muumuu

The muumuu or muʻumuʻu (English pronunciation: /ˈmuːmuː/) is a loose dress of Hawaiian origin^[1] that hangs from the shoulder. Like the Aloha shirt, muumuu exports are often brilliantly colored with floral patterns of generic Polynesian motifs. Muumuu for local Hawaiian residents are more subdued in tone. Muumuu are not as widely worn at work as the aloha shirt, but may be worn as a uniform by women working in the hotel industry. Muumuu are also popular as maternity gowns and with obese people because they do not restrict the waist.

Etymology and history

The word muʻumuʻu means "amputated" in Hawaiian. Originally it was a shorter, informal version of the more formal holokū. Holokū was the original name for the Mother Hubbard dress introduced by Protestant missionaries to Hawaii in the 1820s.^[2] The holokū featured long sleeves and a floor-length unfitted dress falling from a high-necked yoke. Over the years, the holokū approximated more closely to European and American fashions. It might have a fitted waist, and even a train for evening. As the holokū became more elaborate, the muumuu, a shortened version, became popular for informal wear.

In popular culture

• In The Simpsons cartoon series episode "King-Size Homer", Homer Simpson wears a muumuu after becoming more obese than he usually is.
• In The West Wing episode "The U.S. Poet Laureate", there is a scene in which Josh describes the moderator of a fansite devoted to him as "a dictatorial leader who I'm sure wears a muumuu and chainsmokes Parliaments".
• Jon Fishman, drummer from the jam-rock group Phish, is often seen wearing a muumuu while playing, as he feels it lets him move freely.
• On Married... With Children most fat people are described by Al Bundy as wearing a muumuu.
• In the Drawn Together episode "Toot Goes Bollywood", Toot Braunstein buys a muumuu, and gets mistaken for a cow by an Indian family.
• In the comic strip Zippy the Pinhead, Zippy usually wears a disconcerting polka-dot muumuu.^[3][4]

References

External links

• Journal article by Linda B. Arthur