The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1899-07-26
FEMININE DRESS IN SAMOA.
STARTLING Ef"cta OF Blending Native
and European Gnrmrnta.

| STARTLING Efcctn OF Blending Native
and European Gnrmrnta.
In spite of the simplicity "f nnti"nnl
attire the single 1npi lava lnvI or loil
| clOth. worn by all. both sexes alike
, the Samonns spend "a great deal OF
| their time in btnutifying themselves.
The body Is creased with cocoun,i oil.
and the hair IS often plastcrt'l with
white lime and roHchcd mp ponpadour
style, giving ii when dry the cfcct Of
the judicial wig worn by English bar
iieters The lime Is washed of II
night and renewed from day /" day.
The result il Il gradual change in iic
| color of the hair, which in Undergoing
the bleaching process passes fr"in II
| coarse coal black through rcd brick 4"
q bright yellow. The effect Of this
brilliant contrast with their shiny cop,
per skins is Grotcsluc in the rNi"'ilr.
but in their eyes surprisingly l":.uti-
| full.
No Samoan belle Of my circle, uf :c
| quaintance would use such Il tnri:ir"
| and unnatural deformity as stays ami
corsets 10 make her sylphlikc and will
lowy. though she is quite ready 10
| ornament Their hair, however. is the
Samoan wOilen's pride. and Il mass of
yellow spOngclike stuff carefully tied
| up. on top OF their heads is the envy nf
every one for miles around n thing
OF beauty and Il JOY forever In com
] mon with this strange fancy the Saino-
| ans quite share the European ideas in
regard TO beauty. They particularly
admire tall persons, and il is quite
common for Il stranger. especially II
above the ordinary height, to find him
self followed by an udmirilg thrOng of
| unobtrusivc.I Obtrusiyc natives, wor-
Shipping In silence.
Neither sex is ovcrburtlcne,l with
clothes. The common dress for both
men and women is the already men
toned lava lava. a kind OF kilt or piece
| OF drapery wound about the waist in Il
manner whose adjustment seems to
| foreigners nothing short Of mira cuOuS
| The adults, however, seem to have no
! difficulty IN keeping the lava lava III
place, but the children are less expert
and careful Of theirs and often lose the
Scnnt scrap Of cotton stuff that serves
aS an out of door costume. Children
| OF all ages indoors, and babies in arms
| everywhere. wear no clothing at all
| his KIND of garment or lr:lprry. per-
| hapS. would lm Il better word for it's
| i'll slightly varied form. common to
! most south sea Islanders rs we'll :lS in
hnbitantS "f The Indian archipelago
AMI the southern countries Of Asia. 1t
is called by the MMlayS Il Sarong. and
III IL
| uf Polynesia. The Malnys ana Killings
of Singapore, teylon and the Malay
sian peninsula wear it loose or straight.
while The Burmese and Siamcse tnck
1t ur. something after the manner Of
the well known infantile accessory
The iinery and grimcrack adorn-
ments OF civilization are now gaining
n foothOld in Samoa, as elsewhere in
the track of commerce, particularly
with the feminine heart, and it Is not
unusual to see Samoan lady gor-
geOusly arrayed in q fine mat lava lava
combined with Il ball gown waist or
velvet basque cut v necked or with her
hair done up empire style and wearing.
to complete her toilet, string Of ferns
about her waist and q necklace of
sharks teeth around her dusky throat.
But there Is one shackle Of civilization
they positively refuse to accept-shoes
and stockings. Perhaps, however, this
Is because they can find no covering
large enough for the aboriginal ''tril-
bies." Nevertheless, in one Of the
fights in which our native allies partic-
iDated ] observed one warrior proudly
wearing pair OF 1G button black silk
stockings extending above the knees,
with his huge black feet protruding be-
yOnd the soles, which were worn
through. He had doubtless looted
them from some European house,
whose owner fed when hostilities be-
can.-Snn Francisco Chronicle.