The Almighty Sarong
Friday, February 10, 2006
I don’t mean that skimpy thing that fashionable women wear at the beach.
By sarong, i mean a sheet of printed cloth, usually printed in batik for women and plaid for men, that is sewn up one side to create a tube, which is then worn in place of pants in parts of Southeast Asia such as Singapore or Malaysia. Call it the kilt of the orient. The unisex one-stop-shop for Singaporian clothing. Today i discovered that they are AMAZING.
My dad, as many of you know, has been recovering from Coumadin necrosis and surgery. Since the wound is near his waist, he can’t easily wear any kind of restictive clothing, including pants. So out came the sarongs! They’re the only thing he wears anymore! It’s great because is serves so many purposes!
1. Changing tent - you can use these cloth tubes as your own private changing room. With this, it’s easy to change into other clothes at the drop of a hat!
2. Private shower curtain - when sponge-bathing oneself (as one must when recuperating from surgery), simply pull the sarong over your head to create a private space for making sure you’ve cleaned all your nooks and crannies!
3. Conversation piece - “Nice skirt!” “It’s not a skirt, it’s my cultural garb.” “Oh, i just thought you were a cross-dresser.” “...” 
4. Comfort supreme - Experience ultimate freedom! If you think skirts are freeing, imagine wearing a sarong, which has no elastic or fitted areas and is often worn without underwear!
For a testimonial and more inventive uses, please contact my dad. He continues to pioneer new and ingenious uses for the sarong daily.
awesome possum! ive always wanted to wear one, at leas the polynesian type, the formal kind for church. when i used to live in hawaii, i always wanted to wear one to church, but chose against it, for i felt i did not have the right to wear one. (most of the sarong clad people at church were the samoan folk). one day i saw a fellow church goer wearing a sarong, and i mentioned to him how i admired it. he told me to just go out and buy one. i replied to him saying that i did not want to disrespect the samoan cousins at church for i did not have any polynesian blood in me. he said, “i dont think theyd mind too much, ive been wearing mine for quite some time now, and im puerto rican.” hehe, the end
hallo miss kathy, this is willis btw, ttyl (:
Posted by gorilla on 02/14 at 02:45 AMIt would be funny though to just mix up cultural wear. White women in Nigerian headresses, black women in laced up Swedish bodices and skirts. Okay it would be hideous, but briefly amusing.
Kat, I’m so glad your dad’s doing better! I think you should actually sketch the different uses of the sarong with him and Toby as models. Might need a loofah and shower cap as props. I’ll be home in a week; let me know if you need directorial asssistance.
P.S. Jill bought me a beautiful dark blue silk sarong with gold thread trim from the Philippines. Gorgeous. I wore it out to a [crappy completely awful one-man] opera in Monterey. It was a cold night, so I wore my sarong, a blouse, and a long wool coat. Halfway across the parking lot, I realized that my legs had suddenly become very cold. I turned around and saw my skirt lying a few feet behind - it had completely fallen off me and I hadn’t even immediately noticed. And we were with two cute guys that I barely knew. Perhaps you could include a tutorial in your “Uses of the Sarong” collection?
Posted by on 02/14 at 09:38 AM