Wacky Wednesday #23—Aloha!

Aloha. It’s your Wednesday wahine, here in costume to celebrate Hawaiian flowers and decorations. Although I’m not trying to dress in authentic Hawaiian wear, my lighthearted approach is in no way intended to mock. I just like lighthearted, playful interpretations. Hawaiian culture is beautiful. I love the flowers, the music, the dancing…Not so much the poi, but hey, that leaves more for you, right?

Being me, I have to use materials in an unexpected way, so I’ve used these table skirts not on tables but on me. I hot glued the grass table skirt into a cape, so I am (obviously) a Hawaiian super hero(ine)!

 

 

Plumeria flowers conjure up a Hawaiian vibe so I made some from junk mail and magazine pages (I’m recycling!). In my hair I’m wearing real Plumeria flowers. My dress is made from upcycled leis hot glued onto a dress I made from my fabric stash. We have tons of leis from a Hawaiian party a couple of years ago, and (because I am from the “more is more” school of decoration) I’m going a little crazy with them. (In my defense, more color means more happy moods…) So this costume is definitely a mix-n-match of real and unreal: real flowers, flowers I made from other materials, and factory-made decorations. It may seem odd to some but my real/unreal approach is all about color and cheerful motifs and it works for me.

It also may seem hilarious that someone who doesn’t look one bit Hawaiian is dressing up this way. I don’t have long, flowing hair, dark, soulful eyes or a mellow wahine vibe. I am a short-haired, freckled-faced chatterbox. But it’s all good. If wallets can be labeled “genuine imitation leather,” there’s no reason why I can’t be a genuine imitation Hawaiian!

 

Almost everything I used to make this costume was from my sewing stash or supplies I already had, and the only thing I bought for this outfit was a $1 plastic grass table skirt from the dollar store. (Go, me!)

I love that “Aloha” is both a greeting and a farewell, as well as an attitude. The Hawaiian spirit seems to me to involve a sense of welcome, of appreciation, of enjoying nature and celebrating life, not just rushing through it. My costume has a commercial edge, no argument there, but it also encompasses the celebratory qualities I just listed, and I hope it brings cheer today—a happy, relaxed, welcoming Aloha spirit…

And on that note, I must go. I have leis to make, poi to stir, and grass to sew into skirts.

Mahalo!

  

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