A Kariba or Kareeba suit is a two-piece suit for men created by Jamaican designer Ivy Ralph, mother of Sheryl Lee Ralph, in the early 1970s to be worn on business and formal occasions as a Caribbean replacement for the European-style suit and a visual symbol of decolonisation.[1] The suit was popularised by Michael Manley, the leader of the People's National Party (PNP).[2] The style of the jacket is considered a formalised version of a safari jacket or bush shirt common in Africa, worn without a shirt and tie, making it more comfortable clothing for a tropical climate.[3]
After PNP came to power in Jamaica in 1972, the Parliament passed a law recognising that the Kariba suit was appropriate for official functions and Manley, by now Prime Minister, wore a "fancy black one" when he met Queen Elizabeth II.[1] Member's of Manley's political party, PNP, became recognizable by their adoption of the Kariba suit, rather than a western suit and tie favoured the opposition party JLP. The Kariba suit was a symbol of "cultural decolonisation". In his memoirs, The Politics of Change, Manley called the decision to wear a jacket and tie, in the tropical realties of the Caribbean, the "first act of psychological surrender" to "colonial trauma". In 1981 the newly formed JLP government announced that the Kariba suit was no longer considered proper dress for parliamentarians. Parliament then required that MPs, visitors and journalists dress "with propriety": interpreted as no Kariba suits and no guayabera shirts.[2] Whether as a consequence of this or not, Manley himself seems to have abandoned the Kariba suit during his second tenure as Prime Minister from 1989 to 1992.
In its heyday, the style of suit was also popular with other politicians, notably people like D.K. Duncan, a member of PNP, Errol Barrow prime minister of Barbados, Forbes Burnham president of Guyana, and Julius Nyerere president of Tanzania. Ivy Ralph, the designer of the Kariba suit, was awarded the Order of Distinction in 1999 for outstanding contribution to the promotion of fashion.[4]
^ abBlumenthal, Ralph (24 March 1976). "Kareeba: Jamaica's 'Uniform'". New York Times.
^ abWaters, Anita M. (January 1985). Race, Class, and Political Symbols: Rastafari and Reggae in Jamaican Politics. New Brunswick, London: Transaction Publishers. p. 180. ISBN 9781412832687.
^Condra, Jill (2013). Encyclopedia of National Dress: Traditional Clothing Around the World. ABC-CLIO. p. 127. ISBN 9780313376375.
^"Ivy Ralph the Original Diva, says daughter Sheryl". Jamaica Observer. 7 October 2018. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
A Kariba or Kareeba suit is a two-piece suit for men created by Jamaican designer Ivy Ralph, mother of Sheryl Lee Ralph, in the early 1970s to be worn...
magazine. Sari Mao suit Mujib Coat Gakuran Raj pattern Abacost Karibasuit Leisure suit Madiba shirt "Nehru Jacket, which we know today had undergone alterations...
Karibasuit Leisure Suit Larry "Leisure suit", Merriam-Webster Dictionary. "What is a Leisure Suit?". WiseGEEK. 25 December 2023. Early leisure suit or...
entourage. The abacost fell out of favour after Mobutu's removal from power. Karibasuit Nehru jacket Madiba shirt Zaire: A Country Study POLITICAL REFORM IN...
and Ivy Ralph O.D., a Jamaican fashion designer and the creator of the karibasuit. She has a younger brother, actor and comedian Michael Ralph. According...
art Jamaican English Jamaican Georgian architecture John Canoe, ritual Karibasuit List of museums in Jamaica Mauger (Jamaican Patois term) Music of Jamaica...
started a fashion revolution, often preferring the Karibasuit, a type of formal bush-jacket suit with trousers and worn without a shirt and tie. Under...
Busta candy Coconut drop Toto Peanut drops Coconut cake Almond drops Karibasuit, by Ivy Ralph Ursula Andress white bikini, co-designed by Tessa Prendergast...
increased demand. ZESA owns the Kariba Power Station together with its Zambian counterpart, ZESCO. The station is part of the Kariba Dam project, damming the...
Driver (ep 2), Iron Guard (ep 7) Ace of Diamond: Second Season as Wataru Kariba, Yoshimi Hidokoro, Narushima Junior High School team Little Busters! Refrain...
Kremasta Dam in Greece which both registered 6.3-Mw, the 122 m (400 ft) high Kariba Dam in Zambia at 6.25-Mw and the 105 m (344 ft) Xinfengjiang Dam in China...
into far into northern Arabia and included Mecca and Medina, the king Abu-Kariba Assad (of the Tobban tribe) converted to Judaism, as did several tribal...
Julia (8 February 2012). Light and Power for a Multiracial Nation: The Kariba Dam Scheme in the Central African Federation. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9781137268778...
Omaha's Wild Kingdom. YouTube. Retrieved 10 April 2018. "Elephants of Lake Kariba". Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom. YouTube. Retrieved 10 April 2018. "Return...
the Jews, Volume 3. Jewish Publication Society of America. pp. 62–64. Abu Kariba Asad. S.B. Segall (2003). Understanding the Exodus and Other Mysteries of...
people versus wildlife and the politics of postcolonial conservation on Lake Kariba, Zimbabwe". Geoforum. 36 (3): 353–369. doi:10.1016/j.geoforum.2004.06.007...
environments and can treat most types of wastewater. They are particularly well-suited for tropical and subtropical countries because the intensity of the sunlight...
policing. The war veteran accused of murdering opposition supporters in Kariba during the elections is released on the grounds of "insufficient evidence"...
salvageable crew equipment. Two were restored and driven under their own power to Kariba on 10 November 1965 to help counter possible incursions by Zambian troops...
responsible government. No repeal of the Land Apportionment Act. No appeasement to suit the Afro-Asian bloc." "An honest Rhodesian," a 1964 political poster declared—"Trust...
the Minister of State for Disaster Management Tōru Masuoka as Kunihiko Kariba, the Minister of Defense Keishi Nagatsuka as Hayasaka, Japan Ground Self-Defense...
Dam in Lesotho, and the Nurek Dam in Tajikistan is an example. In Zambia, Kariba Lake may have provoked similar effects. The 2008 Sichuan earthquake, which...
form, he wields the double-bladed Shining Caliber (シャイニングカリバー, Shainingu Karibā) in its naginata-like Single Mode (シングルモード, Shinguru Mōdo), which allows...