A Mother Hubbard dress is a long, wide, loose-fitting gown with long sleeves and a high neck. It is intended to cover as much skin as possible. It was devised in Victorian western societies to do housework in. It is mostly known today for its later introduction by Christian missionaries in Polynesia to "civilise" those whom they considered half-naked savages. [1]
Although this Victorian garment has disappeared in most of the world, it is still worn by Pacific women, who have altered it into a brighter and cooler garment, using cotton fabric, often printed in brightly colored floral patterns. It is today seen as smart or formal attire and is often worn to church. [2]
In the 1880s the artist Kate Greenaway illustrated popular books of English nursery rhymes showing children in smock dresses. These came to be a popular style of children's dress which were given the name 'Mother Hubbard' by fashion writers at the time after the nursery rhyme character in the books. [1]
Around the same time a dress reform movement arose that sought to free western women from the tight and relatively impractical fashion of small, corseted waists and heavy skirts. The smock dress with full length sleeves proved very adaptable to both size and shape and migrated up the age groups until it became comfortable day wear for women of all ages and across social classes.
Contemporary with this in Victorian times missionary movements attempted to spread what they saw as the benefits of western religion and morals to native peoples under the rule of the imperial western countries. The Mother Hubbard garments were insisted upon by missionaries who were often horrified to find a flock of near-naked people in their churches. [1] They were distributed widely in Africa, South Asia, and the Pacific. They have influenced modern dress in all these areas, but particularly in the Pacific islands where they persist today.
Names and designs vary. In Hawaiʻi, it is called holokū. [3] There, a derivative, the muʻumuʻu, is highly similar, but without the yoke and train, and therefore even easier to make. [4] In Tahiti, the name was ʻahu tua (empire dress, in a sense of colonial empire); now, ʻahu māmā rūʻau (grandmother's dress) is used. In Sāmoa and Tonga, the design has taken on a two-piece form, with classic mother hubbard blouses (long, wide, loose-fitting with puffy sleeves) over ankle-length skirts, called "puletasi" and "puletaha," respectively. In Marshallese, the name is wau ( [wɑːu] ), from the name of the Hawaiian island of Oʻahu. The missionaries who introduced it in the Marshall Islands came from Oʻahu. [5] In New Caledonia, these dresses are referred to as robes missions (Mission Dresses) or robes popinées. New Caledonian women wear these dresses when playing their distinctive style of cricket. [6] In Papua New Guinea, the form of dress is known as meri blaus, which in Tok Pisin means women's blouse. It is considered formal local attire. In the 1960s and 1970s many women in Tarawa, Kiribati and a few i-matang women wore a garment which was referred to as a Mother Hubbard. Whilst the lower half of the body was covered with a wrap-around (lavalava) or a skirt, the top half was worn a very loose low-necked blouse short enough to expose a band of flesh at the waist. The latter was usually worn without underclothes.
In India and much of South Asia, these dresses are referred to as "Nighties" or "Night-gowns". Indian women wear these dresses for convenience and comfort at home, particularly around only the family members when they are not expecting company. They also usually drape a scarf around the neck for modesty . [ citation needed ]
In an archipelago like the Hawaiian Islands the water between islands is typically called a channel or passage. Described here are the channels between the islands of Hawaiʻi, arranged from northwest to southeast.
A bodysuit is a one-piece form-fitting or skin-tight garment that covers the torso and the crotch. The of a basic bodysuit is similar to a one-piece swimsuit and a leotard, though the materials may vary. Thong or T-front thong bodysuits usually have the crotch opening moved up to the front to underbelly area to increase the wearer's comfort. A bodysuit may have sleeves and varying shoulder strap and collar. Bodysuits can be made from a number of fabrics, including cotton, lace, nylon, etc. In general, textile bodysuits include expandable fiber such as spandex for a better fit to the shape of the body.
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A blouse is a loose-fitting upper garment that may be worn by workmen, peasants, artists, women, and children. It is typically gathered at the waist or hips so that it hangs loosely ("blouses") over the wearer's body. Today, the word most commonly refers to a girl's or woman's dress shirt, although there is considerable confusion between a true blouse and a women's shirt. It can also refer to a man's shirt if it is a loose-fitting style, though it rarely is. Traditionally, the term has been used to refer to a shirt which blouses out or has an unmistakably feminine appearance, although even many "standard" shirts today have a somewhat blousy fit, and the numbers of men wearing such shirts may match that of women wearing actual blouses.
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A tunic is a garment for the body, usually simple in style, reaching from the shoulders to a length somewhere between the hips and the knees. The name derives from the Latin tunica, the basic garment worn by both men and women in Ancient Rome, which in turn was based on earlier Greek garments that covered wearers' waists.
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A pinafore is a sleeveless garment worn as an apron.
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Fashion in the years 1750–1775 in European countries and the colonial Americas was characterised by greater abundance, elaboration and intricacy in clothing designs, loved by the Rococo artistic trends of the period. The French and English styles of fashion were very different from one another. French style was defined by elaborate court dress, colourful and rich in decoration, worn by such iconic fashion figures as Marie Antoinette.
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A dress is a garment traditionally worn by women or girls consisting of a skirt with an attached bodice. It consists of a top piece that covers the torso and hangs down over the legs. A dress can be any one-piece garment containing a skirt of any length, and can be formal or casual.
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The Kho(ཁོ) is a traditional dress worn by Bhutia, ethnic Sikkimese people of Sikkim and Nepal. It is a loose, cloak-style garment that is fastened at the neck on one side and near the waist with a silk or cotton belt similar to the Tibetan chuba and to the Ngalop gho of Bhutan, but sleeveless.
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