Many African American/Europeans played a major part in the history of fashion as well as history itself in the 18^th and 19^th century. History in the western world is a funny thing, like how they only highlight non-blacks in the 18^th and 19^th century.

“The most important thing to remember here is that when one is not visualized in history, one doesn’t exist. So in terms of memory, in terms of contribution and actually being here, people are often erased…that means their existence is not acknowledged.” (Renee Mussai: curator of the “Missing Chapter” a three year project devoted to researching and revealing the earliest imagery of black people in Britain).

Black men and women in America and Great Briton had a high sense of fashion and style.

Class and sophistication was the order of the day, and these men and women of color carried it forward and smashingly well.

In celebrating black history month and fashion week in 2017, let us take our hats off and pay tribute to these classy and elegant ebony fashionistas and debonair black men from the stylish Victorian Age!

Black people have a long history in England  goes back a long way well before the reign of Queen Victoria. There were Black people in Britain in Roman times, and there has been a continuous Black presence there since 1555.”In Shakespeare’s London audiences, Black faces would have been a familiar sight.”