The Key Winter/Spring Fashion Trends Defining Cheltenham Festival Fashion 2024

‘Style Wednesday’ has pushed fashion to the forefront of the tradition and culture of the Cheltenham Festival. Each year we see the celebration of classic race day staples such as tweed suits and fascinator hats amongst reflections of the latest collections and fashion movements. With that in mind, how can we expect this season’s top trends to present themselves at the Cheltenham Festival 2024?

The Fur Revival

Fur has made a booming comeback this winter, with tastemakers outside Prada and Miu Miu events showing various takes on the many variations of ‘the fur coat’. From the ‘Penny Lane’ look to the Slavic vintage revival to Y2k fur cardigains… fur is everywhere. We can certainly expect the Cheltenham Festival to showcase this trend which exudes opulence and elegance. With extensive fabric development, there is, more than ever, a common opinion to keep up with the times and practice ethical fashion with faux fur!

Race week lands in the mid-March crossover between winter and spring, which means an overlap of both astronomical and fashion seasons. This leaves you with either leaning back into winter with dramatic coats, wool and tweed or jumping into spring with pops of colour, floral patterns, and lightweight pieces.

Festival Headwear and the Rise of ‘Timeless’ Fashion

At the races, hats are always in. While bright colours suit the typical flamboyance of race day headwear, black, white, and gentle colours are dominating Spring fashion in 2024. The term ‘quiet luxury’ is cropping up as it did last year. The expression, somewhat ironically, promotes an anti-trend environment where timeless, elegant classics are the gems in a fashionable wardrobe. This brings colours such as ‘almost yellow’, ‘pale blue’ and ‘pistachio green’ to the forefront along with the King and Queen of classic pieces, black and white. So, there are plenty of options for bringing class and colour to your headwear this festival.

Alternatively, cling to winter a little longer and combine classic race day headwear with the fur trend of winter 2023! Fur headbands and Cossack hats featured in collections all winter long and can be a great feature piece for a warm and refined look.

The Polo Shirt

Polo shirts have earned a mention in Vogue’s ‘Spring 2024 Fashion Trends That Define the Season‘. The iconic ‘preppiness’ of the style has dominated fashion over the past few months. This unisex item can feature as a perfect centrepiece for a laid-back but put-together race day outfit for both men and women.

And what about the men?

This year, men’s classic race day fashion really lines up with what we’re seeing in collections. Sabato De Sarno’s debut show for Gucci carried the title ‘Masculinity’ and, since then, the season has unfolded as a commentary on contemporary masculinity, carried by, the Piece de Resistance… the suit. Somewhat paradoxically, we are seeing the classic dark suit and tie used as a mode through which designers are dismantling ‘toxic masculinity’. This is encouraging personal touches and adaptations on ‘the suit’, with dramatic collars and shoulder pads featuring while maintaining immaculate tailoring, leaving your options wide open for your racewear.

Last year we saw lots of Schoffels and wax coats at the Cheltenham Festival. This will, no doubt, remain a choice, in keeping with the farming culture of the festival. Simultaneously, we are seeing a rise in the popularity of long, tailored coats, perhaps in line with the rise of the suit. Collections are celebrating many variations of longer, dramatic coats from lightweight trenches to heavy wool jackets so again there is lots of room for personal preference.

Over 10 years down the line from the show’s premiere, we are still in the midst of the flat cap revival courtesy of BBC’s ‘Peaky Blinders’. The races provide a rare opportunity to sport the 1920’s headwear fashion with genuine reason, and people sure take advantage of it. While the clear nod to the hit series could appear twee for everyday wear, the flat cap’s ties with classic country wear make a tweed or moleskin cap a perfectly fashionable choice for the Cheltenham Festival.