St Kitts and Nevis
Name and description of item or character Masquerade costume. This costume consists of a very brightly coloured and busily patterned shirt and trousers over which is worn an apron which has small round mirrors attached to it. Over the shoulders is worn a cape with a wide collar which covers the front part of the […]
National Dress of Jamaica
The national costume of Jamaica consists of a long full skirted white cotton petticoat usually with a flounce or lace trim at the hem. Over the top of this is worn a full skirted dress made from bandana material; a cotton mix fabric with red white and blue tartan inspired check pattern. The dress usually […]
Turning on the Light in the Caribbean
From 2012 -2015 I was lucky enough to travel throughout several islands in the Caribbean speaking to people instrumental in the areas of design and culture and researching dress history and development. Having visited a number of different countries I’ve seen some amazing creations and spoken to some fantastic people. One of the remits of […]
Clothing as Resistance
Ever since people of African heritage were bought to the west through forced migration they have sought to resist their oppression and degradation in many different ways. These would often take the form of uprisings were enslaved populations would seek to overthrow the plantation owners and overseers by burning the plantations down or damaging the […]
The Suit That Started A Riot!
If you’ve ever seen the 1994 film The Mask with Jim Carrey or seen the lindy hop scene from the film Malcolm X then you will have seen the exuberance and unabashed gall of the zoot suit! The zoot suit came into prominence amongst young African American males around the 1930’s and stayed around to […]
Missing: The Caribbean Carnival Costume
Having spent 7 weeks travelling around the Caribbean researching costume history I came to understand that many people’s views of what a carnival costume or celebratory event costume should be involved very little in the way of actual costume. In fact, in some cases, I could go so far as to say that bare naked […]
Bark Cloth
Bark cloth is a material made from the bark of trees in the mulberry or fig tree family. These trees can be found in many parts of Asia, the Pacific islands, The Caribbean and East Africa. In the Pacific Islands the cloth is known as Tapa cloth or Ngatu. In the Buganda kingdom of Uganda, […]
Where Are All the Black Fashion Designers?
As London Fashion Week glides and swishes itself to a close for the next 6 months my eyes have been feasted and my inspiration chip has been thoroughly stimulated and I am almost satisfied. This is because I feel that this fashion week as all others before it has something missing which is not being effectively met […]