Madras (costume)

During Sundays and holidays, the enslaved people could normally wear what they wished, and through monies earned through selling produce from small plots of land, they would often buy colourful cloth.

On feast days and special occasions, free women and enslaved people would wear the colourful clothes, now known as "Creole dress".

[2] The madras today is almost identical to the traditional costumes worn by other former French colonies of the Caribbean, including the neighbouring islands of Martinique, Guadeloupe and Dominica.

The costume comprises a white cotton or poplin blouse, known in French Creole as a chimiz decolté or chemise decoltee, finished with Broderie Anglaise and red ribbons.

[4] The second item is an ankle length skirt, again trimmed with lace and red ribbons; which has two gathers towards the lower end of the garment.

[2] The final item is a triangular silk scarf, foulard, pinned to the left shoulder, its apex at the end of the elbow and tucked into the waist of the skirt.