deco-era logos that evoke the sleek, streamlined style of the day to wartime propaganda posters highlighting the muscularity of freight locomotives that transported weapons and tanks for American troops. All Aboard! Also explores the art of the Orient Express and great European lines, the rugged rails of Canada, and exotic points abroad. This exciting new resource for train enthusiasts and everyone on the lookout for terrific images recreates the splendor of the modern locomotive era. ".



Train travel: A new golden age

Glamorous rail journeys that evoke a bygone era have never been more popular. Now they are being joined by the Danube Express, thebrainchild of a former BR employee
By Cahal Milmo Monday 01 September 2008 in The Independent

Howard Trinder was bitten by the railway bug when he stood as a child in a Paris station and read down a departure board offering direct sleeper trains to Venice, Istanbul and Berlin. Throughout his subsequent 30-year career in British Rail, he retained his dream of reviving a golden era of rail travel, with its hand-built carriages and glamorous evenings in a restaurant car trundling across Europe.

Later this week, the improbable vision of this self-confessed "rail nut" son of a Durham ticket inspector will become reality, when the gleaming 12-carriage Danube Express, built at a cost of more than £5m from rolling stock that once belonged to the Hungarian postal service, pulls out of Budapest on its first journey to Warsaw.

The trip will herald the arrival of the first luxury train service in continental Europe since 1981, when the Venice-Simplon Orient Express – the modern successor to the 1930s express which epitomised high-end rail travel – was revived. The Danube Express will be the only opulent sleeper service operating between such evocative destinations as Berlin, Istanbul and Prague.

Mr Trinder, 56, a bluff Yorkshireman, has sunk into his venture much of the fortune he made two years ago, when he sold the rail travel company he set up after leaving British Rail shortly before its privatisation. He spent 20 months painstakingly overseeing the construction of the customised "deluxe" sleeping cars to ensure they meet his specification of an en suite bathroom in each berth and a restaurant car that comes complete with a hired pianist.

"As a child," he said, "my family would always travel by train on holiday to the Alps or the Mediterranean because my father would get concessionary fares all the way across Europe. I remember standing on a platform in Paris when I was eight or nine and seeing the trains lined up for various destinations that seemed so far away and exotic.

"Then as a young man when I was working for BR we still had the same concession so I travelled everywhere in Europe by train and I've always wanted to return to that era when rail travel was both romantic and exciting. Fortunately, things have turned out in such way that I've been able to make my nostalgia and my lifelong dream a reality."

In the mid-1980s, Mr Trinder and his fellow BR colleague Ian Macbeth began Mac Tours, a small holiday rail company that, at the time, only specialised in tailor-made train holidays for British Rail employees who were privy to a whole range of discounts on rail travel across Europe. Eventually Mac Tours began offering European train excursions to the wider public and demand soared. In 1994 they created a new company, Great Rail Tours, which became the market leader in luxury travel by train. The year before Mr Trinder sold his company for an undisclosed sum it carried more than 20,000 passengers and turnover was close to £40m. The company's original founders have always refused to say how much they sold Great Rail Tours for but Mr Trinder freely admits it was "the equivalent of a National Lottery win".

Which bodes well. Launching a luxury train service – where a three-day journey from Budapest through the Balkans to Istanbul costs from £990 per person – at the height of the credit crunch, and on the eve of a likely recession in its core UK market, might not seem the most auspicious timing for the realisation of an Englishman's continental rail dream.

The new company aims to take 50 per cent of its bookings from British customers with the remainder coming from North America and elsewhere in Europe. But while other tour operators struggle to maintain booking levels for their five-star offerings, the high-end rail travel sector is booming. It is estimated that each year about 25,000 Britons use luxury rail services, from the legendary South African Blue Train to the Royal Scotsman that plies the Highlands, in a UK market worth an annual £20m.

Demand is such that several new so-called "touring" trains are being launched over the next 12 months, including a Belgian-built sleeper train that will operate in Switzerland and two new ultra-luxurious "Palace on Wheels" trains to cater for monied passengers in India, where three such services already exist. The jewel in this emerging global railway crown will be the three Tangula trains, costing a total of £48m, which will launch next year in China. The total number of high-end sleeper services around the world now exceeds 20.

Simon Pielow, the managing director of Train Chartering Company, an upmarket rail consultancy, said: "Luxury train travel is benefiting from the general phenomenal growth in rail travel, which is helping it to buck the trend. There are several reasons for this but one of the key ones is that it is rightly seen as being greener than jumping on a plane. For those with a bit of money to spare, it allows them to feel they are travelling responsibly while at the same time providing a great dinner party one-liner."

Mr Trinder is hoping that the navy blue and cream livery of the Danube Express will feature prominently in the holiday anecdotes of the well-heeled. In its first year of operation, his train, which has a full complement of 85 passengers, will navigate through 19 central European cities between Germany and Turkey. He will no doubt benefit from the practical experience of his co-director Peter Hedderly, another train buff. Hedderly successfully introduced a luxury train service to the Trans-Siberian railway line, which had usually only been popular with impoverished backpackers willing to endure the Soviet-era décor so long as the tickets were cheap.

In contrast, the interior of the Danube Express is all about luxury. Each of the "deluxe" and "classic" sleeping cars has just five compartments, featuring the amenities of a modern hotel suite. For small groups of especially well-heeled clients, an even more luxurious "presidential car" can be attached.

The process of building the Danube Express, which will be jointly run with Hungarian National Railways, involved the complete restructuring of the 1950s postal carriages with a new outer skin and the installation of retro-style sleeping compartments designed personally by Mr Trinder, at a cost of about £500,000 per car.

He said: "It's all been done at the cost of some blood, sweat and tears but I'm completely delighted with the result. I truly believe there is no better way of travelling than letting the world slip past your window on board a train."

The great railway journeys

*The Orient Express

The modern-day successor to the great express that took 20th-century aristocrats and film stars from Paris to Istanbul in an opulent atmosphere now runs from London to Venice over two days in original sleeping, restaurant and bar carriages from the Twenties and Thirties. Passengers cross to France in a coach via the Channel Tunnel.

*The Blue Train

Billed as the ultimate in rail travel, the South African train comes with gold taps, a bath and a GPS map monitor in each cabin to show its precise location. It also has an onboard boutique selling black and yellow diamonds for passengers who become bored on the journey between Cape Town and Pretoria.

*Tangula

China's new state-of-the-art touring train, operated by a European hotel chain, will feature flat-screen televisions and internet access from each compartment along with specially enlarged windows. It will travel from Beijing to Tibet.

*The Golden Chariot

One of India's new host of luxury trains running on the subcontinent's sprawling network, it boasts cabins with hand-carved wooden panels and hand-woven silk sheets. The service runs from Bangalore to Goa over seven nights.

*The Grand Trans Siberian Express

At 5,800 miles, the journey of the Trans-Siberian is the longest available to train fanatics. The journey from Moscow to Beijing is completed over two weeks in air-conditioned cabins.

Those were the days ! ...

As a child I was often left behind ... "alone" with my "nanny" ...
My father was a Maestro-Composer and he had to travel ( with my mother, a dancer ) to other continents ( from transatlantics liners to Dakotas and later Super Constellations )...
All this left an impression on me ... What a difference should have been travelling in those days ( also in the aventurous side of the experience ) compared with the the "Flying Tube- like a crowded Bus - sandwich ; Coca Cola" experience ... to wich we are reduced ... in our days ... Jeeves















20th Century Travel: 100 Years of Globe-Trotting
Ticket To Ride, Fly, Drive, or Sail
A lush visual history of the Golden Age of travel


The metabolism of travel changed more in the last century than in the previous half-millennium, a stunning transformation triggered by American wanderlust. In less than 100 years, the U.S. mass-produced the automobile, invented airplanes, freeways, motels, even sent men to the Moon. Travel grew ever faster and easier. Above all, it was democratized — enabling millions to explore distant lands, or see their own more fully.

At the start of the 20th century, only people with extensive disposable income and time to spare could enjoy leisure travel. By the century’s end, journeys took hours, not days, and mass travel — especially brief air flights — became the new normal. Along the way, ocean liners broke speed records, aerodynamic trains roared down the tracks, stylish boat-plane clippers evolved into jumbo jets. Whether aboard high-speed locomotives or ships, jets, or Greyhound buses — or when setting their own schedule on the open road — Americans demanded ever greater mobility and wider choice of destinations, thereby setting a new standard for travelers around the world.

A lush visual history of international wanderlust, this volume features 400-plus print advertisements from the Jim Heimann Collection, that illustrate the evolution of leisure travel — from domestic to global, exclusive to popular, exotic to standardized — and its crucial role in American culture.

With an introduction, decade-by-decade analysis, and an illustrated timeline, this book highlights the cultural and technological developments that transformed travel from a cushioned journey of the elite into a convenient leisure pastime for the general public. 20th Century Travel takes us on a grand tour of travel’s golden age.

The editor:
Cultural anthropologist and graphic design historian Jim Heimann is Executive Editor for TASCHEN America, and author of numerous books on architecture, pop culture, and the history of the West Coast, Los Angeles, and Hollywood. His unrivaled private collection of ephemera has been featured in museum exhibitions around the world and dozens of books.

The author:
Allison Silver is a writer and editor based in New York City. A former contributing editor to Culture & Travel magazine, she was editor of The Los Angeles Times Sunday "Opinion" section, an editor of The New York Times "Week in Review," and a founding editor of The Washington Independent.



20th Century Travel: 100 Years of Globe-Trotting Ads
Modern travel is fast, functional and thoroughly unpleasant. Chris Moss takes a nostalgic trip through the history of travel advertising.


Taschen's new book features hundreds of beautiful old posters
By Chris Moss in The Telegraph
10 Jun 2010

Travel advertisements, like all propaganda, are packed with lies. But, as a new coffee-table crusher, ‘20th Century Travel: 100 Years of Globe-Trotting Ads’, illustrates, they can still deliver up a few truths when presented in a coherent, thoughtful history.

The lavishly illustrated book, edited by cultural anthropologist and graphic design historian Jim Heimann, contains handy timelines showing the evolution of modes of transport and changing travel trends, as well as some short, fact-packed mini-essays. But for the armchair traveller, it is the beautiful old posters that will stir a feeling of almost painful nostalgia for the way we used to move around the planet.

Soak up orange sunsets from when Hawaii – 'only four to six days away', the ads announce – was ‘Society’s Winter Paradise’. Ogle the coolly modern Havana Hilton, unveiled in 1959, just as Fidel was arriving on the city outskirts ready to claim it as the temporary HQ for the new revolutionary government. And, of course, take in the futuristic sweep of Concorde’s dashing delta wings, as shapely and sensuous as the thighs of those 1930s ladies dancing at captain’s dinners on the last steamers.

A 1912 Lamport & Holt shipping line poster shows the two Americas as two women of classical stamp holding hands across the Isthmus of Panama. Friendship and harmony were key messages on this occasion, and romance, cultural edification and the spirit of adventure were staple themes for those promoting leisure travel right up until the late 1940s.

With the jet age, the planet got bigger, or smaller, depending on how you view the democratisation of travel. Speed replaced style just as literalness replaced subtlety in the ad campaigns. Gone were the elegant dresses; in came the bikinis and Whicker-esque innuendos.

The last page of this wonderful book is a 1953 Cunard ad that says, simply, ‘Getting there is half the fun’. Balloons are flying. Trumpets are blasting out jazz. Deck games are being played. A bow-tied smoothie is leaning over a slender dame in a long green dress. These ads remind us not only how travel has been sold but how the industry has, arguably, sold out. Now it’s all volume, processing 'pax' and filling the seats on cheap flights.

Now everyone gets to travel - which is great - but all the style, the comfort, and the artistry - as well as the artful ads - sailed off over the horizon decades ago.

Ready to slip on ... ?

The Gentleman’s Slipper book by Fiona Dreesmann, a beautifully illustrated, 150 page tribute to men and their slippers. With photographs of famous slipper wearing men including film star Brad Pitt, racing legend Sir Jackie Stewart, religious leader Pope Benedict XVI and historian Nick Foulkes, The Gentleman’s Slipper offers a unique insight into the life of this most intimate item of male footwear and history of the craftsmanship from the ancient times until today. The Gentleman’s Slipper is a must for the discerning dresser. All profits from the sale of the book will be donated to the charity Help for Heroes.





The ‘Albert Slipper’ is the sturdy lace-less velvet, patent, suede or linen slip-on shoe with quilted lining popularised by Prince Albert in the mid 19th Century. Originally worn strictly around the home or at the most formal of royal occasions, the Albert slipper has today become the trend in formal and casual footwear.
Founded in 2010 by Fiona Dreesmann, after falling in love with the style and comfort of her late grandfather’s Albert Slippers, ‘My Slippers’ is today one of the lesser known manufacturers of the famous slip-on shoe. Unlike the slippers’ new found American manufacturers however; but more akin to the traditional manufactures in England and France, My Slippers can boast handmade and bespoke products crafted to the highest standards using traditional techniques made from the finest materials available.
My Slippers’ product portfolio is considerable for such a young brand. Today, you can not only commission slippers for men but also for women. Moreover, you can choose between sublime velvet, linen, or wool materials in an array of colours. Each and every pair of handmade slippers is expertly cut, formed and lasted using traditional methods that produce the highest standards of quality. My Slippers offers customers a choice of plain slippers, standard embroided motifs & monograms, or custom motifs & monograms in an array of richly coloured threads including gold and silver. Slippers generally take 8 weeks to manufacture depending on the complexity of motif or monogram requested. According to Fiona Dreesmann, founder of My Slippers…
"All of our slippers are hand made to order and My Slippers would like you have what you want rather than being dictated to. The idea is that you can choose your base colour, trim and embroidery so that you will have something unique that has been made for you to your own requirements. This is the basic style of My Slippers."
For those seeking the ultra-exclusive bespoke slipper My Slippers offer a needlepoint service. A meeting is had at My Slippers’ office in Central London with clients seeking this service to sketch ideas, these are then translated onto canvas and hand stitched. The needlepoint is then stretched and handmade into slippers. The entire needlepoint process takes approximately 6 months with prices start from £1500.
My Slippers offer a quality bespoke service second to none. The slippers provided to CoutureLiving for review show meticulous attention to detail, particularly on the detailed monogram, and supreme comfort. My Slippers offer supremely elegant and comfortable bespoke slippers to the discerning few.
www.myslippers.co.uk