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Abstract
This paper asks how changes to the way that dressmaking was practiced in two separate communities exemplified post-independence changes to Jamaican national identity. It was first written in 2013, from research conducted in and around two Jamaican residences: one in the beach-front, tourist hot spot of Montego Bay and the other in rural Elgin in Clarendon, at the island’s mountainous heart. At the time of Jamaican independence, these geographically and socio-economically different locations were nuclei for dressmaking practice, although for different purposes. Through them, the paper identifies two separate, classed and racialized worlds on a relatively small island, examining a social, political, architectural and creative landscape formed by the legacy of the transatlantic slave trade and European colonialism. It considers how, and how effectively these landscapes were changing in the post-independence period of decolonial struggle, in which a new Jamaicanness was being formed. To do so, it focuses on three individuals who engaged in sewing within these houses at the time: Sewing school leader Dee Davis, fashion designer Trevor C. Owen, and peripatetic seamstress Miss Aslyn. Research methods combined Oral History interviews with surviving individuals connected to the two houses, analysis of the houses themselves, and archival research conducted in Jamaica.
Notes
1. For the purposes of this paper, a distinction is made between dressmaker and dress maker. Four terms are used to describe people who sew: designer, dress maker, dressmaker and seamstress.
Designer suggests the creator of original garments, although we will see that although Trevor Owen called himself a designer, he often worked from patterns imported from Europe and the US.
Dress maker is used as a neutral term, to describe a person who makes clothes.
Dressmaker is used interchangeably with seamstress, especially when the act of sewing is performed in exchange for money, but no original garment has been created so it is not part of the act of design. It is used to describe Owen when he becomes the equivalent of a seamstress, because he is male. Seamstress is used precisely because of its archaic nature. The gender distinction that it provides is a running reminder that while the hierarchy did not exclude women from the design profession, the role of domestic dressmaker/teacher was an exclusively female one in Jamaica at this time.
2. Aslyn is Miss Aslyn’s forename. Throughout her interaction with the interview team she referred to herself thus, and was always called Miss Aslyn by others. It is usual for people to be referred to by title and surname in a formal manner unless they are known well by the addressee. The fact that Miss Aslyn was referred to by title and first name shows her status among the Crichtons to be not quite equal. As a contrasting example, interviewees from the Davis family always referred to Dee Davis as Dee or Granny Dee because I was the interviewer and Davis was my great aunt; however, those outside of the family referred to her consistently as Mrs Davis.
3. The first colonizers were the Spanish, led by Christopher Columbus, who were ousted by the British in 1655. Jamaica remained a British slave/plantation colony until 1965, and its main purpose to the metropolis was to supply foodstuffs such as sugar, fruit, and vegetables. In order to maintain order in the colony, a strict color class system was imposed across the whole population, which continued following the abolition of slavery, and is still in unofficial operation today.
4. This was also largely due to Jamaican Prime Minister Michael Manley’s campaign to put an end to international domination, unemployment, and social inequality that had ensued during the 1960s, using democratic socialism. Barry, Wood and Preusch (Citation1984 ) say:
“While social progress did come, Jamaica’s economy was torn apart by the flight of capital, IMF austerity programs, the drying up of international loan capital, high oil prices, and the lack of a clear economic management program by the Manley government … The United States, foreign investors, and the upper classes in Jamaica took issue with Manley’s declaration of support for democratic socialism in 1974.”
5. De Lisser expanded on the mutual appreciation within their circle in many interviews. The following is a particularly poignant example: “I used to do a lot of painting. Well just for my own sake, I’m a terrible artist. I have no talent whatsoever … We were all artistes—we were the greatest. But nobody knew we were the greatest. We knew we were the greatest, but nobody else knew we were the greatest!” (De Lisser Citation2013).
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Davinia Gregory
Davinia Gregory is a PhD researcher in Sociology and Cultural Policy at the University of Warwick. Her project: Learning from the final beat of The Drum: Toward a decolonization of the arts in the UK (working title), began as a collaborative project with The Drum arts centre, Birmingham, UK. Her most recent teaching posts are in Critical Historical Studies in Design at the Royal College of Art, and Design History at the Foundation for International Education.