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Despite the popularity of gangster style hoodies and humorous printed t-shirts, there always seems be a burgeoning element of the dandy in men’s fashion that refuses to be ousted by newer styles. A lot of people have asked whether this style is actually relevant: read any broadsheet’s style section and you’ll be told off for wanting to learn the proper technique of walking with an umbrella. Why then this continued desire for such well-groomed, effete mode of dress? Well, that’d be like attempting to make sense out of the mysteries of fashion. Instead, let’s take a look at some essential dandy-wear:

Men Hats: Forget the cheeky, laddish look of the pork-pie hat with jeans and t-shirt. The chap’s hat is a thing that oozes character, and serves as a functional tool for showing chap-like respect to ladies and elders, being as it is doffable. The sharpest of these, almost lethally-stylish, is of course the fedora. A proper trilby is a softer variation on this, while the flat cap is a gentlemanly version of casual hat-wearing.

Satchel: If there’s a fact about dandies, it’s that they don’t wear rucksacks or draw-string football bags. A chap needs a satchel, something quite large but elegant. Black leather with brass trims goes down a treat, while the Harrovian charm of a tan satchel with buckles is unlikely to lose its stylishness. Like the dandy himself, the satchel should be light and manoeuvrable.

Carapace: It’s the no-man’s land between smart and dapper that the chap seems to be able to negotiate better than the rest, and no more so than what’s under the pea coat or tweed jacket. A waistcoat with a shirt is a chap favourite, especially pinstripe numbers or something in an ashen or chestnut tone. Ties are of course optional, but there has to be something a little eccentric in a normal tie; something thin but not rakish. That’s where the cravat comes in.

Cravats: Overlooking the problem that nobody seems to remember how to tie one (some serious chap-orientated educational initiative needs to be brought into action), a cravat just says ‘dandy’ straight out, with no shame whatsoever. A kind of amorphous silky mass that tucks in the collar of a shirt, a cravat is pretty far from what you might consider as a normal tie. If there’s one area where a chap will be accused of trying too hard it’ll be in the wearing of a cravat, but this simple and quite luxurious garment refuses to budge from the discussion of men’s fashion. So why not embrace it?

Smoking Jackets: People will say you’re going way too far. Forget them. Get one in burgundy, navy and/or bottle-green and wear it while carrying a bunch of irises when visiting a friend’s mother, a confidant. You know you want to.

Shoes: Like it or not, the resurgence of smart shoes such as brogues and penny-loafers in place of scruffy trainers is a style derivative of the chap or dandy. Leather, especially in brown or slightly-toned, is a favourite shade. The moccasin-type of slip-on gives that sharpness of profile to the feet, whereas the real needle-nosed number tends to be lace-up and nothing short of staggeringly chic anyhow. Tooled leather detail is also something to be readily found on your chap’s two plates of meat.

This is just a short delve into the fashion stalwart that comes with all things chap, just a taster and a reminder that he’s far from grasping to hold on to his place among the rapidly-changing fashion world; if anything, he’s flourishing amid the controversy raised by the doubters. Bear this article in mind when you’re shopping in the high-street or buying clothes online, and see for yourself the long legacy of dandyism still present in shop windows in spring/summer 2010. Long live the chap, the fop, the Florentine filly.