The historic voluntary journey made by black women
and men from Africa and the Caribbean to England
after World War II was partly marked by them through
the way they dressed themselves to enter the Country.
Those from the Caribbean arrived in Western-style
garments—dresses, suits, shirt, tie, blouses, hats,
handbags, shoes, stockings, socks—the basic etiquette
of dress during the periods. Mrs Gloria Bennett, a well patroned dressmaker in Doncaster, South Yorkshire moved to
England from Jamaica in 1961. She designed an outfit specifically to make an impressive entrance:

 '[the dress] was aquamarine trimmed with black. The dress was narrowly gathered at the waist, with black dropped
 into the front, a sweetheart neck. Because, you know, you were travelling, you came dressed up, black gloves, ....
 Coming so posh you know, I came in a hat. I made that dress.'

This keen observation to well dressed presentation of oneself is supported by Dr. Beryl Gilroy who came to Britain from
the Island of Guyana in 1951. She wore a salmon pink two-piece skirt suit which was made by local tailor Nat Gaynes.
Once here, she bought a coat and hat to counteract the English weather.

Black women and men from different parts of Africa had the choice of wearing traditional costumes or Western garments.
The stylist Cynthia Lawrence-John recalls that her parents travelled to England from Sierra Leone. Her father wore a classic
Euro-American tailored suit, whilst her mother chose to dress in an African gown known as a Boubah(?). This dual use of
cultural references to define their identity continued. In 1968 Mr and Mrs Popoola, Nigerian students, dressed in matching
Aso-Oke cloth in traditional garments for their wedding. Following the ceremony they changed into well-cut fashionable
suits of the period.

These choices signify the legacy of colonialism, where the British-owned Caribbean Islands were dominated by Western
clothing, whilst their African heritage of textiles, garments and headwear such as the gele associated with the continent
were not part of their wardrobe. Though headwraps have been used by primarily black women, though by some men,
in the Islands since the days of slavery, were generally seen as unsuitable for special occasions in the mid-twentieth
century. It was seen as part of utilitarian dress for housework, or part of the uniform of the large numbers of market
traders within the islands.

Part of the process of settlement in Britain was to retain skills gained in their home countries. For example the culture of
home dressmaking, the use of local dressmakers and tailors continued. Women would draw on the fashions of the day
worn by people on the streets, from shop window displays, fashion pages of newspapers; mail order catalogues;
television programmes. As well as shopping in the variety of shops and markets that became available to them.
A combination of shopping resources that had been undertaken in their homelands. With regards to other aspects of
grooming such as hairdressing, a cottage industry of hairdressing and barbers, and the establishment of hairdressing
salons in the major cities and towns across Britain emerged. And the raise of black entrepreneurs who specialised in
black hair products, such as Dyke and Dryden were founded in 1965. These were desperately needed services as the
skills and products to cater for black hair, was not available in equivalent white organisations.

Like their counterpart, in general black men paid just as much attention to their wardrobe of clothes and accessories.
Their arrival in the 1940s and 50s in generously well cut suits and so called 'flashy ties' and appropriate accessories
from dual coloured trilby hats, to 'brothel creeper' shoes, and hair products highlighted their difference. Collectively men
from the Caribbean and Africa contributed to the redefinition of how men could dress themselves. To dress well was not
to negate one's masculinity, but to heighten it. This trend continued throughout the period of settlement, leading
academic observers to call black men and women 'the quintessential subterranean'.

These early examples of good grooming, which were inspired partly by self-pride, and partly by the sheer pleasure of
wearing beautiful clothes and accessories, have had a profound effect on their children. On visiting the Black British
Style exhibition, Desmond Bennett (son of Mrs Gloria Bennett mentioned earlier and has lent his wedding outfit by
Derrick Lilliard to the show) remarked that the exhibition reminded him of his father, Herman Bennett. His sense of
style was to be a constant inspiration for Desmond, as in Bennett senior's trademark accessory a signet ring which
featured the initials 'CB' , his street name. Therefore the approach to dressing well of the so called 'new arrivants'
between the late 1940s and early 1960s and their descendants over the last 50-plus years reflect style traditions
which began in Africa or the Caribbean.