Watteau Dress
Made to order, limited number available.
Based on the “fashion” Holoku, our Watteau has a modern loose body. The iconic watteau pleating down the back speaks to Hawaiian history. The back is intentionally lowered to allow for the proper wearing of a lei. Knee length. On seam pockets.
Due to the scale of the print, print placement varies on finished garments.
Print: Jumbo Pareo
100% cotton. Printed in Italy.
Wash gentle cold and hang dry.
Size Guide | Shipping & Returns
Made to order, limited number available.
Based on the “fashion” Holoku, our Watteau has a modern loose body. The iconic watteau pleating down the back speaks to Hawaiian history. The back is intentionally lowered to allow for the proper wearing of a lei. Knee length. On seam pockets.
Due to the scale of the print, print placement varies on finished garments.
Print: Jumbo Pareo
100% cotton. Printed in Italy.
Wash gentle cold and hang dry.
Size Guide | Shipping & Returns
Made to order, limited number available.
Based on the “fashion” Holoku, our Watteau has a modern loose body. The iconic watteau pleating down the back speaks to Hawaiian history. The back is intentionally lowered to allow for the proper wearing of a lei. Knee length. On seam pockets.
Due to the scale of the print, print placement varies on finished garments.
Print: Jumbo Pareo
100% cotton. Printed in Italy.
Wash gentle cold and hang dry.
Size Guide | Shipping & Returns
The Print
A reprise of our beloved pareo print in a jumbo size for 2024. This is our year to go big. This print took us two years to develop from an early 20th century Tahitian postcard.
The eureka moment came when we realized it was probably a resist print created with paper and scissors instead of painted on with a brush.
Postcard, Max Bopp Du Pont, circa 1907.
The Watteau
There is nothing more iconic than the watteau pleating that adorns the Hawaiian Holoku form. At first you might think this pleat is some ossified detail linked to a romanticized notion of Hawai’i’s Victorian past. In actuality the pleat has a more complex and nuanced history.
Watteau pleating was adapted by Hawaiians from 1820s missionary sacque dresses. By the mid 19th century the garment had been so naturalized it was read as “a Hawaiian dress.” Since the 1893 illegal overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom the pleating signals a respect for “old Hawaii.” It is, in part, kept alive in the form as a subtle protest.
