You are beautiful the way you are, and you are good enough.

Still, if you feel uncomfortable showing a lot of skin at the beach, Hawaiian people have a wonderful wrapping piece of clothing called a pareo, sarong, lava lava, or malo. These are wardrobe staples for Polynesian men and women. The good news is that pareos (or sarongs, people use both names) cover as much of the body as you like. People of all ages wear them. 

I love pareos. I wear them as swimsuit covers, shawls, and full-body wraps. I cover car seats and tables, sit on them at parks and the beach, and  twist them into impromptu carrying bags. Pareos are inexpensive, large squares of rayon or cotton fabric that typically cost under $30.

Styles

Women tend to wear brighter colors with flower prints, while men tend to wear subdued earthy colors with botanical or fish hook prints. But there are no hard and fast rules because this garment is so flexible. Buy one before you leave for your next island vacation so you have time to wash it and practice wrapping. 

Women – A good starter pareo for women and girls is a bamboo and flower design in blue or turquoise. 

Men – A good starter pareo for men and boys is a batik sunset and fish hook design in brown and black. 

If you want extra material, plus sizes are available. These are called extra long pareos or tapis on Guam. A good starter tapis is the lotus print in turquoise or purple. 

This video shows nine ways to wrap a pareo. Enjoy!