{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O1808652"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1808652/"}},"images":null,"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O1808652","accessionNumber":"T.56-2026","objectType":"Ensemble","titles":[{"title":"Church and the Dancehall","type":"named collection"}],"summaryDescription":"Francesca Lake is a fashion designer and multidisciplinary artist from Kingston, Jamaica. This ensemble was presented as part of Lake’s graduate collection,<i> Church and the Dancehall</i>, and formed the basis of Lake’s first commercial offering under her eponymous brand, presented for the Autumn/Winter 2023 season. The complete look includes the ‘Indecent Church ’ dress, the ‘Church’ hat, the ‘Bumboclaat Bamboo’ earrings, sleeves, leggings, and customised shoes. \n\nLake’s collections centre on her Jamaican identity and personal childhood experiences. In <i>Church and the Dancehall,</i> Lake celebrates two contrasting aspects of Jamaican culture that informed her upbringing and sense of self. In her own words: <i>Church and the Dancehall is a body of work that explores themes of morality and badness, the Madonna-Whore syndrome, post-colonial language of dress, uptown and downtown socio-economic groupings and the church and dancehall architypes.  All as a means to celebrate an all-encompassing exploration of modesty and inhibition that exist within differing sub and popular culture within Jamaican society.  Noting that their coexistence is what adds to the vibrance and moral groundings of what makes me who I am as proud Jamaican.  </i>\n\r\nInspired by the garments worn to these two differing environments, Lake drew from the shared exuberance of opposing styles of dress, celebrating two cornerstones of Jamaican culture while drawing on childhood memories. The ensemble exemplifies many of Lake’s emerging design signatures: ruching, voluminous silhouettes, statement headwear, chunky gold jewellery, and layered mesh garments. The Indecent Church dress is composed of taffeta sourced in Kingston. Taffeta is a material Lake frequently returns to, due to its association with formal dress within Jamaican culture. The dress has an exaggerated silhouette supported by boning, designed to ‘capture and convey the unapologetic, loud and proud Jamaican persona.’ The hyper-feminine cut is reminiscent of dresses young girls are often dressed in. Indeed, Lake cites her own ruffled dresses worn to church as a child as a source of inspiration. Decorative hand-ruching add dimension to the dress, a design choice selected to represent innocence.\n\nIn shocking contrast to the sweetness of the dress, a prominent cruciform cut-out at the bust exposes the wearer’s breasts. The cut-out is lined with sheer stretch mesh in reference to a material typically worn within dancehall spaces. This provocative feature underscores Lake’s intention to explore the ‘duality of conservatism and rebellious liberation in Jamaican culture’, overtly referencing her own ‘rebellious nature as a child raised in a Christian home.’ The Church hat references styles observed by Lake in church, where fascinators and hats are worn as a mark of respect and decency. The hat’s exaggerated lines and glittering finish modernise this long-held tradition and act to embody the 'pride and boldness of the Jamaican persona.’ A final touch to the ensemble are the Bumboclaat Bamboo earrings. The large, gold toned pendant earrings were inspired by the bold jewellery that was a key part of 1990s dancehall fashions. Such jewellery was often the gift of relatives living abroad, typically in the US and UK, who sent plastic barrels of goods back to Jamaica. Such Barrel Culture was visible in dancehall spaces, where heavy gold jewellery became an important form of expression. In addition to their size, the earrings make a literal statement by spelling-out BUMBOCLAAT, splitting the controversial Jamaican Patois slang word across each individual earring, further alluding to collection's juxtaposition of indecency and modesty.\r\n\r\n","physicalDescription":"Ensemble comprising the ‘Indecent Church’ dress, the ‘Church’ hat, the ‘Bumboclaat Bamboo’ earrings, shoes, sleeves and leggings. \r\n\r\nThe dress is a short, structured style with exaggerated sleeves and skirt, cut from golden stretch taffeta. The dress features applied panels of ruched taffeta, with larger ruffled panels adorning the hips  and shoulders giving a winged effect. To the centre of the torso is a large cruciform cut-out, lined with black stretch mesh. Internal boning provides structure to the dress. The hat is a large curved saddle shape (hyperbolic paraboloid) contructed from blue tinsel Lurex stretched over a steel wire frame, mounted on a black headband. The shoes are kitten-heel slingbacks, with pointed toes and a textured finish painted pink. The look is styled with detachable ruched sleeves and leggings, with one sleeve and one leg made of black floral stretch mesh worn on opposite limbs, and the remaining sleeve and leg made of white floral cotton. The ensemble is completed with large gold-tone earrings in a hoop style mimicking bamboo. In the centre of one earring, cursive letters spell out 'Bumbo', while 'Claat' is in the centre of the second earring. ","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Lake, Francesca","id":"AUTH412385"},"association":{"text":"designer and maker","id":"x34662"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[{"name":{"text":"Francesca Lake","id":"AUTH408928"},"association":{"text":"brand name","id":"x30588"},"note":""}],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[],"techniques":[],"materialsAndTechniques":"synthetic blend taffeta (polyester, nylon, Spandex), elastane, Lurex, gold-plated stainless steel","categories":[{"text":"Fashion","id":"THES48957"},{"text":"Womenswear","id":"THES49044"},{"text":"Hats and headwear","id":"THES48943"},{"text":"Footwear","id":"THES48951"},{"text":"Jewellery","id":"THES48930"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"T&F","id":"THES48601"},"images":[],"imageResolution":"low","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"BY006","id":"THES404138"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"BY006","id":"THES404138"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"BY006","id":"THES404138"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"BY006","id":"THES404138"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"BY006","id":"THES404138"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"BY006","id":"THES404138"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"BY006","id":"THES404138"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"BY006","id":"THES404138"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"BY006","id":"THES404138"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"BY006","id":"THES404138"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Dress","id":"x47499"}],[{"text":"Hat","id":"AAT46106"}],[{"text":"Sleeve","id":"AAT210530"}],[{"text":"Sleeve","id":"AAT210530"}],[{"text":"Leg","id":"AAT162380"}],[{"text":"Leg","id":"AAT162380"}],[{"text":"shoe","id":"AAT210043"}],[{"text":"shoe","id":"AAT210043"}],[{"text":"earring","id":"AAT45998"}],[{"text":"earring","id":"AAT45998"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"2021","earliest":"2021-01-01","latest":"2021-12-31"},"association":{"text":"designed","id":"x29338"},"note":""},{"date":{"text":"2026","earliest":"2026-01-01","latest":"2026-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Length","value":"980","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"dress - back of neck to hem ","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"670","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"dress hem across","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"890","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"dress shoulder to shoulder ","note":""},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"260","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"dress","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"365","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"hat","note":""},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"420","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"hat","note":""},{"dimension":"Height","value":"340","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"hat","note":""},{"dimension":"Length","value":"320","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"shoe","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"90","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"shoe - widest part","note":""},{"dimension":"Height","value":"63","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"shoe - excluding slingback","note":""},{"dimension":"Length","value":"1193","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"black legging","note":""},{"dimension":"Length","value":"1187","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"white legging","note":""},{"dimension":"Length","value":"1158","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"black sleeve","note":""},{"dimension":"Length","value":"1458","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"white sleeve","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"75","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"earrings ","note":""},{"dimension":"Height","value":"70","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"earrings","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Ensemble, dress, hat, earrings, leggings, sleeves and shoes, synthetic blend taffeta, elastane, Lurex, gold-plated stainless steel, acrylic paint, by Francesca Lake, Autumn/Winter 2023 collection, Jamaica and England, 2026.","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"Bespoke","id":"THES409218"},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["T.56:1-2026","T.56:2-2026","T.56:3-2026","T.56:4-2026","T.56:5-2026","T.56:6-2026","T.56:7-2026","T.56:8-2026","T.56:9-2026","T.56:10-2026"],"accessionNumberNum":"56","accessionNumberPrefix":"T","accessionYear":2026,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-04-10","recordCreationDate":"2025-09-08","availableToBook":false}}