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What’s This About
Equestrian style is everyday menswear borrowed from horse riding: tweed jackets, tattersall shirts, cord trousers, jodhpur boots and a palette of brown, green, buff and burgundy.
This guide covers equestrian style for men, such as:
What dressage, show jumping and hunting riders wear, and what non-riders borrow
Why the scarlet hunt coat is earned, not chosen
Tweed, Melton, cavalry twill and tattersall check explained
Hacking jackets, Norfolk jackets and jodhpur boots
Four seasonal outfits for town and country
and many more!
Keep riding kit for the saddle and borrow the cut, cloth and colours for everything else.
Key Points
01Riding clothes were designed for weather, mud and the saddle, which is why tweed, moleskin and leather dominate the look.
02Hunt coats and stock ties belong to riding; jackets, check shirts and jodhpur boots are what most people borrow.
03Tattersall check takes its name from Tattersall’s horse market in London, and jodhpurs from the Indian city of Jodhpur.
04Anyone actually riding needs a certified helmet and heeled boots before any styling choice.
Equestrian style, often called equestrian chic, is everyday menswear borrowed from horse riding: tweed jackets, tattersall check shirts, cord and moleskin trousers, jodhpur boots, quilted gilets and touches of leather.
Riders still wear the original garments for safety and comfort, while everyone else borrows the cut, cloth and colours for town and country.
This guide explains where the clothes came from, which fabrics and colours define the look, the wardrobe to build and four seasonal outfits.
If you want complete outfits for watching polo, riding out or a stable yard, our guide to equestrian outfits for men covers them, including the helmet and boot rules riders need.
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How riding clothes shaped everyday menswear
Each riding discipline has its own dress, and some of those garments moved into everyday wardrobes.
The table below separates what riders wear from what non-riders usually borrow.
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| Discipline | What riders wear | What you can borrow off the horse |
|---|---|---|
| Dressage | Short riding jacket or, at the highest levels, a tailcoat; stock tie, tie or choker; white or light breeches; tall boots; helmet | Dark jacket, white shirt and pale trousers as a clean contrast |
| Show jumping | Fitted show jacket, often navy or black; light breeches; tall boots; helmet | Navy single-breasted jacket with pale chinos |
| Hunting | Tweed ratcatcher coat early in the season, black, navy or (for those entitled) scarlet coats later; buff breeches; helmet | Tweed jackets, tattersall shirts and the hunting palette of brown, green, buff and burgundy |
| Everyday riding (hacking) | Tweed hacking jacket, breeches or jodhpurs, jodhpur or field boots | Tweed sports jacket with cords or chinos, jodhpur boots |
Dressage
Dressage is the most formal riding discipline, and its dress follows written rules.
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Under the US Dressage Federation’s summary of US Equestrian rules, a tailcoat is permitted only in classes above Fourth Level, breeches are white, light or dark rather than bright or patterned, and every mounted rider on competition grounds wears protective headgear.
The top hat in older photographs has given way to certified helmets in competition.
Off the horse, the useful lesson is contrast: a dark jacket with a white shirt and pale trousers looks crisp and simple.
Show jumping
Show jumping jackets are short, fitted and cut so the rider can move the arms freely.
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Many modern show jackets are made in stretch technical fabrics rather than wool, as the photographs show.
The off-horse version is a navy single-breasted jacket with pale chinos and brown or black boots.
Hunting
Hunt dress is set by each hunt, and some garments are earned rather than chosen.
The scarlet coat is worn by masters, hunt staff and members who have been given the right to wear the hunt’s colours, so it is not a coat to adopt as fashion.
Guests usually wear a tweed coat, known as ratcatcher, early in the season and a plain black or navy coat later, with a riding helmet in both cases.
What non-riders can borrow is the palette: deep red, hunter green, brown and buff work well in knitwear, ties and cord trousers.
The stock tie
The stock is a wide neckcloth tied close around the neck and fixed with a plain pin.
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Riders value it because it keeps rain and wind out of the collar and can be used as an emergency bandage or sling.
Many competition dress codes accept a stock tie, and in US dressage a stock tie is one of several permitted options alongside a tie, a choker or a stand-up collar.
Away from the horse, a plain silk tie or an open-collared shirt is the practical equivalent; a stock tie with ordinary clothes tends to look like fancy dress.
Jodhpurs and riding boots
Jodhpurs are named after the Indian city of Jodhpur, and riding trousers in this cut became fashionable in Britain after Sir Pratap Singh’s polo team visited for Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee in 1897.
Jodhpurs fit closely from knee to ankle and are worn with short jodhpur boots, also called paddock boots.
Off the horse, jodhpur boots and Chelsea boots are the easiest equestrian footwear to wear with jeans, chinos or cords.
Tall riding boots are made for breeches; with ordinary trousers they are hard to wear well.
Hard-wearing details
Riding clothes were made to cope with weather, mud and saddles, and many of their details are still useful.
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Look for dense cloth such as tweed and moleskin, leather or horn buttons, and a single long back vent that lets a jacket sit over a saddle.
A tweed waistcoat adds warmth without bulk under a jacket or overcoat.
Fabrics, patterns and colours
Fabrics
Tweed is the core cloth of the look: a rough, hard-wearing wool that copes with wind and light rain.
Harris Tweed is a legally defined cloth, handwoven by islanders at their homes in the Outer Hebrides from pure virgin wool dyed and spun there.
Herringbone and barleycorn weaves add texture to jackets and waistcoats.
Melton is a dense, felted wool used for hunt coats and winter overcoats.
Cavalry twill is a firm wool twill with a steep diagonal rib, made for riding trousers and still used for smart casual trousers.
Moleskin and corduroy are cotton cloths for country trousers.
Patterns
Tattersall check, thin lines forming squares on a light ground, is named after Tattersall’s horse market in London, where blankets in the pattern were sold.
Houndstooth is a broken two-colour check used in jackets and overcoats.
Glen check, also called Prince of Wales check, suits sports jackets and country suits.
Colours
Hunter green, brown, buff and tan come from the countryside and from riding breeches.
Burgundy and deep red echo hunt coats and work in ties, jumpers and cord trousers.
Navy is the most versatile base for jackets, jumpers and outerwear.
Cream and ivory give contrast in shirts and knitwear.
Equestrian wardrobe essentials
Hunt coats: admire rather than borrow
The scarlet hunt coat is cut from heavy Melton cloth, usually single-breasted with brass buttons.
Because it is earned within a hunt, the everyday equivalent is a navy or dark green overcoat or a burgundy jumper rather than a red coat.
Hacking jackets and Norfolk jackets
The hacking jacket is a tweed sports coat made for everyday riding, traditionally with three buttons, a single long vent and slanted flap pockets.
The Norfolk jacket, with its belt and box pleats, was designed as a shooting coat that did not bind when the arm was raised to fire.
Both remain easy to wear with cords, chinos or flannel trousers.
Riding coats and the tailcoat
Tailcoats share their origins in coats cut for convenient riding, and from the eighteenth century they became formal day and evening wear.
The morning coat takes its name from nineteenth-century morning rides.
Blazers and sports jackets
A navy blazer or a tweed sports jacket is the simplest way into the look.
Choose a single-breasted jacket with a vent or vents that let it sit well when you sit down, and pair it with a check shirt and pale trousers.
Trousers and breeches
Breeches and jodhpurs are for riding; for everyday wear choose cord, moleskin, cavalry twill or chinos in tan, stone, olive or burgundy.
A slightly higher rise and a straight leg keep the look classic.
Footwear
Tall riding boots belong with breeches, while jodhpur boots, Chelsea boots, brogues and loafers suit everyday outfits.
Brown suede and polished brown leather suit the palette.
Accessories
A plain or tattersall silk tie, a tweed flat cap, leather gloves and a leather belt complete the look.
Keep riding accessories such as spurs and crops for riding.
Equestrian outfit ideas by season
Spring
Wear: a light tweed or navy hopsack jacket, a blue and white Bengal stripe Oxford shirt, stone cotton chinos, a brown leather belt and brown suede penny loafers.
Add a silk pocket square and a simple watch on a leather strap.
Summer
Wear: a white cotton piqué polo shirt, a lightweight navy or seersucker jacket, faded red cotton trousers such as Nantucket Reds, a woven leather belt and brown leather loafers.
For a hot racecourse day, the seersucker of Southern preppy style works in the same spirit; check any written dress code for enclosures.
Autumn
Wear: a tattersall check shirt, a cream or navy lambswool jumper, burgundy or tan moleskin trousers, a navy or olive quilted gilet and brown suede jodhpur or chukka boots.
Add a wool scarf and tortoiseshell sunglasses on bright days.
Winter
Wear: a heavy tweed jacket or a navy wool overcoat, a Fair Isle or cable-knit jumper over a white Oxford shirt, grey flannel or cavalry twill trousers, brown leather boots and leather gloves.
A tweed flat cap and a lambswool scarf keep out the wind.
People who wore the look
Historical and sporting photographs show how riding clothes have been worn over two centuries.
Beau Brummell
Beau Brummell, the Regency dandy, promoted dark coats, carefully tied cravats and, later, full-length trousers in place of knee breeches; his story is told in our guide to Beau Brummell’s influence.
The illustration shows the riding look of his day: a dark tailcoat, white cravat, pale breeches and black top boots.
Edward VII
The Norfolk jacket became fashionable from the 1860s in the sporting circle of the Prince of Wales, later Edward VII, whose country home was Sandringham in Norfolk, although no photograph of him wearing one is known.
This photograph shows formal riding dress of the period: a top hat, dark riding coat and pale breeches.
Prince Philip, King Charles III and Prince Edward
Prince Philip is pictured riding in a grey tweed jacket and breeches.
King Charles III is pictured in a check tweed jacket, tie and flat cap.
Prince Edward is pictured in a grey check tweed jacket, V-neck jumper, tie and riding helmet, the safer choice for anyone riding today.
William Fox-Pitt
William Fox-Pitt, a British eventing rider who won Olympic team medals in 2004, 2008 and 2012, is pictured in a windowpane tweed jacket, light blue shirt and patterned tie.
Equestrian style in fashion
Hermès was founded in Paris in 1837 as a harness and saddle maker before moving into leather goods, silk and clothing.
Gucci introduced its horsebit loafer in 1953, with metal hardware shaped like a snaffle bit, a nod to the company’s equestrian roots.
The trench coat is often linked to riding, but it was developed as an officers’ raincoat and named in the trenches of the First World War.
The preppy look in America borrowed many of the same tweeds, check shirts and boots.
Equestrian style around the world
United States
American equestrian dressing follows British riding traditions closely, especially in hunting and showing.
Off the horse it blends into American preppy style, with tweed jackets, Oxford shirts and loafers.
India
Jodhpurs take their name from Jodhpur, and the cut spread from Indian polo to British riding dress at the end of the nineteenth century.
Everywhere else
Wherever people ride, local climate shapes the clothes: lighter cotton and linen replace heavy tweed in hot countries, while the colours and cuts stay recognisably equestrian.
A short history
Eighteenth century
Gentlemen’s coats were cut for riding, and the cutaway front that later defined the tailcoat made sitting in the saddle easier.
From the eighteenth century, tailcoats moved from the saddle into formal day and evening wear.
Regency period
During the Regency (1811 to 1820), Brummell and his circle favoured plainer, well-fitted clothes in darker colours, with riding coats, pale breeches and top boots as everyday wear.
Nineteenth century
Tweed, shooting jackets such as the Norfolk and the hunting palette spread through country wear, and jodhpurs arrived from India in the 1890s.
Today
Riders now wear certified helmets and technical fabrics, while tweed jackets, tattersall shirts and jodhpur boots remain everyday menswear.
Conclusion
Equestrian style works because its clothes were designed to be practical: warm cloth, hard-wearing leather and colours that hide mud.
Start with one tweed jacket, a tattersall shirt, cord trousers and brown boots, then add a quilted gilet or a waxed jacket for the weather.
Keep riding kit, scarlet coats and stock ties for the saddle, and borrow the cut, cloth and colours for everything else.
For more on classic British dressing, read our classic British style guide.
Style with The VOU
If you would like help applying this style to your own wardrobe, take our three quizzes, then book a consultation if you want personal help.
Check your body shape with the body shape quiz for men.
Find your seasonal colours with the seasonal colour quiz for men.
Take the fashion style quiz to see which styles suit your taste.
None of the quizzes is needed to wear the outfits in this guide.
For personal help, The VOU offers paid consultations with its stylists, for example a fashion style analysis for men.
Mandy Meyer’s focus at The VOU is men’s body-shape styling, garment fit and outfit proportions. Her coverage addresses the practical questions behind a wardrobe choice: how a jacket sits across the shoulders, how trousers fall and how different cuts change the silhouette a wearer wants to create.
Her subject areas include the triangle, inverted triangle, rectangle, oval, trapezoid, hourglass and diamond labels used in body-shape styling. These provide starting references for comparing visible proportions; they do not capture every body or prescribe one correct way to dress. The focus connects those observations with garment shape, construction, length and the relationship between the upper and lower parts of an outfit.
Mandy’s editorial coverage combines visual comparisons with fit checks for comfort and movement. Readers can consider whether a cut gives them the room they need, where clothing pulls or gathers and which changes might support their preferred look. The aim is to make menswear choices more understandable while keeping personal preferences and the wearer’s own styling goals central.