Hawaii Twentyten

kahikolove:

THE BIRTH OF THE HOLOKU AND THE MU’UMU’U:

Liholiho (the son of Kamehameha the Great) was king when American missionaries arrived in 1820. Since he was on another island at the time, his queen and other ali’i met the missionaries’ ship, dressed in their finest kapa. The American gowns (in the style of 1819, with their high waists, narrow skirts, and long, tight sleeves) enchanted all the Hawaiian queens. In order to stay in the islands the missionaries needed the permission of King Liholiho. Queen Dowager Kalakaua was to accompany them and (not knowing how to sew) demanded a new dress to wear for the meeting with the king. She presented the missionary wives with white cambric for the construction of her new gown. In order to fit her large size and to adapt to the hot, humid environment, the missionary wives adapted their high-waisted style for a loose, comfortable, fitted garment, replacing the high waistline with an above-the-bust yoke. The end result was a basic dress that was simply a full, straight skirt attached to a yoke with a high neck and tight sleeves. This dress was called the holokū, and the missionaries also gave Queen Kalakaua a chemise to wear underneath. The chemise was called mu’umu’u but was not worn often, since the Hawaiians did not see the logic in wearing two layers of clothing. Mu’umu’u were used as house dresses and swim dresses in the nineteenth century.

(source)

Linda Boynton Arthur

Hawaiian Dress Prior to 1898