Vintage At Goodwood
On Saturday I went to the first ever edition of Vintage at Goodwood. I was slightly apprehensive about the whole thing, as rumour was, the organisation was a big ol’ mess. I found the PR company very unhelpful, heard stories from people who went the day before, basically… it sounded like it was somewhat of an overpriced, overhyped new festival with no goods to back it up. But… I was wrong.
This was by far one of the best new events I’ve been to in a long time, and despite some teething problems, it’ll definitely be on the top of my list of things to do next summer. It started off bad. Upon arrival at Chichester station, there were no signs anything out of the ordinary was going on – except for the London train spewing out hordes of vintage clad men and women – there were no signs to a busstop, nothing. So far, so bad – perhaps the rumour were true, and only chaos was ahead. Eventually we hopped on the *overpriced* Vintage Bus, and arrived at our destination some 20 minutes later.
Already grumpy, I wanted to hate everything about it, but try as I might, I couldn’t. Walking through the front gate, we were lead through a path through the forest, lit up with fairy lights, and kids building camps on the side. No bouncers strip searching you anywhere – the friendliness started right at the door. The walk was breathtaking… Getting to the other side of the forest path into the festival grounds, was like walking back in time. A series of vintage cars and beautifully dressed people was the sight that greeted us, along with a sign that said “Welcome To The Festival Of Our Lives“. A very suitable sentiment.
My partners in crime for the day were Kate Baxter, Katie Antoniou, Natasha Bailie and Mr. Bailie. Basically, all day we just posed, took pictures, posed some more, took some more pictures – hey, we’re bloggers after all! And there was definitely no shortage of beautiful sights. The high street they built for the occasion was impressive, with restaurants, a bar, a pub, shops, and much more. Every step you took, there was something new to take in. The festival spans several decades, so at times it was a bit of a funny mixture, but it worked.
There were nice shopping stalls, with some old favourites, like Supermarket Sarah and Tatty Divine and plenty of new discoveries. There was a soul tent, a roller disco, a fair with plenty of rides, the Torch Club which had a full brass band, where you could learn to tap dance and swing and eat in style. There was an Eighties rave club, a Fourties war area full of pin up beauties, a salon where you could have your hair and make up done… I could go on. There was so much to do and see, it quite literally a feast for the eyes.
The people were my biggest surprise though. I had expected people to dress up, but the lengths some people had gone to was quite simply amazing. Any worries I had about being overdressed in my gorgeous Juno Says Hello dress quickly faded. It was wonderful to see the different eras mixing together, without judgement. Just in our group alone we spanned about 3 decades! I know the ‘real’ vintage crowd was frustrated by the decision to include the Eighties and Nineties, but I thought it worked. It was an eccentric crowd, but with a dedication to fashion and style. So no matter what decade is yours, that’s surely something that unites you, not divides you. I loved all the older people and kids too, all decked out!
A few downpours aside, it turned out to be a beautiful day. As we reached the end of the day, we decided to check out the music part of the festival. We caught a Motown band, then shook our booties to The Noisettes, who rocked. We got pretty close to the stage, but no one was pushing, shoving, nothing – just dancing, being happy. Safe to say, this was unlike any gig I’d ever been to before. After a heartwrenching version of Never Forget You, we regretfully had to leave the party to go back home.
As my train rolled back into London around midnight, I suddenly understood what Vintage at Goodwood is about. As I waited for the last tube home – getting lots of weird looks as I was still in my big, pouffy dress – then walked past a few pubs on final orders, I felt nothing but disgust. Drunk girls with their knickers on display, boys brawling, yelling obscenities – basically your average Saturday night. I just wanted to go back to the little bubble where things had seemed so peaceful, happy, stylish and beautiful. Suddenly it clicked and it all made sense.
See, the festival is not about clothing, it’s about STYLE and CLASS. It’s about going back to times where people went to festivals to enjoy themselves, not just to get violently drunk. It’s about getting a glimpse of the times where people just danced, drank nice drinks and ate good food. A time when women were ladies and the men were gentlemen. Not that I’m old enough to know what that was like, but that was a lesson I definitely learned at Goodwood – whatever era clothes I may be wearing.
So forget about Disneyland, for me, Goodwood is the happiest place on earth. See you all there next year.
Lots and lots of pictures… (this is after about 10 edits, believe it or not)
People
Cars, bikes, caravans, vintage delights:
Some of these pictures were shamelessly borrowed from Natasha and Kate. Thanks girls! x
