Josephine keeping up with stylish trend

By LULU MARK
LOCALLY sewn meri-kolos (blouses) never seem to get out of style as it is loved by almost every Papua New Guinean woman.
One cannot resist getting the latest version of meri-kolos for her wardrobe, hence, the demand for it is always there creating an opportunity for other women to make ends meet.
In every market, there are women selling meri-kolos and at Gordon Market in Port Moresby, they can be found beside the market building from the back gate.
Josephine Mendaki is one of those vendors and it is her warm smile, greetings, the colour and design of the meri-kolos that draw one to her tent located at Gordon Market clothing section. Her meri-kolos sell for K20.
“Everybody is doing the same thing and the competition is really high so I am selling my blouses for just K20 in order to make fast sales,” Mendaki said.
“Setting a higher price will keep them here longer.
“This is the beginning of the school year and parents are busy with sending their children to school, therefore, we are not getting a lot of customers.”
She said they did their best sales in the middle of the year and around Christmas time.
“When sales are good I can make K200 or K300 in a day,” Mendaki said.
She said some women buy 15 to 20 blouse in a day to resell, such was one of her customers from Bougainville.
“The blouses that I make can be worn by any size of woman,” she said. “Nowadays, women prefer the long blouse with cuts on the sides that they can wear with leggings and short pants – and I make them.”
She said this was her fifth year of selling blouses after one of her in-laws taught her how to sew.
Apart from blouses, she can sew trousers, skirts and dresses.
Mendaki said she could make up to 20 blouses a day.
Mendaki, from Western Highlands, lives at 8-Mile.
Since her husband is unemployed, the blouses she makes sustains her family in the city.
She has an eight-year-old daughter, six-year-old son and is expecting a baby.
She said the market was like her garden and she has been at the market since the opening of the new market last year.