Goodwood House

Fashion at the Racecourse

01st August 2023

Fashion at Goodwood racecourse has always been glorious, writes Goodwood's Curator Clemmie de la Poer Beresford

  • The Collection

  • Exhibition

  • Goodwood House

  • Goodwood House Tea and Tour

  • Glorious

  • glorious goodwood

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Glorious Goodwood has always been synonymous with style. A sporting magazine in 1837 was taken by the ‘array of beauty, rank and fashion’ displayed at that year’s summer meeting. In the early twentieth-century, ‘frocks and frills for Goodwood’ and ‘the veritable triumphs of the milliner’s art’ – hats - leapt out of the pages of The Tatler. Dresses made of ‘the palest primrose Pompadour silk…decorated with Chantilly lace’ were all the rage in 1911. Women were congratulated for their choices, which were stylish and fashionable, yet not too formal or fussy; just perfect for a garden party. These sartorial attributes came to characterise Glorious Goodwood, distinguishing it from other racing fixtures, such as the more formal Royal Ascot. Edward VII, who had a soft spot for Goodwood and raceweek, was largely responsible for the more relaxed dress code. The King was concerned the event was being undermined by those attempting to turn it into a fashion show, and so in 1904 turned up in a white silk top hat instead of a regulation black one. The custom that male fashion followed the King led many leading members of society to hurry back up to London to order a ‘royal model’ overnight! Two years later, Edward completed the sartorial downgrade with a switch from morning suit to lounge suit. Bright colours were royally encouraged, with Edward pairing a pink shirt with lavender gloves in 1904, which attracted some comment! Today, Goodwood retains this more relaxed, garden party atmosphere. Woe betide anyone who dresses in a top hat or tails; they will find themselves, like one gentleman attending Glorious for the first time in 1921, in ‘splendid isolation’!

Leading members of society, including the Prince of Wales (the future Edward VII) are stylishly dressed for Glorious Goodwood in 1886. The painting, entitled The Lawn at Goodwood by Walter Wilson and Frank Walton, is in The Goodwood Collection.

Leading members of society, including the Prince of Wales (the future Edward VII) are stylishly dressed for Glorious Goodwood in 1886. The painting, entitled The Lawn at Goodwood by Walter Wilson and Frank Walton, is in The Goodwood Collection.

  • The Collection

  • Exhibition

  • Goodwood House

  • Goodwood House Tea and Tour

  • Glorious

  • glorious goodwood