Designing for the Tongan-American Woman

One of my classes called for combining two cultures in order to help one culture adjust to life in the new culture. I focused on the island culture of Tonga.

This picture represents some of what I found once I did some research, and it represents my inspirartions. Before we started any research, we had to write what we knew of the culture, which was not much, and come up with what we though the typical dress would be.

I thought this culture might be like another similarly located island that I have had experience with. This would mean that their standard of modesty would not fly by American Standards. Members of the comminuty would rarely wear tops, and grass skirts would be commonplace, with lots of colors and flowers.

I certainly found that I was right about the colors and use of grass skirts, particularly in dances, but I was far from right about the modesty levels. Tops are always worn, and women's shoulders and ankles would only be exposed for dancing.

A piece I particularly liked was an accessory called a kiekie, a decorative belt with fringe hanging off of it. This would be added to a typical dress with the purpose of dressing up.

This inspired me to create a dress that a Tongan-American woman would wear for a night out or date night.

This was the final design I ended up with. The belt has been made into a simple design on the dress with varying lengths of pattern stemming from it. I gave the skirt an ombred effect to match trends in America, and kept the modesty values from Tonga with a floor length skirt and three quarter length sleeve. The colors represent the common colors of the island with a greenish-teal (green being common in Tonga, teal being popular here), and the bright red, a valued color in Tongan culture.

Through this project, I improved my researching skills and experimented with design and creating something to bind two cultures. I enjoyed taking the project from the beginning where I knew very little, to end where I felt like an expert on Tongan culture.