If you’re going to the Aintree Festival, you have to make a decision. Is your number one priority watching the amazing spectacle of National Hunt racing, or are you really more interested in the fashion?
This will make deciding which day to go on much easier. If fashion is your real focus, then Ladies’ Day (aka Fabulous Friday) is probably the best choice for you. Not only is it a great reason to go and buy a new outfit, but you’ll also get to take part in one of the UK’s biggest informal fashion parades.
Source: Cammiee Winkelmann via Facebook
Unlike other race courses such as Ascot, Aintree doesn’t have a strict dress code. The Aintree website simply suggests that “smart is preferable” and that fancy dress outfits aren’t allowed for the Grand National. This means that there are very few restrictions on what you decide to wear; you have free rein to dress how you please. And with every other racegoer having the same freedom, you’re bound to see the whole spectrum: from the demure to the outrageous, the stylish hits to the fashion faux-pas.
Whatever you decide to wear, you might come away with more than a few compliments on Ladies’ Day if you happen to land the Aintree Style Award. In 2016, a 25-year old from Durham wore a £70 dress which won her not only £8,000 to spend at Liverpool ONE, but also a Range Rover Epoque, valued at £35,000. For your chance to win this year, you just have to step into one of the #FabulousFriday frames dotted around Aintree and have your competition image taken by one of the professional photographers. The Style Award winner will be announced at 3.05pm.
Of course, there’s great racing to enjoy on every day of the Aintree Festival, and Ladies’ Day is no exception. Highlights include The Topham Steeple Chase, Melling Steeple Chase and the Sefton Novices’ Hurdle.
Away from the racing, there’s live entertainment, too. Singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor will perform and BBC Radio 2’s Jo Whiley will give a live DJ set. There’s also the Grand Women’s Summit, a discussion panel about women in sport, with Sam Quek, Olympic heroine, featuring on the panel.
Our Ladies Day ambassador @katiewalsh9 is set to ride Wonderful Charm in the National, one of Nicholls’ five runners https://t.co/xC3SKnKJNP pic.twitter.com/uXNNaicEps
— Aintree Racecourse (@AintreeRaces) March 27, 2017
Alternatively, if you’re going to Aintree on Grand National Day, you can expect a little less interest in what the ladies are wearing. Having said that, many of the outfits will be similar, and it’s just as much of an occasion to dress up for. But the real focus of the whole day is the build-up to and outcome of what is widely considered to be the world’s toughest steeplechase race: the Grand National.
Of course, having a flutter is all part and parcel of going to the races, and you’ll probably have a number of bets during the day. The Grand National is never an easy race to call, as the course is so long and horses have 30 difficult fences to jump in order to complete it. If you’re not knowledgeable about horse racing but want to get an informed bet on ahead of race day, check out the oddschecker guide to picking a Grand National winner. Placing an ante-post bet will also secure you more favourable odds than you’ll get on race day.
The Grand National is the last race of the day; other race card highlights include The Liverpool Hurdle and The Betway Mersey Novices’ Hurdle. Other entertainment on the Saturday includes a tribute to Many Clouds, the 2015 Grand National winner who will be inducted into the Aintree Legends, and the Parade of Champions – previous Grand National winners – in the Parade Ring. As 2017 is the 40th anniversary of Red Rum’s legendary third Grand National victory, there will also be a number of Red Rum-inspired activities taking place in the Red Rum Garden.
Why Wearing a Hat is a Racing Tradition
Whichever day you go to Aintree, you might be thinking about wearing a hat or headpiece. Traditionally, racing has always been a leisure pursuit for the wealthy, and racegoers would typically demonstrate their wealth not only through owning a racehorse but also through the clothing and accessories they sported at the races.
Hats were very much a part of this ‘peacocking’ and used as status symbols. The kind of hat you wore reflected how wealthy you were, what class you belonged to, and even your marital status. Over the years, as the class system has become less important in society, the rules and unspoken meanings around wearing of certain styles of hats were first relaxed and have now all but disappeared.
There are few events where you’ll see so many hats and headpieces being worn than at a spring or summer racing fixture, such as the Aintree Festival. And as there are no rules around hat wearing today, you’ll see a vast variety of different styles being worn.
Credit: Pixabay
While there are plenty of racegoers who still opt for a full hat, the majority of ladies will wear an accent headpiece or fascinator. These beautiful, intricate arrangements of flowers, feathers and veiling can be perched on the top or side of the head, and can be a lot less of an encumbrance than a full hat.
The rise in the number of women wearing fascinators to the races today is as much to do with accommodating extravagant hairstyles as the focus on the hat itself. But this isn’t entirely new: back in the 60s, Jackie Kennedy – America’s First Lady – was responsible for the sudden popularisation of the pillbox hat; she started wearing one as it could be worn without crushing her beehive “do”.
Practical Tips for a Trip to Aintree
- Consider the weather. April is that difficult time of year. Aintree could be bathed in glorious sunshine and balmy spring temperatures, it might be raining and have been raining for the preceding week, or there’s even a chance that there might be a scattering of snow. If you want to be able to enjoy your day whatever the weather, then you really need to take account of it when deciding what to wear. Fingers crossed you’ll be able to wear the summer’s dress you have in mind, but just in case, have a different outfit ready and waiting.
- Think about your footwear. While your chosen outfit might be best suited to a pair of heels, don’t risk being uncomfortable all day. If your shoes are new, wear them a few times before spending the day in them at Aintree, and take some gel inserts to slip into your shoes if you need some heel relief later in the day.
- While everyone who’s at the Aintree Festival will be there to have a good time, it’s worth keeping track of how many glasses of bubbly you’re consuming. Mix in plenty of glasses of water to ensure that you don’t over-do it. There’s always a bit of a media frenzy around Ladies’ Day at Aintree, with the press keen to capture the good, the bad and the downright ugly in terms of style and behaviour. Don’t end up being the next day’s news for all the wrong reasons.
