# Do people actually wear grass skirts in Hawaii (or anywhere in Polynesia)? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 8, 2013, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-actually-wear-grass-skirts-in-hawaii-or-anywhere-in-polynesia/668308 "2013-09-08T03:58:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2013, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-actually-wear-grass-skirts-in-hawaii-or-anywhere-in-polynesia/668308/21 "2013-09-09T20:31:41Z")
When I went to Easter Island, I only saw them used for dances. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-actually-wear-grass-skirts-in-hawaii-or-anywhere-in-polynesia/668308/22 "2013-09-10T09:45:37Z")
I must say that the “they had cloth, why would they wear grass” argument only holds up if there is no function for which grass is better than cloth - _not_ saying this is the case for grass skirts (I highly doubt it), but the Japanese had lots of lovely cloth but historically the traditional raincoat was a grass cape. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-actually-wear-grass-skirts-in-hawaii-or-anywhere-in-polynesia/668308/23 "2013-09-10T14:04:52Z")
[Prior thread on the subject of coconut bras](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=130484) ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2013, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-actually-wear-grass-skirts-in-hawaii-or-anywhere-in-polynesia/668308/24 "2013-09-12T11:42:06Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > If you’ve heard of a place, its inhabitants have been wearing machine-made cloth since the 19th century. The area of PNG where I lived was that blank area in the middle where there was no map. I always thought that was kinda cool. They were not wearing cloth until the second half of the twentieth century. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2013, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-actually-wear-grass-skirts-in-hawaii-or-anywhere-in-polynesia/668308/25 "2013-09-12T13:33:24Z")
> [@Geek\_Mecha](#): > > …High maka-maka types got to wear capes made out of pretty and now largely extinct birds’ feathers… ::Relevant to thread:: “Maka-Maka” 😕 ::hijack:: Related to “muckety-muck”? (a plausible guess) ---
**Author:** ![Geek\_Mecha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecae2f/32.png) [@Geek\_Mecha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geek_Mecha)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2013, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-actually-wear-grass-skirts-in-hawaii-or-anywhere-in-polynesia/668308/26 "2013-09-12T18:43:44Z")
Yeah, that’s my guess as well. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2013, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-actually-wear-grass-skirts-in-hawaii-or-anywhere-in-polynesia/668308/27 "2013-09-12T19:05:58Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > ::Relevant to thread:: > “Maka-Maka” 😕 > ::hijack:: > Related to “muckety-muck”? (a plausible guess) Hey, **Leo Bloom** , try your Google-fu! (You tried it when I used the word “brilloquacious” a while back!) 😃 From here: [Hawaiian-English concordance](http://www.trussel2.com/haw/con-makamaka.htm): > [@](#): > > **makamaka** > > 1. _n._ intimate friend with whom one is on terms of receiving and giving freely; pal, buddy; host. _fig.,_ anything very helpful, as education. > 2. raw, fresh. > 3. _n._ buds, as forming on the corm of a _ **taro.** _ From this, the colloquial slang was probably derived. (ETA: Perhaps furthered by the similarity to “muckety-muck” 🙂 ) From [Urban Dictionary](http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=high%20maka%20maka): > [@](#): > > **1. HIGH MAKA MAKA** > > hawaiian creole english (pidgin) for stuck up or high maintenance > “HOWS DAT GIRL OVER THERE THINKING SHE ALL BAD, HIGH MAKA MAKA BITCH!” > > “GIRL DON’T BE J THATS NOT EVEN ONE GIRL! THATS TONY’S AUNTY’S COUSIN’S SISTER’S SON’S GIRLFRIEND’S GRAMA’S NEIGHBOR’S COUSIN’S BOYFRIEND, HE SO FUNNY, BUT HE IS FO SHO HIGH MAKA MAKA GIRL!” > > “OH NAH?! HE ONE BOY? GO GIRL GET YOUR SASHA FIERCE ON! SO HIGH MAKA MAKA THESE MAHU’S NOWADAYS!” Just trying my hand at amateur [del]entomology[/del] etymology ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2013, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-actually-wear-grass-skirts-in-hawaii-or-anywhere-in-polynesia/668308/28 "2013-09-13T04:25:31Z")
I lived 2-1/2 years in Honolulu, and grass skirts are strictly for hula dancing. Hawaiian shirts, on the other hand, are often de rigueur in everyday life, for formal and informal occasions alike. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-actually-wear-grass-skirts-in-hawaii-or-anywhere-in-polynesia/668308.md?page=1)