Yap Clothing

{ January 21, 2013 @ 11:09 pm } · { Lifestyle }
{ Tags: clothing, men, traditional, women, Yap }

You’ve probably already seen the pictures on the left hand side and noticed that female dancers are wearing special grass skirts. They are handwoven and known as “lavas”. As previous posts explained, it is very improper of women to show their thighs in public and that is why each lava extends below the knees.

“Thus” is the name of the loincloths Yapese men traditionally wear. Star Newspaper explains that elderly men in Yap wear dry hibiscus and a lava lava with their thus, which signifies they’ve proven their manhood through fighting. Younger men typically wear t-shirts and shorts. The same source also notes that boys in villages still grow up wearing thus and they do that in a special order, starting with a single piece of cloth, and then adding pieces of cloth as they grow older until they get to three pieces which are blue, red or white.

This blog talks about the unique things in Yapese culture but as a result of the Western influence in Micronesia, many parts of Yap and the surrounding islands are now modernized. In Colonia, the capital of Yap, a visitor can see both men and women wearing Western clothing. You can also see a shirt over a lava lava skirt, or yet another combination- a topless woman talking on a cell phone. And we just added another reason on the list of “Why Yap Is So Cool”.