What The Best-Dressed Men Are Wearing This Summer Sports Season
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19 hours ago
Champion the dress codes at the biggest sporting events of the season
When summer finally arrives in our fair isles, Britain’s sporting nature reaches full bloom. Tennis tournaments, turf club meets and water-based pursuits fill the calendar – and each requires a distinctive mode of dress if you’re there to take in the action. Show your sporting stripes with our foolproof men’s guide to dressing for a sporting summer.
Summer Sporting Style: A Menswear Guide
Royal Ascot
While many race meets only require a well-turned-out look, the jewel in the crown – Royal Ascot – demands a little more spit and polish. The various enclosures have dress codes that span the formalwear spectrum, but The Royal Enclosure is where you don’t want to put a foot wrong. Here, a morning jacket and trousers and a top hat in either black or grey, a waistcoat and classic black Oxfords are your uniform – and a tie, never a cravat. This stringent dress code at means there’s little room for interpretation, which is beneficial if you’re the sort who never knows what to wear in the morning. One exception is national dress – and if your national dress doesn’t include headgear, you can go sans hat – which you’ll be thankful for when the mercury begins to peak.
Wimbledon
Tennis tournaments seem to be a year-round affair but reach fever pitch during the summer. Queens is certainly a highlight, but come July, all eyes are on Wimbledon to see who will net the most coveted trophy in the game. If you’re lucky enough to make it to the stands and boxes of the main court, you’ll want to look the part – so light tailoring in linens and silks are your go-to. Green and white are signature colours at SW19, so play on that palette and with a striped Oxford shirt and natty silk tie in complementary colours. And don’t forget a Panama, a pair of shades and to slap on the SPF to avoid a sun-induced scorching.
Henley Regatta
Britannia Rules the waves, so the national anthem goes and whilst there aren’t so many waves, but more a swell on a river, the Brits do love to mess around in boats when the sun comes out. Whether it’s the Oxford vs. Cambridge race or the five-day Henley Regatta, there’s a distinctive dress style when you’re by the riverbank. If a striped rowing blazer feels a bit to brassy as a spectator, take a punt on a more sedate, but elegant crested blazer in a powder blue and wide-leg trousers in fluid silk-cotton. But consider tipping a brim to tradition with a natty straw boater and tumbled leather deck shoes.
Cricket County Championship
Cricket – a game of gentleman – tends to be an all-white cable knit affair if you’re batting, but if you’re not sat in the member’s terrace, you can take a little more poetic licence with your clobber. Polished, yet comfortable is your mantra (especially given that games can last for an eternity), so a smart patterned polo shirt and well-tailored chinos that fit just-so (not too tight, not too slack) are a solid bet, alongside a pair of suede driving loafers. And should the sun retreat behind the clouds, a lightweight cashmere jumper draped over your shoulders will nip any chilly breezes in the bud.
