The Chapar: A New Year, A New Style?

With the blog refocused for 2018 on the search for style, I wanted to look at services that can help you achieve the looks and clothes that you want. I start with The Chapar, a personal styling service for men that enables you to build a wardrobe without having to battle through a high street.

After an initial telephone consultation with a stylist you receive a box of clothes selected to match your size, style, preferred colours and shapes. In my consultation I told the stylist that I was trying to move away from blues; like most men my wardrobe is a sea of blue. In response I received a box of cool greys, country browns, beiges and greens - an excellent start. Everything fits and the only things I didn't really like were the shoes, both boots which I rarely wear; probably my fault for not mentioning that.

The Chapar draws from an impressive range of brands, some familiar like Hackett (always a safe choice), Ted Baker, Sunspel, Orlebar Brown and Ralph Lauren and others less familiar (to me anyway) such as Hartford and Eden Park (whose knitwear I was impressed by; probably my favourite pieces in the box). After selecting what you want to keep the rest are returned (by courier arranged by The Chapar - all very easy) and you are invoiced for what you keep.

Blazer Hackett, knitwear Eden Park (L) & Ted Baker (R) , trousers Velour by Nostalgia

Even for a man like me who (wrongly) thinks he knows what he wants, The Chapar is an extremely useful service. There's nothing like trying something new and The Chapar will stretch you in this way if you want to try a new approach by way of shapes or colours or styles. The stylists are knowledgable and happy to advise. I would have kept everything (except the boots) and am impressed how my wishes were interpreted.

Whether you're sartorially clueless or clued up, The Chapar is worth a try. I first tried them a couple of years ago and it's been interesting to see how they've grown, obviously responding well to a demand from those too busy, or lacking confidence, to go online or to the hight street to do their clothes shopping. To find out more click on The Chapar.

This is a collaboration with The Chapar.

The Chapar delivers style to Antarctica - how to look nice on the ice

I wrote about The Chapar last year, when I tried out their very efficient and effective styling service and ended up with some lovely clothes that fitted and suited me well. 

I rather liked the story that they told me this week of the customer in Antarctica to whom they delivered a trunk of clothes. James Townsend, a Medical Officer working with the British Antarctic Survey decided last November to test The Chapar's claim to deliver anywhere and, having forgotten his order, was surprised to receive a delivery at the Antarctic base earlier this month. He provided The Chapar with some images, and here they are.

Grey Fox tried The Chapar here. For information how you can have a change of clothes delivered to faraway places, see The Chapar website.

The Antarctic Survey vessel delivers the trunk

Two penguins enjoying their new evening suits, also sent by The Chapar

The happy customer

The Chapar - personal styling for men - with a difference

Many men simply cannot be bothered with shopping for clothes and, I suspect, this applies most particularly to men over forty. Whatever our excuse - we're busy, think shopping is for sissies, leave it to our partner/wife, can't be bothered - the result is that we find it harder to dress well as the grey hairs appear.

There are solutions - we buy everything at our favourite high street department store, we buy online, we don't buy anything or we rely on a partner selecting our clothes. But these are unlikely to result in outstanding sartorial results unless we are prepared to put in that extra care to ensure good fit, colour co-ordination or style appropriate to our age, shape, colouring and lifestyle.

For those with the desire to dress well, but without the time or inclination to put in too much personal effort, there is always the option of the personal stylist (see, for example, my post here about one such service, Sartoria Lab).

The Chapar now offer a further alternative. After a telephone consultation with a stylist, you are sent a trunk of clothes carefully selected for you. You try them on, decide what you will keep, pay for those and the rest are picked up by a courier to be returned to The Chapar - what could be easier?

But, does it work? I had the chance to try when The Chapar offered to put me through their process. I was phoned, at a time and date previously arranged, by Shaunie Brett, Director of Styling, who skilfully elicited from me everything she needed to know about my style and clothing preferences and my sizes. We chatted for twenty minutes or so and I was promised a box of carefully-selected clothes within a few days - very exciting - as good as Christmas.

A few days later a beautifully-presented box of clothes arrived. Unpacking them I was immediately struck by how well Shaunie has interpreted my tastes. As promised, she included a few items to stretch me and tempt me to try something new. This idea really attracted me - whether or not we feel confident in our choices, we should all try something new from time to time to expand our range.

Below are images of some of the items sent. Of the 17 items sent I would have rejected very few had I been in the position of a client. All suited me well in terms of style and colour and, particularly important, all fitted me very well. Brands sent in my box included Hentsch Man, Hackett, Brooks Brothers, Hartford, Pantherella, Sunpsel, John Smedley and a brand less familiar to me, Lubiam.

The Chapar is a great formula. For the man without the inclination to shop for himself, the service will save time and provide skilfully-styled clothes that will fit well and suit his needs. Even the confident and able sartorialist will benefit as he will be encouraged to try new styles and colours. Prices are no higher than available on the high street. The clothes selected are from the best-known and trusted brands, while newer and less-familiar names are included to keep choices as wide as possible.

The Chapar claim to be changing the way men shop. They must just be right.

For more information, see The Chapar website.

Some of the items selected by The Chapar for Grey Fox