Back by popular demand: another look at the sarong! You may remember my earlier post about these Transformers of the beach coverup world (more than meets the eye). The photo above (of a toga-style sarong) is from 1worldsarongs.
I’m still in my sarong apprenticeship. Good thing there are plenty of tutorials on the internet. Here are some great tips from Fair Winds Sarongs:
Step-by-Step Sarong Tying
Here are some easy-to-follow steps for tying your beautiful new sarong, based on how you want to wear it:
- Long Skirt: Wrap the fabric around your hips, holding the corners out in front of your body. Pinch the corners together and tie them in a knot. Move the skirt around so that the knot is placed over one hip, and fluff out the ends of the knot so that the right side of the fabric is showing. This skirt will show off your leg as you walk.
- Long wrap skirt: Holding the wrap horizontally, gather one corner into your hand, leaving a long enough length to tie off later. Wind the rest of the cloth around your hips, bringing the other corner to align with the first. Tie the two lengths together.
- Triangle skirt: Fold the sarong over to create a triangle. Take the longest side of the triangle and wind it around your waist, tying the corners off at one hip. This creates a sexy short skirt perfect for the beach.
- Halter dress: Wrap the fabric around your upper back and pull the ends forward, holding them evenly out in front of you. Wrap both sides over the front of your body so that they overlap, keeping a long length of the corners out of the sheath so you can still work with them. Swap the corners into the opposite hands, and tie the two corners in a knot just over your bust. You should still have two lengths of fabric to pull up behind your neck and tie in another knot. You’re finished!
- Tube dress: Wrap the sarong around your upper back and pull the ends forward, with the top of the fabric close to your armpits. Wrap both sides over the front of your body so that they overlap, and swap the corners into your opposite hands. Wrap the fabric tightly around your body, bringing the two corners together and tying them off in a double knot.
- Toga dress: Hold the fabric up horizontally, grasping both corners. Tuck one end underneath your arm, leaving a length to tie off, and wind the rest of it all the way around your body. Bring the other corner into alignment with the first, on the other side of your shoulder. Bring the two corner lengths up over your shoulder and tie in a double knot.
- Head scarf: Simply drape the fabric over your head and tie beneath your chin, or wrap the ends gently beneath your chin and let them drape behind your shoulders.
- Head wrap, headband or hat band: Fold the fabric into about a 3 inch wide strip. Wrap it around your head or the base of your hat, then tie them off and let the long end lengths flow down your back.
Videos can be helpful, too. Squidoo includes links to several useful ones.
I also like this video from AprilAthena7. Her sarongs look more upscale than the standard beachwear I’ve seen, and they have handy straps not unlike an apron. This seems to make the whole tying fiasco a bit easier to deal with.
I confess that while scouting out versatile tropical wear, I got distracted by that classic, the muumuu. (One of my favorite writing teachers would say that if you have to choose between relevant and interesting, always choose interesting). Perhaps I’m channeling my inner Golden Girl here, but I dig the mix of prints in this one from the very un-tropical sounding Vermont Country Store (photo below is theirs). I wonder what it might look like with a stylin’ belt.
My favorite muumuu-inspired creation so far is what Mena Trott calls a “high fashion” muumuu on her rad blog, The Sew Weekly (photo hers). Trott claims that she likes this muumuu incarnation even better without the belt.
Muumuus and sarongs might seem at the opposite ends of the summer fashion spectrum (the tarp to bikini spectrum). But this modified muumuu manages to be flirty and bold. Even better, we landlocked fashion bloggers could wear something like this when we’re not basking on the shore.
Trott’s blog is for those who sew. Seasoned WanderChic readers know that I’m a shopper, not a needlewoman. WanderMan and I have talked about taking a sewing class together after the hoopla of the wedding has passed. A new era! (I suspect that this will be an even greater challenge than learning how to tie a sarong.)