<p>
What exactly is a muumuu? I’m picturing something and it’s not pretty!</p>
<p>I actually did wear a bridesmaid dress again. My best friend was married the summer before my senior year in college and I wore the yellow halter dress to a fraternity formal the following spring.</p>
<p>I actually wore one of my bridesmaid dresses to a sorority formal before the wedding. (I’m sure the bride wasn’t too happy about that!) I think I’ve been a bridesmaid 6 times, with only two ugly dresses, one I can’t remember, and three beautiful dresses.</p>
<p>a muumuu is a floor length, floral…sack.</p>
<p>I was so lucky–when my best friend got married, she had me & her sister in the wedding. She told us to buy pink dresses, any shade, not floor length. So I splurged on a really nice dusty rose dress that I could wear again, and again, and again.</p>
<p>Wedding, April 1990. 3 Months pregnant
wedding moved up from December of that year. 
Bride 23, Groom 22. Grooms parents not thrilled, but at least showed up. My mother paid for my dress, and DHs gray suit. We paid for everything else. Small, quick, Catholic church ceremony. Had dinner at very nice restaurant with about 20 guests. </p>
<p>MIL is a photographer so to speak. She spent the entire wedding and reception taking pictures. I was not thrilled that she had that darned camera in everybodys face from the church to dessert. We never intended for her to take pictures in the first place. Good thing we were not counting on the pictures … Fast forward 20 yrs .Not one picture from the event. She must have taken 30 rolls of film… (back in the day) When I questioned her about why they had never been developed, she calmly explained to me the film had been developed, but no prints were ever made. Gee, thanks. She is a trip!</p>
<p>Dh wore his Army dress blues (timeless and classy) to our wedding. </p>
<p>I was a bridesmaid in three weddings. The dresses were Williamsburg blue with long hooded cape, peach short-sleeved gown made by the bride (my sil), and a regular dress from the Spiegel catalog that wasn’t floor-length (for another sil’s wedding). Dh was a groomsman in the wedding where I wore the peach gown, and he had a light aqua tux.</p>
<p>I’d also love to see a pic of the brocade pantsuit, the all-yellow wedding party and the red-must-match-the-church! wedding party.</p>
<p>Hey Bren, I, too was 3 months pregnant in April 1990…on bedrest :(</p>
<p>In our case, the muumuu was a fitted, very nice and cool floral floor length dress (think fitted missionary style in blue with tasteful ribbon and lace with sweetheart neckline). It was somewhat sheer, so we wore slips under the dresses and I enjoyed wearing it for many years thereafter (tho I generally don’t like or wear muumuus). It is the only of my 4 bridesmaid dresses I wore more than the once in the wedding. I finally gave it up when it started showing signs of overuse (starting to fall apart from being loved to death).</p>
<p>It was very fitted and very attractive. I believe the other bridesmaid also wore her dress again, but since she didn’t live in HI any more (moved to Idaho), she probably didn’t get as much wear out of her dress as I did, except when she came to HI to visit family.</p>
<p>The beauty contestants in HI often wear fitted muumuus–they can really be nice in a flattering style, especially with a good figure. Muumuus can also be like caftans and have no shape (I’ve never liked the latter for myself but know that some love living in them because they’re so comfortable.)</p>
<p>So how does a muumuu differ from a formal gown, if beauty contestants are wearing them? Thanks for clarifying, as I thought all muumuus were shapeless.</p>
<p>In many minds, muumuus are shapeless affairs for frumpy folks. In fact, there is a significant range and an overlap between muumuus and formal gowns. One distinction (that blurs) is the fabric. If it’s made of cotton or some cotton blend, floral or “missionary style,” many would say it’s a muumuu or the more formal, holoku (pronounced hoe-low-coo).</p>
<p>Try searching with that word, “holoku” and you’ll see some lovely form-fitting gowns that many would still call muumuus. Several private high schools have their females attired in white holokus for graduation.</p>
<p>It’s gorgeous in satins, velvet and other fabrics and many times worn to dance graceful hulas.</p>
<p>The younger women & women with figures mostly only wear the more fitted styles of muumuu. Even many of the older women only wear more fitted styles & leave the others to folks who prefer caftans & similar.</p>
<p>Here are some images of holokus and, yes, some are beautiful. And when you say “missionary style”, you mean that literally. In reading about the dresses, it sounds like they evolved from the styles worn by the missionary women, who came to Hawaii in the early 1900’s. </p>
<p>[holoku</a> - Google Search](<a href=“http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&source=imghp&biw=1020&bih=571&q=holoku&gbv=2&aq=f&aqi=g1&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=]holoku”>http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&source=imghp&biw=1020&bih=571&q=holoku&gbv=2&aq=f&aqi=g1&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=)</p>
<p>Thanks for sharing with us. The Hawaiian culture is so interesting.</p>
<p>For however long this link is allowed to remain, here is a site with the brand many schools choose for their femaie HS graduates to wear in lieu of a gown. The dresses are lovely, fitted (an unfortunately a bit expensive but good quality–like BM dresses, prorated for value if you can wear more than just the once). Unfortunately, there are many lovely white holokus from graduation gathering dust throughout our state. :(</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.pkaiulanifashions.com/component/option,com_virtuemart/Itemid,28/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=28&vmcchk=1[/url]”>http://www.pkaiulanifashions.com/component/option,com_virtuemart/Itemid,28/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=28&vmcchk=1</a></p>
<p>There was a time when a mumu was a woman’s best friend. You could turn 40 and happily settle into a life of wearing mumus and not worrying about a few pounds here or there. Now women remain under a lifetime of pressure to fit into blue jeans that they looked good in when they were in their twenties. The Vermont Country Store (where you can buy anything retro, I was there last year!) has a selection online. You can google it and see what they look like. I think you can still see women in Hawaii wearing them which is where they originated as I recall.</p>
<p>They still sell the less form fitting muumuus, which are popular in some circles. I was just debunking the idea that ALL muumuus are shapeless and unflattering garments.</p>
<p>Studies show some significant health risks in unchecked expanded waistlines for all people (including diabetes, cardiac, shortened lifespans). I don’t own a scale but like my clothes to fit properly, which tells me when I’ve been indulging too much in junk food & sweets. </p>
<p>Wearing shapeless garments all the time makes me “let myself go.” I still many of the clothes I’ve had for the past 20-30 years and so does my hubby & much of my extended family of both genders (except some – mostly male – who have expanded waistline). I admit I did have to have a suit altered that I bought in 1982, before I had two children. It now fits perfectly with the slightly dropped waistline.</p>
<p>My gosh, how did we stray so far from bridesmaids’ dresses?</p>
<p>Another dress with the color designed to match the wallpaper in the church, which was pea-soup green. It was long polyester with ivory lace cuffs, bib, and high neck. Add the floppy hat. It’s long gone but the memory remains.</p>