The archive photographs we so often see of Caribbean men arriving on SS Empire Windrush in June 1948 were, and still are, powerful, captivating images of a time in our history when the clothes we wore defined who we were, our culture and our identity.
Fashion designers, artist and filmmakers have always drawn from various sources for inspiration. I am no different; my inspirations and references come from film, photography, and travel. As a women’s wear fashion designer (1975- 2003) preparing a collection based on 1940s black American glamour, the film Carmen Jones with Dorothy Dandridge and Harry Belafonte would immediately come to mind. The British film A Kind of Loving with Alan Bates and June Ritchie reflects, through its choice of fashion, the everyday lives of working-class people in 1960s Britain. We should not forget the eclectic 1970s, with Jimmy Cliff’s film The Harder They Come presenting urban Jamaican culture through its fashion and music.
Archive photographs, record covers and fashion catalogues were also excellent sources of information, allowing me to examine closely the cut of a garment, hemline, fabric texture, colour, and the overall fashion statement. Travelling to various parts of the world, meeting interesting and diverse people, has always boosted my creativity. This information would give me all I needed to create that winning number.
More than 400 men arrived on SS Empire Windrush in June 1948 at Tilbury Docks, mostly from Jamaica, others from Trinidad and Barbados. Some were ex-servicemen who had fought for Britain in the Second World War. Many were professionals with a variety of skills. Sadly, unemployment was high throughout the Caribbean, and many looked towards Britain for a better life. The majority came with the intention to work, and they helped rebuild Britain after the War.
I do believe we are all inspired by what we see and experience, and I cannot help feeling it was the films of the late 1940s that inspired the wardrobe of the first Windrush generation. Cinema was a massive force in the Caribbean Islands. In fact, every major town in the urban and rural areas of Jamaica had cinemas (often called theatres) in the 1940s. The cinema was a place of pure escapism. The men who arrived at Tilbury Docks did not come in their ordinary working clothes, but in well-tailored, well-coordinated, American-inspired, 1940s suits, shirts, colourful silk ties, brightly coloured knitted sweaters, Trilby hats and two-tone shoes. Back in the Caribbean, as well as in films they would have seen the latest look in black American fashion magazines and catalogues, and had their garments made by the numerous tailors, shoemakers, and dressmakers on the islands. Many had clothes, fabric lengths, shoes and hats sent to them from relatives in America.
The men would have bought readymade clothes such as shirts and ties, and the zoot suits. The zoot suit, inspired by the black American musicians of the early 1940s, comprised of wide-legged trousers, high waisted with braces, worn with a very long jacket with broad, padded shoulders, wide collar, and lapels. We must not forget that throughout the Caribbean there were many Jewish and Syrian-owned department stores and dress shops, as well as the well-known chain Bata Shoes supplying their needs. As a result, the style of the Caribbean men who arrived at Tilbury Docks was not mainstream British. The Second World War had not long finished, and the overall look for British men was the navy or grey pinstripe utility suit.
Although not well documented, we had in Britain before, during and after the Second World War many Caribbean women working in the hospitals and the armed forces. Working women’s clothes of the late 1940s were still affected by wartime rationing, and fashion was based on the utility shape seen throughout the War. The utility style was a practical, tailored, slimline shape that required less fabric.
A typical outfit for women was the two-piece woollen tailored suit. The jacket was hip length with padded shoulders. It had a narrow collar, two or three buttons at the front, small welt, or patch pockets and with a slightly nipped-in waist. The jacket was worn with a simple knee-length, A-line or straight pencil skirt or trousers. The typical everyday dress had padded shoulders, small collar, button front, a fitted waist and with two front pleats or simple A-line, knee-length skirt.
During the War, women covered their heads with protective head wears. After the War, they wore small, neat felt hats, headscarves, and turbans. By the late 1940s, the ‘New Look’ (1947) began to replace the wartime utility fashions. Younger women particularly adopted the softer feminine look. Dresses were made without pads and had neat, accentuated waistlines with fuller, longer skirts.
The delight we first saw in the faces of the Windrush men on arrival in Britain did not last. Reality set in when many Caribbean people found it hard to settle in Britain. The signs in windows that read ‘No Blacks, No Dogs, No Irish’, and other rejections from the host community were painful to bear. The mood of the country was still very bleak and unsure. Some returned home to the Caribbean, others decided to stick it out for five years, but many chose to stay.
