To Style A Life for Oneself

This research explores the largely undocumented relationship between style-fashion- dress (Tulloch: 2010) and Lovers rock; a British born reggae genre created by the first generation of British born Black people. Attention is given to the socio-political context of Britain between 1976-1986 and how key events influenced the dressed identities of young Black Britons, enabling them to express new and distinct cultural identities, through dress whilst negotiating their lived experience in the private and public sphere. This research draws upon ethnography, mixed method interviews and embodied forms thus extending the current literature on both Lovers rock music to explore the formation of the lovers’ rock scene.