Traditional Jamaican clothing styles include calico tiered dresses and head scarves for women, loose pants and short-sleeved shirts for men, and Rastafarian-influenced garb for both sexes. Jamaican clothing styles borrow from both British and slave culture. Comfort is the unifying characteristic of Jamaican clothing styles, as the sun beats down unrelentingly on the Caribbean island, and the people there strive to keep cool with lightweight, breathable cottons and linens. However, Jamaicans are also fond of wearing bright colors.Continue Reading
Red and white are popular colors for women's dresses. A bandana skirt and a bandana head scarf, both in red and white, are traditional women's attire. Variations of this garb have been worn by every Miss Jamaica World Contestant except one.
Black, green and yellow are the colors of Jamaica. These are made into clothing items ranging from tees to sun dresses. Combinations of black, green and yellow are worn by Jamaicans to patriotic and cultural events of all kinds, from soccer games to jonkunno parades. Jonkunno is a Christmas tradition of masked festivals found throughout the Bahamas.
Of the Rastafarian influences, the best known are focused on hair. The hair is often worn in dreadlocks, covered with a knitted hat called a tam.Learn more about Clothing