Sian Jones
Senior Event Manager
Senior Event Manager at Imperial Corporate Events, looking after the racing season and the country sporting calendar.
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Glorious Goodwood is the relaxed cousin of Royal Ascot. Three enclosures, three dress codes, no compulsory hats. Linen is the unofficial uniform, a Panama hat is the unofficial topping, and the Tuesday opens with the Goodwood Cup over two miles at Group 1.
Glorious Goodwood is the unofficial name for the Qatar Goodwood Festival, a five-day flat-racing meeting held high on the South Downs in late July. The 2026 meeting runs from Tuesday 28 July to Saturday 1 August. King Edward VII famously called the meeting "a garden party with racing tacked on," and Goodwood has built much of its identity around the line ever since.
The dress code reflects that. Goodwood is the relaxed cousin of Royal Ascot. There are three enclosures with three different briefs, no compulsory hats, and the official guidance on what to wear runs to a few paragraphs rather than several pages of strap measurements. Linen is the unofficial uniform; a Panama hat is the unofficial topping.
Goodwood Racecourse held its first public race meeting in 1802. The course sits on the Sussex Downs above Goodwood House, the seat of the Dukes of Richmond, who have run it ever since. The nickname "Glorious Goodwood" predates Qatar's sponsorship by a century and pre-dates the modern dress code by even longer.
“A garden party with racing tacked on.”
The line, delivered in the late Victorian era, set the tone. The day is meant to feel like a country house lawn party first and a sporting meeting second. The dress code is what most clearly distinguishes Glorious Goodwood from the more formal British race meetings.
Goodwood operates three ticketed enclosures across the festival, each with its own dress code.
The Richmond Enclosure is the premium tier and the strictest dress code on the course. Gentlemen must wear a jacket, a long-sleeved collared shirt, a tie and full-length trousers. Women's wear is guided rather than mandated: linen suits, structured dresses, smart separates and tailored trousers. The firm rules in the Richmond Enclosure are no fancy dress and no sportswear.
The Gordon Enclosure is the mid-tier and considerably more relaxed. Goodwood's official guidance for the Gordon Enclosure leans into relaxed midi and maxi dresses, lightweight blazers, soft tailoring and chic separates. There is no formal suit-and-tie requirement for men in the Gordon Enclosure.
The Lennox Enclosure is the most relaxed of the three. Goodwood describes the brief as "casual garden party": chinos, cotton dresses and casual coordinates are all on the list. The Lennox is the right enclosure for a younger group or for anyone who has had enough of formal-daywear meetings by mid-summer.
The wardrobe at Glorious Goodwood is the practical answer to "smart-but-summer-on-the-Sussex-Downs." Goodwood Racecourse sits at the top of the Downs above Goodwood House, exposed on three sides, and late July afternoons can run warm. The course has limited shade. The Trundle Iron Age hill fort sits behind the course and the wind picks up off it after lunch.
Linen breathes. Cotton suits work; wool suits get punishing by the third race. The Panama hat is the obvious answer to the sun-shade problem: it reads correctly with a linen jacket, is light enough to wear all afternoon, and has the period look the meeting cultivates. Brogues, suede loafers and lightweight derby shoes work; full leather oxfords get hot. For women, the equivalents are a brimmed straw hat, a fascinator or a pinned headpiece, none required and all common.
The unwritten rule of Glorious Goodwood is that the wardrobe should look as if you came for the picnic and the racing is a bonus. Anything that looks borrowed-from-a-funeral works against the day.
There is no minimum hat-base diameter at Glorious Goodwood. There is no compulsion to wear one at all. The official Richmond Enclosure guidance does not require a hat; nor does the Gordon or the Lennox. Most women still wear one because the sun makes it sensible and because the photographs from the Goodwood lawns have always featured millinery.
The hat culture at Glorious Goodwood is therefore looser and more playful than at Royal Ascot. Wide-brim straws, beach-flavoured hats, deliberately oversized millinery, vintage Panamas and even gardening-hat shapes all read correctly. Disc fascinators and headpieces that would not meet Royal Ascot's four-inch base rule pass without comment at Goodwood.
The Thursday of Glorious Goodwood is officially Ladies' Day. The day's feature is the Nassau Stakes, a Group 1 mile-and-a-quarter race for fillies and mares aged three and up.
The dress code does not change on Ladies' Day. What changes is the photographic intensity. The lawns fill with more elaborate millinery and the press coverage doubles. If a guest wants the most photographed Goodwood day, it is the Thursday. For everyone else, the Tuesday opening day or the Saturday closer reads as easier on the wardrobe and the timing.
The festival opens on Tuesday with the Goodwood Cup, the only Group 1 of the meeting longer than a mile and a half. The race is run over two miles, for three-year-olds and up. It is the second leg of Britain's Stayers' Triple Crown, sitting between Royal Ascot's Gold Cup in June and Doncaster's Doncaster Cup in September. The Goodwood Cup was inaugurated in 1812 and has been a Group 1 since 2017.
For a guest planning their first Glorious Goodwood, Tuesday is the racing-led day. Wednesday brings the Sussex Stakes, a Group 1 mile race for three-year-olds and up, currently the richest race of the meeting at around £1 million in prize money. Thursday is the photographic Ladies' Day. Friday and Saturday close the meeting, with the King George Qatar Stakes on the Friday and the Stewards' Cup heritage handicap on the Saturday.
For men, by enclosure
Richmond Enclosure
A linen or cotton suit in cream, pale grey, light blue or sand. A long-sleeved collared shirt in white or pastel. A tie. Brogues or suede loafers. A Panama or straw fedora is the convention but not a rule.
Gordon Enclosure
A blazer with chinos or smart trousers. A collared shirt (open neck is fine). Loafers or smart shoes. A hat is optional. The brief is smart without being suited.
Lennox Enclosure
Chinos or smart trousers with a collared shirt. A jacket is recommended but not required. Casual coordinates are acceptable. No fancy dress and no sportswear.
For women, by enclosure
Richmond Enclosure
A linen or summer dress, a structured midi, a smart trouser suit or smart separates. A hat or headpiece is conventional but not mandatory. Heels or wedges work; flats are accepted.
Gordon Enclosure
A midi or maxi dress, lightweight blazer, soft tailoring or smart separates. Hat optional. The code reads as smart summer wedding rather than Royal Ascot Thursday.
Lennox Enclosure
A cotton dress, smart separates, casual coordinates. Hat optional. Comfortable shoes. The brief is closer to garden party than racing meeting.
Goodwood sits high on the Sussex Downs above Goodwood House. The course is exposed and shade options on the lawns are limited, so sun protection in late July is worth packing.
For shoes, a flat as well as the heels (women) or a comfortable second pair (men) makes sense if you intend to spend time in the Parade Ring or on the lawns. The walks across the course cross uneven grass.
The simple version: Royal Ascot enforces a code; Glorious Goodwood encourages a style. Ascot's Royal Enclosure code runs to several pages, with measured hat-base diameters and shoulder-strap widths and a specific rule that trouser suits must be matching. Goodwood's Richmond Enclosure code runs to a paragraph, asks for a jacket and tie on the men's side and leaves the women's side to good taste.
For a guest choosing between the two, the question is rarely about prestige (both deliver) and often about temperature. Royal Ascot in mid-June can feel cool; Glorious Goodwood in late July tends to be hotter. Linen and Panamas exist because of that, not despite it.
Sian Jones
Senior Event Manager
Senior Event Manager at Imperial Corporate Events, looking after the racing season and the country sporting calendar.
Four enclosures, four dress codes. What each requires, and the rules people miss at the gate.
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