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Goodwood Revival – What Vintage Styles To Wear For Racing

What to wear to the Goodwood Revival in West Sussex: the vintage Dior catwalk, overalls with 1980s Yves Saint Laurent, and hats, dresses and bags in period.

By Gracie Opulanza2 min read

Gracie Opulanza in a red vintage Jaguar open-top car, race number 203, driving past blurred trees

The Goodwood Revival is held every year at the Goodwood Circuit in West Sussex, England. It is a historic motor racing meeting that takes you back to the racing of the 1940s to the 1960s, with restored cars, motorcycles and aircraft, and races between rare cars of those years. Around the track there are period fashion shows, live music and a vintage fair. And almost everybody, drivers and visitors alike, comes dressed for the era.

Make sure you bring earplugs. It’s a very loud event.

Black-and-white view through a champagne flute of a vintage racing car passing spectators at Goodwood Revival
Pale blue and cream vintage saloon cars on the grid, a woman in a black dress and yellow tights holding a number sign

Vintage Dior

Each year luxury fashion houses lend out their vintage collections for the Revival. Whilst I was at Goodwood in 2019, Dior was showing its vintage collection on the catwalk: full skirts, fur stoles, pillbox hats and long gloves.

Model in a black full-skirted dress and white fur stole walking past the Revival Fashion sign at the Dior catwalk
Five models in dark 1950s-style dresses, hats and gloves on the Dior vintage catwalk, a white piano at the left
Woman in a black full-skirted dress, white fur stole, pillbox hat and long black gloves, holding a clutch in a marquee

Celebrity racing

Geri Horner was there, in aviator sunglasses and a white sleeveless polo-neck top. You may know her better as Ginger Spice. She rose to fame with the Spice Girls in the 1990s, left the group in 1998 and went on to a solo career, with singles such as “It’s Raining Men” and “Mi Chico Latino”. She has acted in films, Spice World and Fat Slags among them, and written a series of children’s books called Ugenia Lavender.

Geri Horner in aviator sunglasses and a white sleeveless polo-neck top at Goodwood Revival, in black and white

Christian Horner

Christian Horner, who ran the Red Bull Formula One team at the time, was at Goodwood in white racing overalls. He was racing on the track at the Revival, for the thrill of it. Drivers pay to race at Goodwood. I know because I interviewed them.

Geri Horner talking with Christian Horner, in white racing overalls, among vintage cars at Goodwood Revival

Glam up denim overalls

Overalls can be dressed up or down: with a blouse and heels, or with a plain T-shirt and trainers.

I dressed mine up with vintage Yves Saint Laurent pieces from the 1980s. They are mine, and I found them at a market in Andorra.

Gracie Opulanza in tan overalls with a gold chain belt, khaki forage cap and sunglasses, in front of a vintage motorbike
Two women in vintage-style overalls and a sailor-style outfit standing in front of a black propeller plane with a white star
Tan overalls with green sleeves, a jewelled brooch and a chunky gold belt, worn with a khaki cap beside a motorbike wheel

Vintage head pieces at Goodwood

A hat finishes a Revival outfit. Choose one from the right years: a 1950s pillbox, a forage cap, a sailor cap. There is a vintage fair at the Revival itself.

Black-and-white shot of two women in 1940s-style outfits and a man in a flying jacket on a propeller plane marked 43
Woman in a cap, sailor-style top and flared trousers beside a vintage propeller plane while two men stand on its wing

Vintage dresses at Goodwood

For dresses, think of the full-skirted silhouette of the 1950s, worn with gloves and a hat, as on the Dior catwalk.

A woman in a pink sleeveless dress and another in a navy dress with a red cardigan, beside a pale blue vintage car

Vintage handbags at Goodwood

Keep the bag in period too: a classic leather handbag for the day, or a beaded clutch for the evening. The woman below added a straw hat, white gloves and a lace parasol.

Woman in a yellow 1950s-style dress, straw hat and white gloves holding a lace parasol beside striped beach huts

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