Personal style is now an awarded category at one of the most formal events in the classic-car calendar. At Salon Privé Blenheim Palace in England, American Billy Hibbs of Texas accepted the inaugural Concours Style Award, presented by the tailoring house Clements and Church. The prize was not a trophy for a car. It was a complete bespoke look, created with a Clements and Church tailor and valued at up to £10,000 — over $13,000, according to Autoweek.
The question the award raises is simple: should the world's concours events judge the attendees the way they judge the cars? Several shows already do, in different forms and on different continents. The pattern is worth unpacking, because it says something about who these events think their real audience is. For related coverage, see Kith and On Extended the Sneaker Capsule Into Real Clothing.
Style News rarely crosses into the concours lawn, but the mechanics here are familiar: a formal occasion, a sponsor with something to sell, and a prize that turns dressing up into a judged discipline.
What exactly did Billy Hibbs win?
Hibbs won the first Concours Style Award ever given at Salon Privé, a high-end classic-car event held at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire. The award came from Clements and Church, and the reward was a bespoke outfit built with the firm's tailor. Per Autoweek, the look was valued at up to £10,000, or over $13,000.
He had a strong weekend beyond the tailoring. Hibbs also took the Class Award in the La Dolce Vita Concours Class and was Runner-up to Best of Show with his Maserati 3500GT Spyder Prototipo by Vignale. In his own words, quoted by Autoweek: "I always enjoy dressing for the occasion, and events like Salon Privé provide an opportunity to have a bit more fun with what you wear." He added that he wanted an outfit that felt "smart and considered, and of course, fit for a day at Blenheim Palace."
Is this the first time a car show judged clothing?
No. Salon Privé itself had already been judging hats. Just days before Hibbs accepted his award, the event hosted Ladies' Hat Day and its Boodles Best Hat Competition — Boodles being an English fine jewelry company that sponsors the contest. This year's winner was Gillian Carpenter of Bromsgrove, who took the prize with a hat she designed and made herself under her own millinery brand, Gillys Millinery, based in Worcestershire.
That structure matters. The hat competition was already a judged craft award, with a named maker behind the entry. The Concours Style Award extends the same logic from millinery to full dress, and from women's hats to men's style — Hibbs noted it was the first time Salon Privé had recognized men's style.
Which other shows reward what you wear?
Several, each with its own logic, per Autoweek's roundup:
- Hilton Head Island Concours. It runs dedicated style and fashion judging, with awards like "Best Match—Couple" and best individual period dress. The rule is specificity: clothing must be authentic to the manufacturing year of the displayed classic or vintage car.
- Japanese Classic Car Show. Scheduled for October 3 at Marina Green Park in Long Beach, California, it announced a best-dressed contest called JDM Revival. Organizers framed it broadly — "Showa? Anime? Kimono or Yukata? Yankii? JK? Hats, jackets, Geta, helmets, accessories… anything that shows your LOVE for Japan!" It is a People's Choice award, so the crowd, not a panel, decides.
- Prancing Ponies Women's Car Show. It ran as part of Monterey Car Week until this year and integrated live fashion showcases featuring local designers and boutique styles alongside the vehicle displays.
Three models, three judging philosophies: period accuracy, popular vote, and designer showcase. A newcomer to the scene should know which one an event uses before entering, because the winning look in each is a different garment entirely.
Why are shows adding style awards now?
The practical argument, as Autoweek lays it out, is audience. A style award could engage roughly half of the showgoers who otherwise attend only to support their spouses. It also gives people a reason to dress up, which Autoweek suggests could "raise the class of the field considerably — no more jeans and T-shirts, at least at some shows." We covered a connected angle in Carhartt WIP Opened 2026 With a Japan-Only Denim Capsule.
There is a sponsorship logic underneath. Clements and Church funds the Salon Privé award with a bespoke prize, and Boodles funds the hat competition. The award converts an event's dress code into a marketing moment for a tailoring or jewelry brand, in front of exactly the audience that buys those things. That is not a criticism; it is how the economics work, and it explains why the prizes are goods rather than cash.
Does the idea travel beyond the concours lawn?
The concours version is narrow by design: a palace setting, a sponsor tailor, a judged field. The Long Beach version is the opposite — a People's Choice award where costume references to Japanese car culture count as much as tailoring. What the two share is the premise that what an attendee wears is part of the event, not incidental to it.
Whether other shows follow depends less on taste than on whether each event has a sponsor willing to fund a prize and an audience willing to be judged. Salon Privé has both. The Hilton Head model — period dress matched to the car's model year — is the most interesting for anyone who cares about clothing as craft, since it treats a garment the way the concours treats a restoration: by fidelity to a date.
The evidence so far covers one inaugural award, one long-running hat competition, one announced contest, and two shows with established fashion programming. What remains unknown is whether the Concours Style Award becomes a fixture at Salon Privé or spreads to other concours events. As Autoweek put it to its readers: if Salon Privé can do it, why not other shows?
