Traditional Hawaiian hula costume... what they wore.The hula was performed by both male and female dancers who wore traditional Hawaiian hula costumes. The key purpose of hula was for religious rituals and ceremonies.
Traditional female Hawaiian hula costume consisted of hula skirts or “pa’u,” which was made of tapa (bark-cloth). Tapa costumes varied in colours and designs, with the pa’u consisting of several layers of tapa. When worn, the pa’u length reached just below the knees as it was thought to be impolite or immodest for the thighs to be shown.
It was customary for both males and females to perform topless, with dancers wearing decorations such as lei, necklaces, bracelets and anklets.
Male dancers wore a “malo” or loincloth, again, made of yards of tapa, and also wore lei, necklaces, bracelets and anklets.
The materials for the lei worn during a performance were gathered in the forest, only after prayers to Laka and the forest gods had been chanted. The lei and tapa worn for sacred hula were considered imbued with the sacredness of the dance, and were not to be worn after the performance. Lei were typically left on a small altar as offerings to Laka.
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