UK Racecourse Dress Codes Compared: Ascot, Cheltenham, Aintree and Epsom

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Only one major British racecourse enforces a detailed dress code, and it is not the one most people expect to be the exception. Royal Ascot publishes measurements down to the width of a shoulder strap. Cheltenham, Aintree and Epsom have no formal dress code at all.

If you are trying to work out what to wear to the races, the racecourse matters far more than the sport does. Here is what each one actually requires.

Which British racecourses have a dress code?

That table is the whole answer for most people. Three of the four biggest meetings in Britain have no dress requirement, and the fourth only enforces one in some of its enclosures.

What does Royal Ascot actually require?

Royal Ascot is the exception, and its rules vary sharply by enclosure.

The Royal Enclosure requires morning dress in black, grey or navy for men, with a waistcoat, necktie, top hat and black shoes with socks. For women it requires a dress or skirt falling just above the knee or longer, shoulder straps at least 1 inch or 2.5cm wide, and a hat or a headpiece with a base of at least 4 inches or 10cm. Fascinators are not permitted there.

The Queen Anne Enclosure requires a full length suit, collared shirt and standard necktie for men, with socks covering the ankle. Bow ties and cravats are not permitted. Women need straps, no strapless or off the shoulder styles, and a hat, headpiece or fascinator.

The Village Enclosure is similar but allows a blazer with different trousers, and permits bow ties and cravats alongside neckties.

The Windsor Enclosure has no official dress code.

Four items are banned across the whole Ascot site regardless of enclosure: trainers, denim, leggings and shorts. Fancy dress and novelty or branded clothing is prohibited everywhere too.

What do Cheltenham, Aintree and Epsom require?

Very little, and all three say so in their own words.

Cheltenham: the Jockey Club states it has no formal dress code for the Festival. Fancy dress is not permitted in hospitality, restaurant facilities or the Club Enclosure, but is allowed elsewhere if not offensive.

Aintree: the guidance is to come "dressed to feel your best", and the racecourse names a sweatshirt, jeans and clean trainers as a valid answer. Fancy dress is not permitted at the Grand National Festival specifically.

Epsom: the same "dress to feel your best" guidance, with jeans and clean trainers again named explicitly. The exception is the Queen Elizabeth II Stand on Derby Day, which has a smart code.

Both Aintree and Epsom ask racegoers not to wear football shirts or team kits, on the basis that club allegiance can appear antagonistic.

Can you wear jeans to the races?

At Cheltenham, Aintree and Epsom, yes. Aintree and Epsom name jeans specifically as acceptable in their published guidance.

At Royal Ascot, no. Denim is banned across the entire site in every enclosure, including the Windsor Enclosure that otherwise has no dress code.

This is the single sharpest difference between Ascot and everywhere else, and it catches people who assume the Windsor Enclosure's lack of a formal code means anything goes.

Can you wear trainers to the races?

Same split. Aintree and Epsom explicitly permit clean trainers. Royal Ascot bans trainers site wide.

Cheltenham has no rule against them, but the racecourse's own advice is to wear footwear suited to the conditions, since most car parks involve a walk to the enclosures and March in the Cotswolds is often wet. That is a practical warning rather than a dress rule.

Do you have to wear a hat to the races?

Only at Royal Ascot, and only in some enclosures.

Hats, headpieces or fascinators are required in the Royal, Queen Anne and Village Enclosures at Royal Ascot. The Royal Enclosure additionally refuses fascinators and requires a solid base of at least 4 inches on any headpiece.

Nowhere else requires headwear at all. Hats are common at Cheltenham's Ladies Day and at the Derby because people choose to wear them, not because anything obliges them to.

Where can you wear fancy dress?

Ascot treats stag and hen party items such as sashes, badges and tiaras as novelty clothing and refuses them.

What is banned nearly everywhere?

Two things come up across multiple racecourses.

Offensive or derogatory outfits. Every racecourse reserves the right to refuse entry on this basis, however relaxed its general guidance.

Football shirts and team kits. Aintree and Epsom both ask racegoers to avoid them. This is not a formality rule, it is a crowd management one.

So what should you wear?

If you are going to Royal Ascot, read the dress code for your specific enclosure before buying anything, because the Royal and Queen Anne Enclosures have requirements you may need to hire or buy for.

If you are going anywhere else, wear something you are comfortable standing in for a full day outdoors, appropriate to the season, and avoid football shirts. That is genuinely the whole requirement.

The reason this is worth stating plainly is that a great deal of published advice about racecourse dress codes describes Royal Ascot's rules and implies they apply to racing generally. They do not. They apply to two enclosures at one meeting.

Related guides

• The Royal Enclosure dress code, measured
• What gets you turned away at the races
• Racing in the rain: what changes and what to wear

Sources: All rules come from the racecourses' own published guidance: ascot.com for Royal Ascot, and thejockeyclub.co.uk for Cheltenham, Aintree and Epsom, checked in September 2026. Dress codes are reviewed between seasons, so check your specific meeting and enclosure before travelling.