Adornment Playshop
Leave your tuxedos, little black dresses, and mink coats
at home. You'll be on a tropical island, so you might as well dress
appropriately. "Aloha attire" is what's commonly worn in Hawaii
in the office, to a concert, for fine dining, to some parties, etc.
It consists of an aloha shirt and pants for men and any sort of muu-muu
or other colorful dress for women. Plus shoes. No one here wears shoes
unless they have to; slippers ("flip-flops to Mainlanders")
or bare feet are the standard. One step less formal than aloha attire,
T-shirts, shorts, and slippers are plenty good enough for shopping,
backyard parties, most restaurants, and so on.
However, we'll be creating an atmosphere that pre-dates the T-shirt
by several thousand years, so it's highly appropriate to use the simplest
possible materials--i.e., plain lengths of cloth--to produce sophisticated
garments using only wrapping, tucking, and a bit of knotting.
Both men and women are invited to bring lengths of cotton cloth right
off the bolt, pareos, lava-lavas, saris and dhotis, and anything else
that you can wrap on your body. One of our members will show you how
to wrap pants, shorts, dresses, halters, loincloths, and more out of
plain rectangles of cloth. The garments are complete; nothing is worn
under or over them. Every time you wrap a garment on yourself, it is
custom-made for you, and the cloth is re-usable again and again. The
same piece can be a halter, then a skirt, then a beachcloth, and then
a head wrap.
The best material is light, pliable, loosely woven cotton. Much Indian
cotton is great for these purposes. The most useful sizes are these:
- standard pareo size (about 2 yds x 45"); like a big bath towel,
but made of cotton that drapes very well; good for skirts and some
halters
- a long standard-width piece, 4-5 yds x 45"; good for dhotis
(Indian pants), full skirts, and certain dresses
- small bedspread size, about 7 ft. square; good for full and loose
pants, togas, and gowns
- long narrow size, 12-22" x 4-5 yds; good for halters, loincloths,
belts, and headwraps
Be sure to wash the material beforehand.
For more information please see the reference article on adornment.
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