The rise and fall of the Kariba suit

Every year, around May to August, there’s a debate surrounding the mandate by Jamaican authorities requiring men to wear jackets and ties in formal spaces, especially in a tropical climate. It brings one back to a time in this country’s modern history, when the Government of Jamaica went on a campaign to change societal norms, that is, change what male formal attire meant in Jamaica. Through this campaign, the safari-style dress suit known as the Kariba became, arguably, the most popular formal dress suit in 1970s Jamaica.

THE KARIBA

The Kariba suit is described as an open-neck, over the pants shirt and matching trousers suit. It was first designed in Jamaica by the designer, Ivy Ralph, who was born in Manchester in 1928. She was a graduate of the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York and the founder of the House of Ivy atelier. In the 1970s, she decided to do her own spin on the traditional bush jacket and called it Kariba. She stated, “It was an idea I had as a child, a more comfortable style of dress for men. I wanted to help them get away from the jacket-and-tie routine to something far more comfortably suited to the island’s climate.”

Soon after coming to power, however, it would be Michael Manley who brought more attention to the suit. It is said that Manley saw the design and immediately took a liking to it and sought out Ralph for his own custom design. Thus, Manley’s signature 1970s wardrobe was born. Manley with his leftist politics and global south solidarity throughout the 1970s viewed the Kariba suit as a symbol of anti-colonialism and anti-imperialism. In his book, The Politics of Change, Manley stated that the wearing of the jacket and tie was “the first act of psychological surrender in the colonial trauma”. Still, this style of dress in Jamaican society aimed at doing away with the Eurocentric jacket and tie was first popularised by members of Rastafari, who were known for their designed bush jackets.

Yet, that was not the first time, that Manley had mirrored Rastafari culture, and, in some cases, exploited it for political gains. During the 1972 election cycle, Manley became the first political leader to use reggae music on his campaign. Songs like I and I Gwine Beat Down Babylon became quite popular on the People’s National Party’s (PNP) campaign trail. Then there was the reggae song that became synonymous with the party’s campaign, Delroy Wilson’s Betta Mus Come, which the party adopted as their official 1972 election campaign slogan. There was also the ‘rod of correction’, which Manley stated he would use to lead Jamaica to a better society. He stated that the stick was a gift from the then emperor of Ethiopia and an icon in Rastafari, Haile Selassie I. It was here that his moniker, ‘Joshua’, took flight, where he likened himself to the biblical prophet and likewise compared Hugh Shearer, the incumbent prime minister, to Pharaoh. In his paper, ‘Rastafari: Culture of Resistance’, political scientist Dr Horace Campbell stated that Manley “promoted and took advantage of the metaphysical interpretations of Rastafari … he exploited the spiritual and metaphysical content of Rastafari”.

RISE IN POPULARITY

Still, by the mid 1970s the Kariba suit became synonymous with members of the PNP, who, by 1974, under Manley’s leadership moved more to the left than previous governments as they declared their support for policies of democratic socialism. As such, members of the party echoed Manley’s sentiment of moving away from a colonial style of dressing that is not conducive to the Caribbean tropical climate. In her book, Race, Class, and Political Symbols: Rastafari and Reggae in Jamaican Politics, Dr Anita Waters stated that “PNP politicians were recognisable by their style of dress, usually a Kariba suit rather than the jacket and tie associated with members of the [Jamaica Labour Party] JLP”. The Kariba was now the unofficial uniform of the PNP, and, as such, when the party won the December 1976 election, at the 1977 sworn in ceremony of the new Cabinet, of the 28 elected people, only three wore a jacket and tie. People were quoted as saying that the wearing of the jacket and tie was a “symbol of conformist behaviour”, and “a symbol of imperialism”, while the Kariba was as “a symbol of cultural decolonisation”. One member of the JLP, however, was quoted as saying that the PNP’s wearing of the Kariba suit was “going overboard to convince the masses that they were for them”. It was also the middle of the Cold War and The Gleaner, at this time the most popular media entity on the island, through their societal cartoon series, depicted global socialist and communist leaders wearing Kariba suits.

Despite this, however, the Kariba suit became quite popular across the island as most tailors stopped selling jacket and ties for, as one person stated, people with ties were seen as “anachronisms”. In a March 1976 interview with The New York Times, Ralph stated that a custom-fitted Kariba cost $65 to $70, while off the rack they sold for about $10 less. Her sales were high throughout the 1970s when she exported consistently to Saks Fifth Ave, Altman and top boutiques throughout the Caribbean and the United States. In 1999, Ivy Ralph was inducted into the island’s Order of Distinction for “outstanding contribution to the promotion of fashion”. Ivy Ralph son’s Michael Ralph is an accomplished voice and film actor, and her daughter, Sheryl Lee Ralph, is an Emmy Award-winning actress. In October 2022, Sheryl Lee Ralph was conferred with the island’s Order of Jamaica for her “sterling contribution as an actress [and] cultural ambassador of Jamaica and for [her] contribution to the international film industry”.

In Trevor Rhone’s 1976 Jamaican classic, Smile Orange, the assistant hotel manager, Major White, is seen wearing different Kariba suits throughout. Then Manley also had his own variety for all sort of occasions as the Government of Jamaica passed a law in Parliament allowing for the correctness of the outfit for official functions. Apart from wearing it at most local functions, Manley wore a black Kariba suit to meet Queen Elizabeth II and then in 1977 donned a navy blue one to meet United States president, Jimmy Carter. His visit to the White House was quite a statement as his then wife, Beverly, wore her 1970s signature afro hairstyle.

Then, across the region, other leaders adopted the wearing of the Kariba suit, most notably Errol Barrow of Barbados and Forbes Burnham of Guyana. These two politicians were both university friends of Manley, whom he met at the London School of Economics, where they were all mentored by the esteemed political theorist and economics academic, Dr Harold Laski. Maurice Bishop, during his tenure as prime minister of Grenada, also wore his own variation of the dress suit.

Nevertheless, this new fashion sense of politicians in Jamaica was not only limited to the Kariba suit. Dr Anita Waters made note that throughout the 1970s, there was a noticeable increase in the politicians who sported beards when compared to past elections. When she interviewed one JLP candidate, he made note that he wore a full-face beard for the 1976 election “to appeal to youth”. Photographic archives of the Jamaican electoral candidates showed that in 1967, no candidate had a beard while in the 1972 election, two candidates were bearded; the 1976 elections saw 16 candidate wore beards while in 1980, it was 19. PNP candidates also adopted the wearing of tams during the 1976 election and members of that party sported afros throughout the decade.

DRESS ‘WITH PROPRIETY’

Now, it seems that the Kariba suit was becoming an alternative to the jacket and tie as the suit was rapidly becoming acceptable in the wider society. That was until the October 1980 general election. The election was won by the JLP and ushered in Edward Seaga as the fifth prime minister of Jamaica. Thus, with a conservative right-wing government now in power, a few societal changes would follow after. This included the wearing of the “so called communist suit” as the island went back to jackets and ties as the sole acceptable form of male formal wear. Soon after, the Jamaican Government officially stepped in when the speaker of the house, Talbert Monsell Forrest, declared a parliamentary dress code. On April 7, 1982, it was declared that male members of parliament (MPs), visitors and journalists to the Jamaican parliament were required to dress “with propriety” where no short sleeve Karibas or guayabera shirts were allowed.

RESURGENCE OF THE DEBATE

Today, as of 2023, the official standing order of the Jamaican parliament is that male parliamentary members attending house and committee meetings must wear a business suit and necktie. This, the standing order states “to maintain dignity and decorum”. In April of 2022, PNP MP, Phillip Paulwell, argued for a review of this dress code. Paulwell told The Gleaner, “You are not going to come to Parliament in slippers and shorts, but I think Mr Manley had set a tone, we need now to formalise that. In fact, you don’t need a formal Kariba suit, but the type of shirt-jacket and pants with proper shoes should be allowed.”

A few days before Paulwell’s suggestion, JLP MP, Ann-Marie Vaz, put forward a motion for the review and implementation of a women’s dress code in Parliament. Women politicians are not allowed to wear sleeveless clothing in Parliament. In fact, a 2017 incident saw PNP MP Lisa Hanna been reprimanded by then house speaker, Pearnel Charles, over her wearing of a cap sleeve dress in Parliament. In 2018, the Office of the Prime Minister announced that Prime Minister Andrew Holness had given instructions for the suspension of the government offices’ no-sleeveless policy. According to the government, there exist no official state policy that prohibits people from accessing these areas, based on their sleeveless clothing.

Still, alongside MP Vaz and MP Paulwell’s activism, other politicians have joined that call for an updated official mandated dress code policy across government institutions. JLP Senator Sherene Golding have stated that “dress code prohibition on the people of Jamaica is not serving the people of Jamaica, so it should go, and we should design for ourselves, the appropriate code”. PNP Senator Janice Allen stated that “the fact is our formal and business wear have been dictated by Eurocentric sensibilities and it is high time we determine for ourselves what is considered applicable, not only because of our climate and comfort, but also based on cultural history”.

Given the history of the Kariba suit in Jamaica where it was dubbed “a communist uniform” at the height of its popularity, the continuous policing of women bodies in the Caribbean and a country still shackled by colonialism and anti-blackness, it should be interested to see where this debate goes.

This article is taken from the Lest We Forget Podcast episode titled RIP Seaga But You Still Have These Politicians Out Here Sweating. J.T. Davy is a member of the historical and political content collective, Tenement Yaad Media, where she co-produces their popular historical podcast, Lest We Forget. She is also a writer at the regional collective, Our Caribbean Figures. Send feedback to jordpilot@hotmail.com and lifestyle@gleanerjm.com.