“There’s a jacket behind me that costs £750,” Megan Jones, a sales assistant at the Dubarry of Ireland, spoke about how expensive an outfit for the Cheltenham Festival could cost.
“It’s completely waterproof which is why it’s so expensive, you could very easily spend a good few grand on an outfit and we genuinely have people who do that.”
Even the cheapest outfit at the Dubarry of Ireland is probably too expensive for the average person, with a full outfit coming to four figures according to Jones.
“The cheapest boots would be £400 a pair, your trousers would be £130 and your shirt £100. Then your tweed jacket would be £500-£600, so even for the cheapest you are paying minimum of £1000.”
With it being the Cheltenham Festival week, fashion is one of the biggest themes of the event, with everyone in the town getting dressed up for the event.
Jones commented on the difference in business throughout the festival, saying: “Business usually does pick up this time of year, it’s been quieter this year to be honest. The last couple of days we have been a lot busier with people buying tweed, boots, coats, umbrellas and ties.”
Jones then went on to speak about how common people come to the shop under last minute circumstances, as she explained that: “people very often still come in throughout the race week. Especially when the weather isn’t quite as expected, a lot of people ask ‘have you got umbrellas, have you got jackets’, because of the rain. We even have a lot of people say that they’ve left their tie on the train.”
Dubarry of Ireland is located in the Cheltenham Promenade all year around, Jones explained that they also have a stand at the racecourse that they do well from.
“Some people will come in and decide that they’re going to buy it when they’re up at the racecourse if they are going to go anyway. We sell the same things at the stand there, it’s much smaller so it won’t have everything but it’s all the same stock. A lot of it is tweed and wax boots.”
Dubarry of Ireland tends to have its regular shoppers. However, this tends to change as the festival approaches, where Jones will experience more first time shoppers.
She explained, “during race week, we don’t get locals come into town as much, because often they want to avoid it as much as possible. It’s very similar in the sense that we still have a lot of people, but a lot of them are off to the races.
“So yeah it’s a mix, we have some regulars that come in every year and we get some younger people who are coming in for the first time.”
Despite the high costs of the Dubarry of Ireland, there are alternative and cheaper ways to get dressed up for the Cheltenham Festival, as ParkLife Sport’s Jasmin Piper and Maddie Browne went to a charity shop to find a festival outfit for under £15.
So there are plenty of options ranging from £15-£2000 to get someone dressed and ready for the Cheltenham Festival, meaning that nobody is priced out of going.
