Goodwood Revival

I basically died and went to heaven this Saturday when i went to Goodwood Revival, the historic motorsport and aviation event held every September at Lord March's estate near Chichester. Please god when i die can this be where I end up...

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Primarily a car racing event for vehicles from the 1940s, 50s and 60s, with an additional field for vintage aeroplanes too, Goodwood is also a chance to dress up in associated sartorial style. since i was asked earlier this year whether i had just come from 'an historical day' while out walking by the Devon Coast (so much did i resemble a landgirl - totally the look i was going for, ovbs, with a vintage American boiler suit, wellingtons, cropped flying jacket, fur collar and hair all tied up in a headscarf knotted on top of my head) i thought it really was about time i actually went to a real 'historical day' to live out my vintage fashion fantasies in the extreme.

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Extraordinarily luckily for me, a friend was asked to exhibit his plane in this year's aviation show (it's the acid yellow one with green stripes below, there's also a pic of Paul standing jauntily beside his prized possession further down), and he had spare tickets. Huzzah. Bella was a joyously welcome third addition (she's the hot blonde in green dress and 1940s navy coat who reappears in these pictures variously smiling coquettishly, sitting atop vintage racing cars like the cat who got the cream or posing rather fabulously in front of planes) so off we zipped on the 9.02 from Victoria on Saturday morning, first class, no less, for a day of vintage revelry. and by gad what revelry it was. the whirr of the car engines as they roared past, the purr of the planes as they dived and coursed by, the blinding colours of the cars as the sun bounced off their bonnets as we weaved between them all lined up in the pit, where they sat, ready for race time. Ration tickets were provided for food and drink, airforce wings entitled you access into special areas. there were big bands playing for people to jive to, and band stands where barbershop quartets sang, plus vintage fairground rides, like Ferris wheels, for entertainment. every inch of the area was filed with something to look at - girls driving glam cabs (there's a photo of them lined up below), a period film set, steam locomotives, police cars from the 1950s, vintage Harrods vans and fireman's trucks.

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And that's to say nothing of the fashion, which gave my eyes the workout of their life, as i literally stroked, pawed and explored in detail the dress of passers by with them. there was an overriding predominance of war-time fashion - both military and civilian - i especially loved the evacuee schoolchildren , but the 1950s and 1960s outfits were also pretty showstopping - from the grand dames to the teddy boys. it was visually dizzying - my head was constantly spinning round to appreciate the huge amounts of effort everyone had gone to. i think it was because people were genuinely emotionally invested in the event - everyone was living and breathing enthusiasm for the decades of over half a century ago.

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