Aloha Holoku Dress 18" Doll Clothes Pattern

A Holoku dress is a traditional Hawaiian dress worn during formal occasions. It originated in the 1820s as an every-day dress when Christian missionaries arrived in Hawaii and was adapted from traditional European garments for Hawaiian upper class women. The Holoku gown incorporated small changes over time that reflected elements of current fashion, eventually adding a train to the standardized style in the 1870s. Later it became a garment used for formal Hawaiian cultural events, worn traditionally by Hawaiian-born women. The Aloha Holoku Dress, by Forever 18 Inches, fits into a fashion time frame from the late 1930s to the early 1950s. I spent many pleasant hours researching vintage Holoku dresses, and my favorite dress from the World War II era became the inspiration for this pattern. The pattern features a sweetheart neckline, puffed sleeves or shoulder ruffles, optional princess seams, and a lushly ruffled train. During the 1970s a revival of 1940s elements cycled back into fashio