Listening to Dawn Penn’s classic rocksteady hit You Don’t Love Me (No No No) on a lazy Sunday afternoon, I found myself searching for images of her out of pure curiosity.
Someone with such a stylish sound simply had to have an equally stylish — or at least distinctive — dress sense. Google images proved I wasn’t far off the mark. Though there isn’t an abundance of images out there, over the years Penn’s style seems to vary from an exotic glamour to a kind of rebel punk:
This got me thinking about Jamaican dancehall fashion as a whole — a style rarely touched upon by Western fashion media. Of course the most obvious designer to have been influenced by such styles is Gwen Stefani’s label L.A.M.B. which — alongside Harajuku and The Great Gatsby — cites ‘rasta’ fashion as one of it’s major influences.
However, I’m not terribly interested in Stefani’s version of Jamaican fashion, which, playing on the stereotypical red-yellow-green colour scheme, largely reduces it to a motif. I’m more interested in what the original reggae/rocksteady stars of the sixties and seventies wore. Following a little research, here’s some of the best looks from the leading ladies of reggae:
P.s. — it may seem a little early to start thinking about high summer styles, but I guess fashion is all about thinking ahead these days. We’re already pouring over NEXT WINTER’S looks what with the Pre-Fall having just been released, after all!
I also figured a little daydreaming of bright blue skies and sandy feet might ease the January blues a little…
Rosa Abbott is an arts, fashion and culture obsessive originating from Yorkshire, England, and currently living in Dublin, Ireland. On top of being a student at the illustrious Trinity College, she is a freelance journalist, writing for a number of Irish publications, and also edits the visual arts section of entertainment magazine Totally Dublin.
When she’s not up to her eyeballs in writing, Rosa works as an assistant to stylist Aisling Farinella and volunteers at various art galleries. Her musings on life, style and art can also be found over at her blog, Too Gallant.
