Get ready with me … Styling outfits for all 4 days of The Cheltenham Festival 2024. What I wore, Style Wednesday and how to plan your next race day look!

🐎 WHAT A FESTIVAL! 🐎

We are back! It has definitely taken the weekend to recover, but all I can say is WOW, what a Festival it’s been. I’ll get in to the ins and outs of the racing in another post, today’s blog is all about the fashion!

I have had great fun putting together my outfits for The Festival. This has been, and likely will always be, an area where I get a lot of questions. It can be tricky to put together a race day outfit, and for some, I know it can feel overwhelming. With style playing such a huge part of many of the Country events these days, it could easily feel daunting on what to put together, where to get it from, and in some cases, even how to afford it.

Cheltenham Racecourse, in line with The Jockey Club, has relaxed all of its dress code rules. At one time, trousers and shoes were a must for Men, who can now wear jeans and trainers, and there is far less pressure on Woman to opt for dresses, fascinators and heels.

I am often asked how far in advance I plan my outfits, and the truth is, PRETTY MUCH ALWAYS ON THE DAY! Please do not be fooled, I have as many fashion disasters or wardrobe malfunctions as the next person. Often there is a piece in my mind that I want to style, and I just build off that piece. So I have a starting point, the rest comes to me, usually on the day.

I forever want to keep my style as unique and individual as possible. Therefore, I love putting together these outfits, and ensuring you get to see my true self shining through in these looks.

Below you can find all four of my outfits from this years Cheltenham Festival.

I hope you love them 💖

🥂 Day One – Champions Day – Tuesday 🥂

Day one of The Festival. The buzz is always crazy on this day. Everyone has waited so long for the Festival to roll around again, so when it finally does, we are ready.

My Tuesday outfit was really centred around a couple of key pieces. Having recently received the new Ada Cape from Fairfax & Favor, I was keen to make this piece work through one of my outfits. Alongside this, for my years I have worked alongside High Bird Designs, also know as ‘Cariad Millinary’. Lynette created me a stunning pheasant feather piece, and again, I knew this was something which would tie in perfectly to one of my outfits. I love adding in some colour, so a recent purchase from That Scarf, helped me to bring together some classic neutrals, with the help of a pop of Baby Pink.

This outfit wasn’t necessarily my full plan for Day one, however, I was still waiting on some of the pieces featured in my outfits later on in the week, so my hand was a little forced in getting Tuesdays outfit sorted. I really like how the outfit turned out in the end though!

🥂 OUTFIT DETAILS 🥂:
Fascinator | @highbirddesigns – Custom made
Cape/Boots | @fairfaxandfavor – The Ada Cape and Octavia Boots
Waistcoat | @schoffelcountry – Millport Tweed Waistcoat in Oak Herringbone
Fur scarf | @that_scarf_ – Primrose Pink shawl
Roll neck | @primark – old
Jeans | @lovallofficial – Black jegging
Belt | @figandtwiguk – Tan with Gold bit Willow belt

All brands are linked to their websites, through their @ name above.

👒 Day Two – Style Wednesday – Wednesday 👒

The second day of The Festival had always been Ladies day, a chance to dress up, and enter a best dressed competition. This day often attracted designer brands, celebrities and Royals. Style Wednesday is a rebrand of Ladies day, becoming more inclusive. Now Men and Woman alike are able to enter for the crowing of ‘Best dressed’, and slow fashion is celebrated, encouraging those to opt for Vintage, second hand or more sustainable outfit options.

With the likes of online resellers such as Vinted becoming more and more popular, I had been on the scout before the Festival to try and buy some second hand instead of new. I have always loved the beautiful Timothy Foxx pieces, which you may have seen throughout my racing outfits previously, and when I saw this skirt on Vinted, I knew I wanted to make an outfit centred around this piece.

Everything else worn on Style Wednesday was put together based off the skirt, with my talented friend at Josephine’s Country Collection completing my look with the most beautiful and well matched fascinator.

One of the pure joys of the races comes from dressing up, so Style Wednesday I am sure will remain as popular as ever.

👒 OUTFIT DETAILS 👒:
Fascinator | @josephinescountrycollections – Custom made
Trench | @hollandcooperclothing – Navy Blue full length trench
1/4 Zip | @schoffelcountry – Sky Blue Polperro Pima 1/4 Zip
Roll neck | @primark – old
Skirt | @timothyfoxx – Bought from Vinted
Boots | @fairfaxandfavor – Heeled Regina Boots in Navy
Bag | @salthouseengland (you can use ‘LUCINDA10’ on their website for discount) – Adira cross body bag

All brands are linked to their websites, through their @ name above.

🍀 Day Three – St Patrick’s Thursday – Thursday 🍀

St Patrick’s Thursday celebrates the penultimate day of the Cheltenham Festival, and with this being a second home to the Irish, and somewhere they dominate, it is no surprise this day is full of fun and liveliness.

Often you’ll see outfits in full support of this day, with shades of green galore! Mine on the other hand….

About that! Well, I had some issues with post turning up, and in the end I had to shuffle round outfits. As I had two blue outfits, I wanted to try and separate these, so this outfit I would have typically liked to have worn on Style Wednesday, however, it made its way to St Patrick’s day instead.

Nothing in this outfit was new, in fact, I have worn this outfit, or variations of it, for the last few Festivals. This just goes to show that you don’t need to switch out your wardrobe for an event just because you’ve worn it before. This is one of my favourite ever race day looks, and I will continue to style it at the races going forwards!

🍀 OUTFIT DETAILS 🍀:
Fascinator | @highbirddesigns – Custom made 6 years ago!
Jacket | @welligogs.ltd (you can use ‘LUCINDA10’ on their website for discount) – Seville velvet coat but old season in Black
Roll neck | @hm – old
Belt/Boots | @fairfaxandfavor – Sennowe Belt + Brompton Boots
Skirt/Scarf | @etsyuk – old
Bag | @salthouseengland (you can use ‘LUCINDA10’ on their website for discount) – Adira cross body bag

All brands are linked to their websites, through their @ name above.

🏆 Day Four – Gold Cup Day – Friday 🏆

The fourth and final day, and the one known by all. There is nothing quite like Gold Cup Day, even those who have never attended another race meet, ridden a horse, or have much to do with the sport, know and understand just how special this day is. The excitement, and the ‘Cheltenham Roar’ are completely alive on this day.

As far as outfits go, you can once again whatever you feel comfortable in! I had been waiting on the final delivery, my stunning Knightsbridge Jacket from Welligogs. I have a few in this style now, and not only are they the most flattering jackets, but also the most beautifully made. In line with their new season stock, they have just launched the Elemental Wool, which is a pale blue, with darker blue and pink check.

I am so pleased I waited to wear this jacket until Gold Cup Day, as it was the most beautiful showstopper piece, which perfectly complimented a navy blue outfit. Once again, my talented friend Jo had a gorgeous headpiece to match, and I then completed the look with a navy dress and accessories, which I already owned.

🏆 OUTFIT DETAILS 🏆:
Fascinator | @josephinescountrycollections – Custom made
Jacket/Bag | @welligogs.ltd (you can use ‘LUCINDA10’ on their website for discount) – Knightsbridge Elemental Wool Jacket and Phillips Leather Handbag
Fur | @Ebay – Vintage off Bay
Roll neck dress | @highlandandherringbone – old
Boots | @fairfaxandfavor – High Heeled Regina Boots in Navy
Necklace | @hihosilveruk – Triple cherry roller snaffle necklace
Watch | @morrisrichardsonwatches – Harris tweed watch

All brands are linked to their websites, through their @ name above.

That is all for now my Darlings! If you would like to see videos from the day, you can check out my Instagram and TikTok channels (both are @countryclassiclucinda).

See you really soon in the next blog!

Lots of love, Lucinda xo