HistoryBuff Posted December 5, 2013 Share Posted December 5, 2013 I never went to the recent Goodwood Revival events but I understand that Lord March is a man of great taste and culture and he tries to have all of those who attend--maybe some 40,000--wear vintage clothes in keeping with the era of the cars raced and shown. Even his own daugthter was dressed in a WWII Wren uniform (appropriate since theere were WWIi aircraft at the show since the Lord's estate was a RAF base in WWII). Now switching to America, when I go to Pebble Beach concours, I see only about 10% of the people showing cars making an effort to dress in pre-war or early '50s attire, most just wearing modern clothes and particularly boring stuff like ski parkas, etc. I would be in favor of a movement to have concours entrants dress up in period clothes so we can envision the cars more as they looked with the owners back then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Hill Posted December 12, 2013 Share Posted December 12, 2013 I guess that is great if someone wants to do it but if it becomes something that is "hgihly encouraged" I would never attend. I have absolutely no interest in dressing like they did when whatever car I am showing was made.To each their own I guessBob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rrdoubleday Posted December 20, 2013 Share Posted December 20, 2013 The Orange County Calif. MAFCA clubs annual car show was judged with 100 points for he car and 100 points for cloths. We had a lot of fun with this concept. 200 to 400 Model A fords would come for the one day show. It was great seeing the people dressed up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Shaw Posted December 27, 2013 Share Posted December 27, 2013 Period clothes are encouraged for HCCA events too. It is mostly the ladies who like to dress up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeC Posted December 29, 2013 Share Posted December 29, 2013 The Goodwood Revival policy works quite well - visitors are encouraged to dress the part, but probably no more than 20% make a real effort. Only the inner paddock is restricted to those in period dress, which produces scenes like this:Elsewhere there is a complete mix of fashions, period and contemporary:But I think this only works because Lord March is trying to recreate a very specific period - the late 1950s - whereas most events have a more widespread timescale; mixing Victorian dress with 1970s fashion probably wouldn't work at all well! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
36 D2 Coupe Posted December 29, 2013 Share Posted December 29, 2013 The Airflow Club of America has a judging class for period dress and as the period is narrow - 1934-37 - it is relatively easy to stay to the period if one wants to participate. Again mainly the ladies like to do this but a few gents did as well. This can be a fun challenge that involves the girls who often complain that they have no part in the cars or restorations and just come along for the ride. My wife spent 3 months researching mid-30s styles, locating patterns and sewing outfits to wear to the meet. Antique shops were not safe as she scoured them for appropriate hats and accessories. She even created a display binder illustrating period costumes for the others to look at. All this and we no longer have an Airflow. But it added to the event and we sure had a lot of fun! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HistoryBuff Posted December 29, 2013 Author Share Posted December 29, 2013 I heartily applaud your effort. I have a lot of trouble getting my wife, who has no interest in old cars, to go to Pebble but at least she sees some interesting clothes. I myself would like to find a shirtmaker who could, for under $50, make me a long sleeve shirt with stand up collar similar to what writer Tom Wolfe has made his trademark for at least 40 years. I feel that for those who don't own a classic car, dressing in period with the cars you like , makes the event more fun and involving for all concerned. At a recent concours near Arcadia I saw a guy with a Hispano Suiza paying a professional photographer to shoot pics of a live model in 1920s clothing posing with his car--he was going all out, figuring it was a real occasion. Her clothes even matched the car! I applaud Lord March's daughter at Goodwood wearing a wartime WREN uniform, so fitting because the estate had a landing strip used by the RAF in WWII for the defense of the realm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeC Posted December 29, 2013 Share Posted December 29, 2013 ... At a recent concours near Arcadia I saw a guy with a Hispano Suiza paying a professional photographer to shoot pics of a live model in 1920s clothing posing with his car--he was going all out, figuring it was a real occasion. Her clothes even matched the car! ...Indeed! When I have been to shows with participants in period clothing, it has produced some excellent photo opportunities: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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