Sash dress of Noa Noa
Brightly colored ethnic print, Indonesian artifacts, Indian music in the backgroun, beautiful and masterfully rendered batik, my first impression of NoaNoa isthat this is an Indonesia-themed boutique.
Its dressing room is busily decorated with Fijian and Samoan tapa, Island painting, Indonesian wood carved frame. The room is constructed with raw wood, which shows its grain. The entrace is not doored but screened by a length of ethnic print fabric.
Pacific print
The first and foremost feature of its Indonesianess is its geometric patterns usually in two colors of similar hues and different intensity. After talking with the sales person, who did not disclose her name to me, I realized that it is more than Indonesian print only, though many iteams are designed and made in Indonesia. There are a whole collection of Asian and Pacific prints, including Hawaiian, Fijian, Tongan, Thai, Samoan, and even Iranian.
Its star print is Java batik. Batik is a type of resist dye by applying wax to the fabric to prevent the dye from sinking into the fabric. I tried the dying method once in an embellishment class and understand the difficulty in creating a pattern accurately. So their exquisite hand-crafted batiks are thrilling to me, because that level of accuracy means years of practice and perfection.
Tropical styles
NoaNoa have racks of men's shirts very similar to Aloha shirt. Actually, men's shirt is their best sellers. Another Hawaiian wear is hula skirt with that puff around the hip.
One amazing style is "sash" skirt, with a long piece of fabric attached to the bottom, either skirt or pants, and can be worn in multiple ways by wraping around the torso in different ways and exposing varied amount of skin. I think that is smart, because the wearer then has the options and dress according to need and mood. In this sense, sash skirt is not "ready-to-wear", now so universal in all clothing stores, because the style leaves creative freedom for the consumer and let her to finish a look based on what's provided.
Natural fabrics
Most products are natural fibers: cotton, linen and silk, which are very appropriate for Pacific islands creations. Synthetic fabrics are western inventions from Europe. And in the Pacific, people use what nature provides.
What customers said
In my brief visit to the store, a man in his 50s purchased a shirt. He said the prints are good alternatives to Hawaiian prints. Well, boredoom is a driving force behind trend change. After all, who want to wear what everyone else is wearing and lose oneself in the crowd? Another feature the customer liked is its cotton fabric, thinner and breezier, good for hot summer days.
One of my girl friends also mentioned NoaNoa as one of her shopping destinations, because here there are a large collection of plus size clothing. They are easy fit and colorful. Petite Japanese tourists also like the store. So the store must have a large spectrum in size.
Other than clothing
On the check-out counter, there are jewelries and music albums. There is a small shelf of Putumayo music, which contains a world-wide music, such as Indian, Native American, Brazilian, and African.
Its ethnic jewelry from Bali is made in silve and turquoise, priced at $59.
Price range: $290 to $65. For example, its linen shirts are $99.
The store is unique, similar and different at the same time. I would not describe the store as exotic, because Hawaii is part of the Pacific and there is a common cultural tie of the islands. But Indonesian and the rest Pacific inspired prints and styles are different from Hawaian wear. It opens the possibilities of other ways of dressing and living under the tropical sun.The website on its business card seems to be another clothing company from New Zealand with the same name. So if you are interested in the store, check it out on your next shopping trip to Ward Center.
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