A practice-based autobiographical investigation of the fashion material culture of three generations of Caribbean female couturiers from the 1930s to

我童年的记忆中充满了灿烂的不同景象。我母亲设计的连衣裙点缀着她的工作空间，每一件都装饰着透明纱、蕾丝、蝴蝶结、褶边和配套配件。虽然这种着装风格在20世纪60年代至70年代是许多英裔加勒比家庭的标准正式服装，但在我接受英国时尚教育的整个过程中，我几乎没有看到加勒比海裁缝的代表。这项基于实践的研究位于文化资本和英国加勒比海服装史的交汇点，是对特立尼达和多巴哥、巴巴多斯和战后英国三代加勒比海裁缝的自传研究。我的目标是通过我的实践和研究，鼓动人们谈论西方对加勒比海女装设计师的叙述；解开英国和加勒比海时尚物质文化之间的关系；通过展示加勒比海女装设计师的贡献，实现对高级定制时装的历史描述的非殖民化。我的研究建立在Ehrman和De la Haye(2015)和Tulloch(2021)的基础上，他们发现英国女装设计师被排除在伦敦时尚界叙事之外，他们的展览将她对英国黑人的时尚研究与背景联系起来。我对英国黑人风格的探索，以及从加勒比海到英国的移民对它的影响，反映了我对塔洛克研究的接近。我的研究始于路易沙姆的一个加勒比女装设计师，这个项目通过一个精心策划的装置来庆祝我母亲和她的同胞对时尚的贡献，其中融入了个人反思、小组讨论和时装秀。借助于这个项目，我将在自传式反思实践的同时，进行基于对象的研究，以确定国内航天企业和伦敦时装行业之间的关系。最后，我将撰写一篇书面论文，其中包括第一次历史研究，考察加勒比海和伦敦地区女裁缝的角色，以及对他们独特的设计、制作和工作实践的批判性分析，并以加勒比海历史定制服装万岁展览为基础

My childhood memories are showered with visions of effulgent difference. Dresses created by my mother festooned her workspace, each bedecked in organza, lace, bows, frills and matching accessories. Although this dress-style was standard formal-wear for many British-Caribbean families during the '60s to '70s, I saw little representation of Caribbean dressmakers throughout my British fashion education.This practice-based research, situated at the intersection of cultural capital and British Caribbean dress history, is an autobiographical study of three generations of Caribbean dressmakers in Trinidad & Tobago, Barbados, and post-war Britain. My aims are to instigate discourse on western narratives of Caribbean dressmakers; unpack relationships between British and Caribbean fashion material culture; and decolonise historical accounts of couture fashion by rendering the contribution of Caribbean couturiers visible through my practice and research. My research builds on Ehrman and de la Haye (2015) who identify British dressmakers excluded from London fashion scene narratives and Tulloch (2021) whose exhibitions contextualise her black British fashion research. My proximity to Tulloch's research is reflected in my exploration of black British style and how it has been impacted by migration from the Caribbean to Britain.My research began with A Caribbean Couturier in Lewisham, a project that celebrated the fashion contributions of my mother and her compatriots through a curated installation, infused with personal reflections, a panel discussion and a fashion show. Drawing on this project, I will conduct object-based research alongside autobiographical reflective practice to identify the relationship between domestic space enterprise and London's couture industry. Finally, I will produce a written thesis comprising the first historical study examining the role of Caribbean dressmakers in the Caribbean and London and a critical analysis of their distinctive designs, making and working practices, underpinned by a viva exhibition of historical Caribbean made-to-measure garments