Other formats

    TEI XML file   ePub eBook file  

Connect

    mail icontwitter iconBlogspot iconrss icon

The Coming of the Maori

Kilts and Skirts

Kilts and Skirts

A number of kilts preserved in museums were made with a single-pair twine; and some, ornamented with lengths of rolled flax attached to the outer surface, are so similar to capes ornamented with similar rolled flax lengths that they appear identical at first sight. However the capes have two tying cords fastened to the neck braid some distance in from the ends whereas the kilts have the three-ply braid of the upper border continued as a free cord at one end while another cord is attached to the other end of the braid border. The tying cords thus reveal whether the garment is tied over the shoulder as a cape or around the waist as a kilt. The modern dance kilts made of rolled flax have just a few rows of single-pair twining below the waist band.

The kilts were worn by women and are the direct descendants of the original plaited kilts or skirts of the early settlers. They were also worn by men on occasion but according to the early European visitors, the men frequently dispensed with a lower garment.

It is also evident from the early accounts that cloaks were worn as skirts which reached to the heels. When so worn they were referred to generally as rapaki.