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About Sophia
Sophia was a research and sewing volunteer in TURNING POINT (London) heritage programme’s ‘Sunday Best’ – sewing skills and heritage research workshop.
Sophia Self is a multidisciplinary graduate with Barbadian heritage, exploring the world through Art History, Archaeology, and scientific research. Passionate about conservation, identity, and the intersection of history and storytelling, she hopes to bridge cultural research and public engagement through exploration of the Arts, crafts, and a deeper understanding of her own heritage.
Summary
Sophia (volunteer) has examined the origins, evolution, and cultural symbolism of the Wob Dwiyet, a distinctive Creole dress of the French Caribbean. Influenced by European, African, and Indian styles—especially through the use of Indian madras fabric—the Wob Dwiyet became a powerful symbol of Creole identity, dignity, and cultural pride. She explores how colonial-era paintings by artists like Brunias depicted women in early versions of the Wob Dwiyet, often idealising or exoticising them within a colonial gaze. Sophia talks about how contemporary Caribbean artists reinterpret such images, challenging stereotypes and celebrating the Wob Dwiyet as an emblem of postcolonial resistance and vibrant self-expression.
The Wob Dwiyet & Caribbean Influences in Art Deco
Background to the Wob Dwiyet and Madras Fabric
The Wob Dwiyet, also known as the Gwan Wob, is a four-piece style of ladies’ dress featuring a full-length outer dress with trail and narrow long sleeves, an underskirt or petticoat, a scarf around the neck and shoulders called a foula, and a sometimes elaborately folded head piece. This often-colourful garment with white lace and ribboned skirt was frequently adorned with a substantial amount of jewellery such as long necklaces with jewels and pearls and large earrings. The Wob Dwiyet was prominent in the French West Indies, its design having origins in Southern France, and acts as a reminder of colonial heritage as the national dress of Dominica, Saint Lucia, Martinique, Guadeloupe, Saint Martin, and Saint Barthélemy. When madras fabric was introduced to the Caribbean from India, dresses, skirts, scarves, and handkerchiefs were made using the often white, red, and pink cotton cloth, or cotton-silk blend, and continues to be done so today (Age of Revolutions, 2019)
