How to tie a pareo - Tehani

Our model Kamalei, is wearing a Mahana Pareo demonstrating one of our most requested pareo tying style - Tehani.

One of our more ambitious pareo tying styles, the Tehani is our nod to the popular and visually distinct bias cut. It's a wrap that can be adjusted to show a little or a lot. Start by wrapping the pareo vertically around your body. Hold the top two ends and tie above shoulder. Now comes the twist. Start pulling gently around your body from the hip. Adjust for coverage and tie at hip. Note, this will not be at a corner of the pareo, rather an approximation of where it fits best to your body.

If you have a longer pareo than the usual 72", this might work well to give you a longer dressier look. Using a gauzy or rayon pareo will probably work best on this style but as always, these pareo tying styles are creative creations and will fit differently on every body type.

The pareo skirt - tying your pareo

We've been looking for a pareo look that can leave the beach behind and we found it in the A'ahu pareo tying style demonstrated for us by Poehere. By taking a full size pareo and wrapping it around the waist lengthwise and tying it on your preferred hip, we have one of the most simple, yet elegant looking tying style. Next, by adding a mini pareo of complementing color, our model folded the mini pareo lengthwise twice and tied over the full size pareo right above the full size tie to create another layer to the skirt. By wrapping it at a slight angle, you can create even more interest. The style allows for comfort and flexibility as it stays open, but not necessarily revealing, on the side you made the tie.

You can create some interest as well by tying the full size pareo on the width instead of lengthwise. This will allow for a "slit" that will go up to the hip tie and a "train" that you can let trail or you can pick up for "on the go". Either way, you have a more dressy look to your average pareo. Add a solid color neutral or complementing top, a nice understated black pearl necklace, some Maitai black pearl shell round earrings or a tiare hairpick behind your ear and you have a perfect tropical evening... a casual island elegance.

Here's a few suggested color variations that work well. Our Mahana Pareo Set is perfect for this as it is light and breathes well. After all, it's a 100% cotton. And it has the flexibility to mix different colors. Not to mention that it is on sale!

Full size pareo – Mini pareo
Tahiti purple – Lehua red
Palm green – Yellow ginger
Rehu ash gray – Lehua red
Rehu ash gray – Light blue ocean
Yellow ginger – Coral orange
Citrus lime - Rainforest green
Twilight blue – Tahiti purple
Hibiscus pink – Rehu ash gray

Visit Black Pearl Designs for more color options.

New Pareo Tying Style - Tahaa

With Summer fast approaching comes a wave of new pareo ties. And we promise to bring a few new ones for our readers, pareo enthusiasts, dancers and collectors in the coming months.

If you've noticed, we've recently introduced our Mahana Pareo at our Black Pearl Designs website. It's a traditional style that has been around for decades. Funny thing though, no one got around to creating a name for it. So it was from many hours of making the pareos and countless hours discussing its attractive attributes that we most appropriately called this style - Mahana - meaning... sun.

Mahana pareos are created by using photo sensitive dyes, tropic motifs, island salts and light from the sun. They are handmade works of art. Each unique. Each of the colors are hand dyed. Along with sea salt and themed silhouette, the pareos are dried in the sun to lock in the colors.

Here is a first look at the first pareo tying style we are featuring using the Mahana Pareo - Tahaa. Tahaa is known as the "vanilla island." Over 75% of all the vanilla that is produced in Tahiti is from Tahaa. The aroma is intoxicating and its scent permeates everywhere you go on the tiny island. Its sister island Raiatea might be more well known, but its every bit as beautiful. So as we expand our style guide, we share this island inspired tying style.

Start off by wrapping the pareo lenthwise around your body, holding the two ends in front of you. From there, move your hands about a foot or so along the top of the pareo close to your chest. Allow the ends to fall and twist once to create an easy tie. Next, reach down to the open ends and bring them together in front.

From there, you fold twice to create a pleat. Bring the pleat flat to your chest and tuck into the top of the pareo above the knot.

There you go. Simple, fun and easy to create.

While you are enjoying your pareo tying accomplishment, we're delighted to announce that we will be introducing two new pareos this summer. Introducing our our first rayon pareo - the Tiare Pareo. Look for it coming shortly. Our second pareo will be coming later this summer. We're still working out the colors and material, but it will be available soon as well. We're excited for both and excited to let our readers know first of these developments.