Glorious Goodwood Races is nearly upon us and one of the highlights in the British flat horse racing calender. So gentlemen - What to Wear?
The rules are more relaxed than for
Royal Ascot, but there are still some rules that cannot be broken.
For Goodwood’s Richmond Enclosure the dress code is:
A jacket with shirt and tie or cravat must be worn or alternatively you
can wear a polo neck sweater. But hopefully the weather will be too gloriously warm
for the polo neck.
No jeans or shorts are permitted.
Although not compulsory attire, the wearing of a linen suit and a
panama hat at Glorious Goodwood is a tradition started by King Edward VII way
back in 1906 and is still the bookies favourite for a winning look.

M&S Savile Row inspired pure
linen suit designed by Richard James is in the pink of condition. Fabric is
100% linen so expect it to wrinkle and crease.
Click here for direct link to pure linen suit
But then that is the charm of a
pure linen suit. On any other fabric, creases look scruffy, but with linen it
says laid back elegance. Price for this 1 button suit is £149 and the flat
front trousers are £79. If the colour of pink is out of your comfort zone then
it is also available in the more traditional colours of oatmeal and mid blue.
Worn in the image with a crisp white shirt, the Savile Row Inspired
pure silk spotted tie £29.50 (link below), mixed metal knot cufflinks £12.50
and Autograph round face Analogue Eye watch £35
Celebrate your winnings in style and wear an ivory Planter Panama Hat
with champagne coloured band. Price £49 The Planter has a round flat crown and
wide brim providing great protection from the midday sun. For an extra £5 you
can change the band for a more colourful stripe.
If you are not convinced that creases equals style, then choose the
linen blends which have less of a tendency to wrinkle. The miracle of the
M&S Collezione Linen Miracle suit is that it doesn’t crease but still looks
and feels
like natural linen.
Here we have the 2 button jacket (£99) and flat front trousers (£49.50)
in soft white but there are also another seven shades to choose from ranging
from black to pale blue. Worn here with a blue check shirt, but remember you
need to add a tie or cravat for Goodwood.
If you are worried about the pale colours getting dirty quickly, then
Jaeger’s speckled ivory linen blend suit is the answer. The speckles will camouflage
any marks and make them less noticeable.
Fabric: 64% silk and 36% linen. Price of the 2 button blazer was £300 but now
on sale at £149. The matching speckled flat front trousers were £160 and now
£100.
To show the versatility of the linen suit, the image shows the blazer
worn with a pair of light blue Islington cotton chinos (were £99 now £49). Also
worn with a long sleeve stripe cotton shirt in pale blue and white (was £75 now
£40) and silk pocket square (was £25 now £15). Again don’t forget to add a tie
or cravat.