By Lovern Hayes, Staff Reporter 
Above: Beverley Manley, Flair's Woman of Style, speaks about her life, her loves, her successes at her home recently.
Centre: Beverley, the model, at age 24.
Top right: The then First Lady, Mrs. Manley in 1977.
(Centre and Top right photos contributed). - Winston Sill/Freelance Photographer
Bev Manley
She is a broadcaster, political scientist and lecturer. She has served as a representative to the United Nations Commission on the status of women, and was married to late Prime Minister Michael Manley. But when Flair interviewed this former first lady and host of the Breakfast Club for our Woman of Style feature, we made a few surprising discoveries.
LAST YEAR, Beverley Manley
celebrated her 60th birthday but, you would never know it by looking at her.
She cuts a youthful figure reclining on her living room sofa in a flowing pantsuit, golden highlights in her close-cropped hair, nails manicured and face well made up.
She grants that her life is like a work in progress that started in Rollington Town, Kingston, before she moved on to local catwalks as a model for six years during her 20s. The next stage anchorwoman at the Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation (JBC), wife of the Prime Minister (mother of two) kept her in the spotlight for much of the 1970s and '80s.
And she keeps evolving. In its December issue, the popular US women's magazine Essence included hers as one of two dozen voices of healing from women in the African Diaspora, following last September's terrorist attacks. There is one gap, however, she regrets not filling. In 1988 she came within a whisker of completing a PhD in Political Science at Howard University in the United States. She called it quits shortly before submitting her
thesis, she explains, to come back home and support her daughter Natasha, who was studying for O' Level examinations.
Still, this deeply spiritual woman reckons that she achieved her objective. "I did it to develop the discipline. The idea of going through the process really interested me. I was able to develop analytical and research skills, two very valuable tools."
For more about her style, life with Michael Manley and romance, read on.
Growing up, my style (and other personal stuff)
WELL, HONESTLY, I didn't have much of a sense of style when I was growing up because we were poor and I more or less had to wear what I was given.
Plus, my mother was a dressmaker and she would sew for me. But then again, I was and still am not a very fussy dresser. I have always
preferred clean, straight, elegant cuts classic looks that can endure all seasons.
Later on, when I became a model, my eyes opened up somewhat -- I became more aware of fashion trends and started to follow them more closely, then I started to sew for myself and would copy the latest styles from the magazines.
When I landed my first big job at the JBC and started doing television broadcasts, it was even more important that I always look like a professional.
The weirdest thing I've ever worn...I think it must have been something called the sac it was exactly like the name implied, a big bag-like outfit that billowed from the shoulders down to the knees and then tapered in. It was really ridiculous, come to think of it, but back then it was in style.
My biggest fashion fear as a First Lady...that I would wear something inappropriate either something that was overly dressy or under dressy for the occasion. To the best of my knowledge I didn't commit any of these fashion faux pas at least no one pointed any out to me.
My biggest challenge though was to promote Jamaican cloth and material. What I tried to do as the First Lady was to use certain occasions to promote certain fabrics the bandana ... as the national fabric. Then there was calico and there was this fabric that's really made from a kind of refined crocus bag...like hessian. The challenge was to know how to wear those outfits elegantly. In the case of calico, a lot of the times we would have it hand-embroidered.
By this time, of course, I am not making my own clothes anymore. There are about three designers doing clothes for me all the time because it was not unusual to change six outfits in one day depending on what the diary looked like. So that was another challenge, how to move from, like, party-campaign-clothing into going to talk to children at a basic school, into meeting a diplomat's wife, into going to a banquet in the evening with my husband...you know, all of this could happen in one day and did in fact happen often.
And, of course, I used to wear a lot of tie-heads in those days, African-type wraps. Often we would combine the wrap with the outfit. So you could say back then, I paid a lot of attention to clothes.
How did motherhood affect the way you dressed?
I think after you have a child, well in my case anyway, your body changes. And, in my case, the look I had before of a sort of very narrow waist definitely went with motherhood. So I think the major change for me would be moving away from clothes that really fit into a narrow waist line to clothes that more hung from the shoulders which would, of course, make you look slim and all of that. So, the major change for me would be how clothes fit around the midriff area. And to this day I still prefer to not have anything in my waist any more. I like to feel the comfort of not having anything there restraining me...
How did your career affect the way you dressed?
When I was at JBC that was easy because if you were on radio it really didn't matter what you had on. When I had to go on television what mattered was what I was wearing from the waist up...that's if I were doing like continuity announcing or news reading. So I would concentrate on blouses that were the right colour for television and so on.
Of course if you are hosting a programme -- in those days we used to have a television programme called 'Jamaica Woman' or something - where the public would see you fully the key thing was to wear something that was not too complex, that the person at home would be almost confused by what you had on.
I would like to have in my wardrobe... Uhhh...maybe some fabrics that don't crush. I love linen, especially very fine Italian linen. I love it. I love it. The problem with linen though is that it crushes. But it always looks so fresh and I love linen in all shades and colours. So I guess if I wanted something in my wardrobe that I don't have now, it would be something that very much has that crisp linen look, but that didn't crush. And again, made just with elegant lines...not fussy, just really elegant.
I love wearing pants, long skirts and pantsuits. I like any kind of pants and I like my tops long - the older I get, I like my tops long.
I also love mixing and matching, I enjoy that actually. I really enjoy that. I also like to wear the under-blouse, almost like a camisole. So I tend to have some standard colours in those, like a beige and a black, that will take an outfit and open up the top and wear a cool little top underneath. I like that look.
Fashion today...Honestly, I have no idea. But no matter what is happening in the world in terms of fashion, I still enjoy elegant, sleek, comfortable clothing.
One item of makeup I must have...Face powder, because by the time you get to 60 you need a little help.
My favourite outfit right now...I have a few that I like and it's usually anything that hangs elegantly from the shoulders down, especially made in fabric that just flows...like when you move the fabric moves with you, so that it's sexy without obviously being sexy.
Being married to Michael Manley... was wonderful. I got married when I was 30-31. By the time I met him I had already had a very successful career in radio and television. All the stuff I learnt in radio and television was very helpful when I became his wife. Some of it of course took me by surprise...it was challenging but it gave me the opportunity to be creative, innovative. I was also clear that I was going to use the position I had in the interest of particularly women and children -- which is what I did.
In short, it was like getting the opportunity to live several lives at the same time and (especially) because of the kind of person that he was too -- curious about everything. He loved all types of music. He loved all types of sports. I mean, he loved life and one of the things that attracted me to him was his capacity to live life. I just never met anybody before who could just enjoy everything about life. EVERYTHING! Every moment was great.
Will I remarry...I don't like to say never because you never know...you never know, but I have no plans so I am not saying no.
What I find sexy in a man...a flat torso. I like a long flat well-built torso and I am a great admirer of buttocks. I like firm, high buttocks with that sink in the back...ooohh I just love it.
Romance means...I am an incurable romantic. This may sound strange coming from a feminist, which I am, but I like to see a man really woo a woman and a woman woo a man. I like to get flowers. I like to get little surprises. And I think it should be reciprocal. I like doing the same things for a man but it has to be a man who is on that wavelength because some men are just not into that. `I really feel that couples should romance each other, that is what keeps a couple together - no matter what age group.
I'm motivated because...I had a mother who was a perfectionist and felt I could be anything I wanted to be. Even when all the circumstances were saying 'No', she was saying 'Yes!' Both my parents felt that you should give of yourself in whatever you did. What motivates me more than anything else is the chance to make a difference - the opportunity to make a difference in people's lives, and I don't just mean oppressed people. I just mean people.
In recent times I have become an organisation development practitioner which means I am qualified to do workshops, and I am particularly interested in transformation workshops -- the kind where you can make a difference in people's lives in the moment, without having to wait for next year. You can have a conversation with somebody and through experiential learning, the person can get an insight and almost be `transformed immediately...that is what motivates me.
No matter how hard I am working, when somebody comes to me and says, "You know, that conversation we had last week, do you know it changed my life?" That humbles me and makes me want to do more and more.
My biggest success...has been communication. I do have the capacity to speak to a group of people and have an effect on their lives, whether it is radio, television, making a speech to an audience, or doing a workshop.
My biggest failure has been...not to be wealthy at age 60. I think wealth is important because it frees you up to pursue your dreams. Not that you can't pursue your dreams without it, but I think my inability to create wealth and to recognise earning...Giving service is important but by the time you get to 60, having a certain amount of wealth is important because it frees you up.
Now having said that of course, it's not too late. I am very aware of that though.
Right now I am reading...I tend to read several books simultaneously. But my passion right now is researching everything I can find on leadership. I am looking at great leaders. For example, right now I am completely obsessed with Mahatma Ghandi, Golda Meir...I am obsessed with Jesus as a leader. Because I am so interested in transformation stuff I want to know what is it about these leaders that made them so `extraordinary.
I am looking at Michael Manley himself because I think that he was an extraordinary leader.
My nickname is...hmm...I don't really have one.
I am afraid of...cats. It's a phobia I have.
My biggest indulgence is...my search for knowledge. If I had my way, I would do every university degree, go to every workshop. I like being on the cutting edge so I like to be learning all the time particularly in terms of the kind of workshops that I am interested in doing, so I think that's a bit of an indulgence.
I wish I could...create a television and radio programme around my workshop ideas and present it in a way that people could accept it in those media and carry the same message to Jamaicans in the Diaspora. I am a big Diaspora person, not just for Jamaica, but for the Caribbean region. I really feel it is important to link Jamaicans overseas with Jamaicans here and link Caribbean people overseas with those here in a structured way so that we are not seen as just a small nation state.
I will not ever again...hmmm, what comes up for me is my PhD. I went through enormous sacrifice to do it and I never handed the thesis in. I did everything - 60 credits in an American university, leaving my children to go over there, my final exams, wrote the thesis but never handed it in.
So I guess, to answer the question, it would be to start something as critical as that and not complete it...no matter what the reasons were...and I had some good reasons. So that's what I'm working on, how not to start and not complete.
