Every summer, a small market town on the Thames transforms into something that has been the same for almost two-hundred years.
Henley Royal Regatta. Six days. Nineteen miles west of London. A rowing event held annually on the River Thames, established in 1839 - and going harder than ever. This year sees a record-breaking 862 entries from 21 nations. I love the racing, but the fashion is something else. And this week, we're there.
So What Actually Happens at Henley
If you haven't been, here's the honest version.
The 2026 Regatta runs six days, Tuesday 30 June to Sunday 5 July, on the River Thames at Henley-on-Thames. The course is narrow and wooded and looks, frankly, like someone dropped an Oxbridge college into a forest. The crowd lines both banks. There are grandstands, private enclosures, and miles of open towpath. Every crew rows races once a day until they lose or they win the final.
What makes this event different from say, The Royal Ascot, is The Stewards' Enclosures. You cannot buy a ticket to it, with entry for members and their guests only.
Outside the Enclosure, the towpath is a different world. The crews are younger. The Pimm's is cheaper.
The Clothes
Henley has its own dress code.
The Stewards' Enclosure look is the most tailoring-dependent event on the English summer calendar. Navy or cream linen suit. Striped club tie. A blazer in colours so loud they border on aggressive - the rowing world's equivalent of regimental stripes, worn with complete sincerity.
For those wanting to nod to tradition, rowing blazers in bold stripes representing one's club are acceptable and encouraged at the regatta. Those blazers matter. Each one is a shorthand. Leander Club is salmon pink. Thames Rowing Club is black and red. The Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race crews have theirs. American college crews have theirs and the Dutch have this: blazers passed down from one rower to another. This means that the blazers rarely fit well, and some are essentially relics.
Outside the Enclosure, the uniform shifts. Hospitality areas and riverside venues follow a smart summer dress code, offering more flexibility while still keeping a polished look. Linen shirts, chinos, sunglasses. Potentially some canvas boat shoes.
Why It Matters Beyond the Racing
Here's the thing about Henley. It's not really about the regatta.
That sounds wrong, but bear with us.
The racing is world-class. Upsets happen at Henley that don't happen anywhere else. Beneath the blazers and the Pimm's, it's serious.
But that's not why it's lasted 187 years.
It's one of the last events where tradition isn't ironic. The blazers aren't costume. People show up, dress properly, and watch boats race. Not to be seen doing it. Because it's Henley.
Most institutions either modernise themselves to death or calcify into nostalgia. Henley has avoided both.
The American Crews
Ah, so… The Americans. The US has had a complicated, obsessive relationship with Henley for most of the twentieth century. Harvard, Yale, Princeton. US college and club programmes treat Henley qualification as a legitimate seasonal goal. This year, Syracuse men's rowing opened their campaign against Dutch crew D.S.R.V. Laga 'B' in the Temple Challenge Cup - one of several American programmes making the trip across.
American crews at Henley often show up without the club blazers. They're the ones in their school colours, looking slightly underdressed in the best possible way and weirdly there's a particular kind of pride to that.
Full Circle
We do not make rowing blazers (yet), we left that to our friends over at Rowing Blazers. But being at Henley this year is fully encompassing for us since we started as a few rowers with just an idea and a half drawn bulldog with a rowing oar.
If you see us at Henely come say hi and if you happen to see someone in Crew Dog give them a nice compliment ;)
Henley Royal Regatta 2026 runs 30 June – 5 July. Follow along on our Instagram.