Dress

human history

One-piece dress. Green, blue, brown, white longitudinal stripes. Red, green, maroon and purple segments break up the brown longitudinal stripes. Two lengths of tightly worked cloth sewn together from armpit to hem with holes left for arms. Shoulders sew together with loop left open for head. Hemmed at lower edge with white wool.

Nama tāpiringa: 832478 Whakahounga o Mua: 20 Oct 2017

Ingoa Kē

Butterfly Apron (given name)

Wāhi

Eastern Highlands Province/New Guinea (PRE 1975)

Accession Number

2017.34.2

Rā Tāpiringa

12 Apr 2017

Wāhanga

Pacific

Kuputuhi e Wātea Tūmatanui ana

This dress is made of a Western Highlands man’s dance apron. Customarily these aprons are reserved only for men, and worn by them only at ceremonial occasions or during singsing.

“Most of my countrymen and women, they think I was insane or something. They were like ‘what’s happened to Florence? What is she trying to do? Get in something that (we) carry food and babies?’ It is kastom (custom), it’s hard, you can’t do it (change custom). But I just did it. Everybody was thinking that I had gone insane but I wanted to prove them wrong and I had a dream that one day I will see my outfit go on the runway or the catwalk in a western country like maybe New York or England so that people will know that I am not insane.” (quote from interview with Florence Jaukae)

Dress

Dress

Mātātuhi me ngā tuhinga

Taonga

Shared Data

Dress

Dress

Mātātuhi me ngā tuhinga

Taonga

Shared Data

Ngā tūemi whai hononga