A Quadrille dress is a bespoke dress worn by women in Caribbean

Caribbean

The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...

 countries. The quadrille dress is the folk costume of Jamaica

Jamaica

Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...

, and Haiti

Haiti

Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...

. It is known by a different name in each country. The dress is worn during the quadrille

Quadrille

Quadrille is a historic dance performed by four couples in a square formation, a precursor to traditional square dancing. It is also a style of music...

 dance.

Jamaica

In Jamaica

Jamaica

Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...

, the quadrille dress is made of cotton. It is also called a bandana skirt. The skirt is worn with a ruffled sleeve blouse and a matching head tie

Head tie

A head tie is a West and Southern African women’s cloth head scarf. It is known as a 'Duku' , 'Dhuku' , 'Tukwi' and 'Gele'...

. The traditional dress is made out of red and white cotton plaid, maroon and white plaid, or madras

Madras (cloth)

Madras is a lightweight cotton fabric with typically patterned texture and plaid design, used primarily for summer clothing—pants, shorts, dresses and jackets. The fabric takes its name from the former English name of the city of Chennai, India...

. The plaid material is called bandana fabric. Men wear a shirt made out of the same fabric and white pants during quadrille

Quadrille

Quadrille is a historic dance performed by four couples in a square formation, a precursor to traditional square dancing. It is also a style of music...

 and folk dances. However, for weddings, the traditional male attire is a bush jacket

Guayabera

The guayabera is a men's shirt popular in Latin America, the Caribbean, Southeast Asia, Puerto Rico, the Philippines and Zimbabwe. It is also more recently known as a "Mexican Wedding Shirt."-History:...

 made of linen

Linen

Linen is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant, Linum usitatissimum. Linen is labor-intensive to manufacture, but when it is made into garments, it is valued for its exceptional coolness and freshness in hot weather....

 fabric and black dress pants or a tuxedo

Black tie

Black tie is a dress code for evening events and social functions. For a man, the main component is a usually black jacket, known as a dinner jacket or tuxedo...

 and the female attire is a white wedding dress

Wedding dress

A wedding dress or wedding gown is the clothing worn by a bride during a wedding ceremony. Color, style and ceremonial importance of the gown can depend on the religion and culture of the wedding participants.- Western culture :...

. In many countries, the bush jacket is known as a guayabera. In Africa, the bush jacket is known as a safari shirt and is worn in the same manner as the safari jacket

Safari jacket

A safari jacket or bush jacket is a garment originally designed for the purpose of going on safari in the African bush.Popularized by turn-of-the-20th-century Anglo-African adventurers, safari-style jackets were engineered for comfort and function....

.

The quadrille is only danced in Jamaica today as a show. Dancers will usually wear the Jamaican folk costume, which consits of a gathered skirt of red madras bandana worn with a white peasant blouse. A matching head scarf is often worn tied in a sort of turban fashion. This costume is unlikely to be "bespoke" as it is only worn as a costume, for dancers, folk singers, tour guides etc. It represents the clothing worn by the ordinary folk in roughly the eighteenth century. Sometimes beauty pageant contestants wear creative evening dresses inspired by the national costume.

The bush jacket is hardly traditional. It was introduced for political reasons in the 1970s and some men continue to wear it as a matter of taste. Traditional attire for weddings, funerals, court dates etc. is an ordinary suit. Office attire is either a suit or shirt and tie. The bush jacket is an option one sees occasionally.

One would not expect to see the folk costume at a wedding. The groom would wear a conventional suit, the bride a fashionable white gown. Guests would wear suits and semi-formal dresses. One or two of the men may wear bush jackets.

The only occasion where a man would wear a madras shirt and white trousers would be if he were performing on the stage, either singing traditional folk songs or some sort of calypso or mento in the tourist circuit.

Haiti

In Haiti

Haiti

Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...

, the quadrille dress is called a Karabela dress. Traditional male attire for dances, weddings, and other formal wear

Formal wear

Formal wear and formal dress are the general terms for clothing suitable for formal social events, such as a wedding, formal garden party or dinner, débutante cotillion, dance, or race...

 is the linen shirt jacket

Guayabera

The guayabera is a men's shirt popular in Latin America, the Caribbean, Southeast Asia, Puerto Rico, the Philippines and Zimbabwe. It is also more recently known as a "Mexican Wedding Shirt."-History:...

.