The Maori made their clothes out of flax. When they came to New Zealand they brought with them the knowledge of making cloth from the bark of the paper mulberry tree. The climate of their new home, however, was too cold for the mulberry tree to grow well, so they turned to dressed flax as a substitute. This they wove into garments on a sort of improvised loom.
Both the Maori man and woman wore much the same sort of clothes. Fashion therefore was of no account with them. Round his waist the Maori wore a kilt secured by a belt. Over his shoulders he threw a rectangular-shaped cape. Women and girls sometimes added a kind of apron round their waist. A chaplet or headband kept in place feathers for dress occasions. Sandals covered the feet only as a protection against the cold or when walking over rough stony places. Children, more favoured, did without any clothing until they were about ten years old.
Men wore their hair long. It was tied into a knot on the top of the head and adorned with feathers or with a comb of bone or wood. Women cut their hair short. Both sexes wore neck or ear pendants of greenstone, human or shark's teeth, and bunches of feathers. Flat noses were considered handsome. A fond mother often pressed her baby's nose flat, thus doing what she could to improve its appearance.