Dressing Up the Caribbean Undress Code
Even before Miami Vice set the stage for men’s tropical wear, clothing designers in Key West were turning out loose-fitting, natural fiber apparel for those who think for themselves; who opt for comfort and casual wear; who choose a lifestyle, then dress accordingly
(PRWEB) May 5, 2005 -- In New York, it seems the Hip-Hop generation has grown
into Mark Ecko’s new Cut and Sew collection, which recently debuted with crisp
linen jackets and relaxed-collar suits in bright hues and creative textures like
denim and gabardine. But the Caribbean undress code came of age in Key West more
than a decade ago with brightly colored linens by Victoria Lesser.
In
England, Bunny London outfits Madonna’s daughter, while on this warmer island,
Dink Bruce shirts-up hot celebrity dropouts with his hard-to-find cotton T’s.
Clearly, the reverse “cool” of Key West is looking fashionably casual without
looking like everyone else.
And Monique Lhuillier, Hollywood’s designer
de jour, is oh, so stiff and formal with her body-clinging, silky red carpet
fashions that, by comparison, Jasmine Sky’s yards and yards of hand painted silk
palazzo pants and tunics float like unrestricted sighs on a breath of fresh
tropical air.
Even before Miami Vice set the stage for men’s tropical
wear, clothing designers in Key West were turning out loose-fitting, natural
fiber apparel for those who think for themselves; who opt for comfort and casual
wear; who choose a lifestyle, then dress accordingly.
As far back as the
1970s and early ‘80s, a handful of local fashion designers recognized a distinct
freedom of lifestyle in the Keys that went hand-in-hand with a sense of dressing
down to accommodate it. Susan Rafferty designed swimwear at her store on Duval
Street to express this style, which until then had little definition. Anga at
Winter Sun set trends with her simple, cotton line of clothing. Jim Cox, the
“Whistle Pants Man,” Americanized a version of the Caribbean tie-style pants
popular in Jamaica.
These days, cool, casual and comfortable garb still
goes. Yet, with millions of visitors to Key West, Jasmine Sky thinks the
Caribbean undress code is ratcheting up a notch or two. She says sarongs are in,
of course, but now they’re made of silk.
“Wrapping and tying is an
ancient way of dressing,” said Sky, clothing designer and owner of The Dreaming
Goddess Boutique (www.thedreaminggoddess.com) on Big Pine Key. “To accommodate
that kind of simplicity, I keep sewing to a minimum, incorporate large sarongs
and scarves, and design all my clothes with silk in mind, which is an ancient
fabric.”
Silk is Sky’s fabric of choice. In fact, she only works with
this natural animal fiber and hand paints each item she creates.
“Silk
captivates people. Feelings change when you wear it,” she said, her billowing
yellow silk tunic with capped sleeves accented a pair of blue-on-blue turquoise,
charmeuse pants. The pants wrapped round and round what appeared to be a trim
body, but beneath all the layers of silk, it was hard to tell where skin and
fabric actually touched.
“It’s more sensual, more luxurious,” Sky said,
understating the obvious.
When it drapes a man’s shoulders or sways with
the molasses motion of a woman’s hips, silk’s luster, alone, turns heads. In
some of its cultivated forms, silk is the finest, sheerest of all natural
fibers, with the greatest strength.
Legend crowns Lady Hsi-Ling-Shih,
wife of the Emperor of China in 2600 B.C.E., as the Goddess of Silk. But
evidence shows that silk was in use in China as early as 4000 B.C.E. Although
the secret of silkworms was protected within China’s culture until 300 C.E., by
the 6th or 7th century, silkworms had been smuggled into Southern Europe where
they began chowing down on mulberry trees growing in Greece, Italy and Turkey.
Though Asia dominates the cultivated silk industry today, it is produced around
the world, and manufacturers estimate that it takes 2,500 to 3,000 silkworm
cocoons to get one yard of silk fabric.
“There are many types of silk and
weights, but I concentrate on four; habotai for its lightweight billowy effect,
charmeuse for its weighted, luxurious drape and buttery-soft feel, organza for
its sheerness and silk gauze for its stretch, which is perfect for bandeau’s,
turbans and head wraps,” said Sky. “Because it has more elasticity than cotton
or linen, silk keeps its shape better, wrinkles less, and is perfect for
tropical wear.”
Silk, which doesn’t effectively conduct heat away from
the body, might seem inappropriate for Key West’s steamy summers, but a strange
and little known fact is that silk can absorb a great deal of moisture (30% of
its own weight) and still feel relatively dry because the moisture evaporates
quickly.
“It will absorb perspiration and oil from your skin, then shed
it easily and readily, said Sky. “It’s a sanitary textile, a biodegradable fiber
unlike polyester or nylon. And weighted silks, such as charmeuse, do indeed
conduct heat away from your body.”
If the number of shops along Duval
Street that carry silk tank tops vs. cotton t-shirts are any indication of the
fiber choice of comfort in the tropics, the sweat absorbing, inexpensive and
ever-present T’s make loud fashion statements. Moreover, many make political or
social statements.
“My ‘El Braso Fuerte’ t-shirt is probably the most
popular one I’ve designed,” said Dink Bruce, who does considerably more on the
island than design shirts. “Then there’s my Hemingway shirt that reads ‘How to
Survive in the Keys…Run, Hide or Shoot.’
“I don’t sell these or my Bubba
Conch series in shops any more,” he said. “I only resurrect them as
needed.”
Many hand painted or silk screened t-shirts are popular with the
visiting throngs, but Bruce’s shirts, or those designed by B.J. Martin are
keepsakes, prized by locals and worn to a funky, faded patina.
“I
designed the ‘Eat It Raw’ girl in 1975,” said Martin, who’s been in the t-shirt
business for more than 20 years and still designs some for Margaritaville and
Sloppy Joe’s. “I created that one as a favor for my cousin, Sydney Snell, who
was then the manager of Half Shell Raw Bar. Today he owns Sloppy
Joe’s.”
Martin says he wasn’t paid for the clever logo that has become a
Key West icon. In fact, it was pretty controversial at the time: “A true story
-- in 1976, just as Disney World was spreading out in Orlando, a guy wearing my
‘Eat It Raw’ shirt was turned away from the mouse’s front door,” said Martin.
“Can you even imagine that happening today?”
The dress down lifestyle
inherent in cotton t-shirts is not always chic, though; sometimes someone wants
that “dressed to kill” look. Silks easily fit the order, and Jasmine Sky
promises they do this comfortably; it’s just a matter of how the clothes are
designed. For instance, loose arm holes in silk shirts, or cuts that don’t cover
the arm pit, allow body heat to escape. Boat necks, v-necks and halter tops are
typical of her airy designs.
“Air flow is critical,”
said Sky, who moved to the Keys in 2001 with two cats, a bolt of silk and fabric
paints. “I use at least two yards of silk in all my designs to allow a layer of
air to circulate between the material and the skin.”
As a former New York
dancer, Sky says unrestricted movement is essential to comfort, too: “You can
sit on the floor or dance on stage wearing my clothes. Whatever your lifestyle,
whatever you choose to do in them, the yards of silk will flatter your figure,”
she said. “A man or woman’s size is irrelevant to Dreaming Goddess designs
because everything is custom made, a one of a kind garment that can go the
distance from beach wrap to wedding gown.”
Sky says her mission is to
introduce people to the wonder and luxury of fine silk clothes, which they can
experience at www.thedreaminggoddess.com.
Barbara Bowers www.bbowers.com
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Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/5/prweb236240.htm