Clothing in Barbados, circa 18th century

One of our speakers told us about how the English were dressed in Barbados on the sugar cane farms. The natives and slaves that were working the fields were wearing very little due to the warm climate and the culture. The British were pompous and dressed like the English back in their homeland, wearing layers of silk, wool, and velvet. The heat would be intense and the British would not remove the clothing because they felt it represented a wealthy, aristocratic man. The fools would kill themselves with fashion! Crazy!