As fashion is not US & Euro centric (let’s forget about Marc Jacobs & Gucci for a min) I thought I’d start a little costume history commentary - so even though our eyes will be shot by 60 (in a generation of crazy computer use) our brains will still be razor sharp.

I was lucky enough to be put in contact with Jamaica’s top stylist, Michelle Haynes, through a wonderful old co-worker of mine. When I worked with said co-worker, I lived for street fashion - and I spent a lot of time in Queens and Brooklyn my senior year - getting a real distinct flavor outside of the concrete jungle that is Manhattan. I also started reading up on urban style, as I was in a great place to observe - and learned about the extremely fascinating culture of Jamaican Dancehall music & style.

Dancehall is a type of music (late 70’s product of reggae & roots, now more digital) - which spawned a radical type of dress - most times controversial, very sexual, and always colorful. The movement was away from modest/traditional Rastafarian gender role dressing - it’s like going from what we know as the Beatles in the 60’s to Lynard Skynard in the 70’s (sort of). It’s an interesting correlation between acceptance and dress in Jamaica - that on one end of the spectrum the music & dress are celebrated and on the other end frowned upon. It’s sometimes misunderstood as the objectification of women - which is funny because being a real feminist means dressing however you want, whenever you want - and this sense of style is also extremely empowering and evokes a sense of competition among peers. One of my favorite sports is silent fashion faceoffs - and nobody embodies that more than a Jamaican Dancehall girl. It’s a place for imagination - the beauty is that you can be anything you want to be when you put your hair in curlers and paint your nails - put on the fishnets, baubles - it’s like a masquerade ball. This roleplay lets women step outside of their everyday lives - express their sexuality & femininity, and experiment with the extraordinary.

Stylist Michelle Haynes (michellehaynes@flowja.com), a native from Kingston - has worked with Jamaican Dancehall style extensively, and has been the costume designer/stylist on films Goodaz Gal & Dancehall Queen - which embody the Jamaican culture vividly through street style and vintage dancehall.

Another brilliant resource for dancehall imagery is London photographer Wayne Tippetts (below image) - who was in Jamaica in the 80’s when the underground culture first began thriving. He is a master of gritty, real photography - which I die for - and more of his work can be viewed on www.UrbanImage.tv “Wayne Tippetts”, on Flickr “Wayne Tippetts”, or http://www.waynetippetts.com.