Young Blonde Girl With Pareo On The Hill Above The River

A pāreu can be worn in many ways. Women will usually wrap it around their upper body, covering it from breasts to above the knees. Either they rely on their breasts for it not to slide down, or they may wrap a corner around their shoulder or their neck. In more traditional surroundings the covering of the upper body is less important, but the covering of the thighs is. Then it is worn as a longer skirt. Men wear it as a short skirt, or may even make shorts out of it, especially when fishing or working in the bush where freedom of movement of the legs is needed. But during quiet, cooler nights at home, they may wear it as a long skirt too.
The ends of the pāreu are normally just tucked in, kept in place by friction only. No pins or other means are used. Only when as dress worn around the neck or shoulders, ends are knotted together. When it comes loose a few times per day, the wearer will just pull it tight again or rewrap him/herself. Nevertheless, when a lot of movement occurs, at heavy work or dancing for example, wearing a belt over it around the waist is common too. The ease of undoing it is not a burden, but rather a blessing. A woman (or man) may start her daily work on a colder morning wearing her pāreu as a long skirt and with a shirt. When it comes loose, the day may have warmed up enough for her to redo it as a shorter skirt. Again, some time later, she may discard her warm shirt and rewrap her pāreu as a dress.