US 版
Cheltenham has become a chance for fashion-conscious country types to show off a different type of glamour
Whether it’s old family twills or nouveau country labels, the fashion at this 会合，会う is keeping stride with Ascot
I’ll 自白する, I’m a bit 脅すd of horses. They’ve got such big blunt teeth, 港／避難所’t they??
Yet here I am at the Cheltenham Festival, trotting around with Britain’s equine エリート. Needless to say I’m not 現実に here for the racing.?
You see I may not have a hot tip for the 支持する／優勝者 障害物, but I am into fashion and there’s a lot going on at the UK’s eventing 回路・連盟 beyond the obvious tack. The Cheltenham aesthetic, dubbed “田舎の vogue” by 正規の／正選手s, is not in the least bit 影響する／感情d by mainstream fashion.?
The look is unique, and 特に 際立った from that at other 会合，会うs. At 王室の Ascot, the scene can look a little like a 甘い shop, its audience washed in pastels and fruity 有望なs. At Cheltenham, the colour du jour is glorious mud.?
An upscale browny-green coat should be the 焦点の point of any 観客’s outfit ? ざん壕s, capes and blazers are all permitted. Once your outerwear is 安全な・保証するd, it’s 簡単に a 事例／患者 of accessorising with その上の sludgy-hued items ? suede boots, a 最高の，を越す-扱う 捕らえる、獲得する and a pheasant feather cap will finish the look perfectly and, crucially, feel practical in the iffy March 天候.?
As a Londoner, it’s not my usual 捕らえる、獲得する (literally, I’ve borrowed the whole outfit) but I’ve gone all in for my visit. While my husband raises an eyebrow at this show pony look before I leave home, I feel at 緩和する の中で the tweeds and tinnies herd 出発／死ing Paddington 駅／配置する.?
On arrival at Prestbury Park, which has been the home of racing in Cheltenham since the 1900s, I am fully immersed. The new 世代 of glossy equestrian patrons (with 広大な／多数の／重要な teeth, incidentally) （期間が）わたるs ITV racing 王族 Rosie Tapner and Francesca Cumani to actual 王族 Zara Tindall.?
There is also a brilliant 量 of faux country imposterism happening. Those who, like me, are in it for the day out ? if Matt Hancock, Gareth Gates, Carol Vorderman and the cast of Love Island can pop on a herringbone jacket and fit in, surely anyone can??
In the past 10 years, as celebrities have taken over the Cotswolds, Cheltenham has become a chance for fashion-conscious country types to show off a different 部類 of glamour; the aforementioned “田舎の vogue”.?
In that 尊敬（する）・点, Cheltenham now matches up to Ascot.?
The dress code is so 際立った that everyone knows 正確に／まさに what to wear for the occasion. Scanning the stands, I can see that all in 出席 see race days as a chance to get dressed up. The relaxing of 支配するs for 2023 by The (v)策を弄する／(n)騎手 Club (含むing the 許すing of ジーンズs and trainers) in the 指名する of “democratisation” has deterred no one when it comes to styling.?
“It’s not about what you spend, it’s about enjoying the sense of occasion,” a 地元の who visits 毎年 tells me. The truly posh wear the same 着せる／賦与するs every year ? it’s something of a brag to say that, if your jacket smells a little musty, it’s because it has been in the family for 世代s.?
I speak to younger men and women who have borrowed from their parents and 雑談（する） in the stands to 中央の-lifers who are re-wearing pieces that they bought at the festival １０年間s ago and still love now, because the look is timeless.?
For those who don’t have something vintage in the wardrobe, there are also new 選択s aplenty to 購入（する）.?
Over the past few years the Shopping Village at Cheltenham has 発展させるd into something of a 小売 目的地 ? as integral to the experience as the betting and a fizzy lunch at Alberta’s Run. Some 58 country-focussed British 商売／仕事s (含むing fashion labels Troy London and Dubarry, 加える 内部のs specialists such as pheasant feather artist Clare Brownlow) 始める，決める out to entice the 470,000 attendees during the four-day event.?
What they sell isn’t cheap ? it’s 質 wool 着せる／賦与するing and suede boots and handbags, mostly made in England. But here they have 設立する their audience; In 2022, on 普通の／平均（する）, each guest at Cheltenham dropped an astonishing £697 during their visit.?
Holland Cooper has the marquee 位置／汚点／見つけ出す in the village ? an 108 square metre patch that is buzzing with guests between races. It sells many of its £1,200 ざん壕 coats, but knits and 従犯者s move quickly too.
“Starting from £35, we have something for every 予算,” the 創立者 Jade Holland Cooper says proudly.
Her Cheltenham-based label is one of several new British brands that has made a fortune by betting on fresh 利益／興味 in the 遺産 look. Holland Cooper 開始する，打ち上げるd her 商売／仕事 on the eventing 回路・連盟 in 2011, with a 立ち往生させる selling tweed miniskirts at the Badminton Horse 裁判，公判s.?
In 2022 she 報告（する）／憶測d sales of £22.7?million. 顧客s 調書をとる／予約する their personal styling 任命s at her Charlton Kings 旗艦 boutique as 早期に as January to 確実にする they are race day ready. For some niche retailers, Cheltenham is one of the most profitable events of the year.?
“We see a 抱擁する spike in 歳入 in March which isn’t far behind the Christmas period,” explains Alice Leet-Cook, co-創立者 of millinery label Hicks & Brown. Leet-Cook’s feathered caps are, indeed, everywhere in the stands. When the Princess of むちの跡s and the Duchess of Edinburgh become valued 顧客s, word spreads quickly around the country cliques.?
“Seventy per cent of the 製品s we sell at Cheltenham are [Kate’s] Suffolk Fedoras, 定価つきの at £99.” The Norfolk-based brand Fairfax & 好意 占領するs another prime real 広い地所 陰謀（を企てる） at Cheltenham ? 正確に／まさに a １０年間 since it was 設立するd by Marcus Fairfax Fountaine and Felix 好意 Parker as a 立ち往生させる selling shoes at the Holkham Country Fair.?
“Cheltenham gives an incredible 適切な時期 for shoppers to see our 着せる／賦与するs on ‘real models’ walking around the racecourse and to 伸び（る） inspiration,” says Parker of why 存在 caught in the moment makes people want to shop on the 位置／汚点／見つけ出す.?
“We did 概略で 500 orders at Cheltenham last year, with the 普通の／平均（する） order value coming in at £170. Our Regina boots are our hero 製品, along with our boot tassels.”?
Lots of brands 開始する，打ち上げる new 製品s 排他的に at Cheltenham ? Fairfax & 好意 is selling its new outerwear here for the first time. Carol Vorderman, on Wednesday, wore a Sienna cape that we can assume she bought off the brand’s stand on Tuesday.?
奮起させるd to shop? So are the Americans.?
Both 国家の and international 利益／興味 in 伝統的な country style is at a high. In 2022, Fairfax & 好意 made its debut at the Kentucky Horse 裁判，公判s, after noticing a 殺到する in 需要・要求する from the US.?
“British country 遺産 style is so popular 世界的な,” says Parker.?
“When we 始める，決める up shops in 場所s like Stow-in-the-Wold and Helmsley, we thought we would reach a new 地元の audience. And we did. But we underestimated how popular quintessentially British villages and 遺産 buildings are as hotspots for international tourists.”?
For anyone who wants to look the part, native or tourist, Fairfax & 好意, Hicks & Brown et al are ready to 申し込む／申し出 the 着せる／賦与するs to match the event.?
So could they 首尾よく 道具 me out to blend in? I realised, too late, that I should have borrowed this coat in brown. But 明らかに it was my polished, pointed 黒人／ボイコット boots that really gave me away.?
“Tan suede with 一連の会議、交渉／完成する-toes and a 封鎖する heel would be more Cheltenham,” one 正規の／正選手 advised me. Better luck next year, then.