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Overview
This is a puletasi, the most popular of women’s formal garments in Sāmoa. It is a two piece outfit consisting of a long skirt and a short or long sleeved blouse. The tidy and formal appearance of the puletasi means it is worn on important occasions, but it is also a popular choice of uniform with choirs and school dance groups. It is often decorated with printed bands of siapo (tapa) motifs and floral patterns.
Award winner
This puletasi was made 1993 by Samoan designer Paula Chan-Cheuk, who had a long career involved with the Miss Samoa New Zealand beauty competitions and fashion shows. It was made for 1993/94 Miss Samoa New Zealand competition and in 1995 was the Pacific winner for the puletasi section.
Construction
The puletasi is made from a white fabric decorated with elei borders around the chest and bottom of skirt. These have been made by rubbing the fabric on a wooden `upeti (pattern board) and coloured with dark brown, black and yellow fabric paints. The motifs include frangipani and other floral and triangular patterns. The `upeti and motifs were designed and made by Ailsa Robertson, the author of several books on Polynesian tapa design. The coconut shell shoulder straps run from the top of the chest, around the neck to either side of the back - 10 shells for each shoulder strap and one adjoining central one - and connected to each other with fabric decorated with the same `upeti designs. The skirt is 'puletasi' styled but zipped instead of wrapped in the customary manner. It is decorated with a wide band of `upeti motifs.
Designer
Paula Chan-Cheuk is of Samoan and Chinese descent and was born in Salea’aumua, Sāmoa. Both of her parents were dressmakers. She came to New Zealand in 1974 and completed a course through the New Zealand College of Fashion Design (1979). Soon after, she began working for Shoshamma - an exclusive fashion house with shops in Wellington, Auckland and Christchurch where she was sewing and patternmaking for ten years. Throughout the 1990s, her garments were category winners in Pacific fashion shows in New Zealand. Over her long career she has earned a reputation for elegant and highly detailed garments.