Sea Shell Pink opens boutique

Sea Shell Pink head seamstress Mafe Ngalongalo poses with one of her ready-to-wear Hawaiian dresses.(MARK RABAGO)

Sea Shell Pink has opened a boutique shop on the first floor of the former Bank of Saipan building in Garapan.

Head seamstress Mafe Ngalongalo said the new location is in the same building where the Sea Shell Pink tailoring shop is located.

Sea Shell Pink owner Hiroko Miyagawa decided to open a boutique store on Saipan last January following the closure of Sea Shell Pink in Guam’s Agaña Shopping Center.

Ngalongalo said they were forced to shutter down the Guam boutique, which catered mostly to tourists in  the U.S. territory as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The new boutique shares the same entrance as sister company and Japanese delicatessen Tokyo Mart Ex, which is also owned by Miyagawa.

Currently, Sea Shell Pink is offering a 30% discount on all its ready-to-wear aloha shirts and Hawaiian dresses in all prints and all sizes.

Ngalongalo said aside from the Hawaiian shirts and dresses prominently displayed inside the showroom, they still accept made-to-order and customized tailoring jobs. Labor is $25 for aloha shirts and $40 for Hawaiian dresses. Customers can either buy the fabric in-house (100% cotton, rayon, among others) or source it elsewhere. Made-to-order shirts and dresses can be made in as short as two days. 

Sea Shell Pink head seamstress Mafe Ngalongalo has over 40 years of tailoring experience. She’s shown here posing with some of her tropical-themed bags.(MARK RABAGO)

Aloha shirts and Hawaiian dresses are not the only items available at Sea Shell Pink, as Hawaiian bags and pretty soon bayong bags from the Philippines will be sold. A bayong is a bag made by weaving dried leaves. 

Named after the best two words that represent the tropical paradise of Saipan (sea and shell) and Miyagawa’s favorite color (pink), the tailoring shop was first opened on Saipan in 1982.

Before the Agaña Shopping Center location’s abrupt closure, Sea Shell Pink exported their one-of-a-kind island dresses and shirts to Guam. 

Sea Shell Pink’s new boutique is located on the first floor of the former Bank of Saipan building in Garapan.(MARK RABAGO)

At its height, Sea Shell Pink exported twice a month around 30 aloha adult shirts, 30 aloha shirts for children, and the same number of Hawaiian dresses, and lavalavas, bags, and accessories to the neighboring island.

Sea Shell Pink also used to make the uniforms for staff of Japan Airlines and before the pandemic was the official dressmaker of Pacific Development, Inc. and Grandvrio Hotel Saipan. They also made wedding gowns and suits for locally based wedding planners.

Before opening a full-scale boutique, Sea Shell Pink tailoring shop’s first location was at Kinpachi Restaurant then it moved to the La Fiesta Mall and Vestcor Village Apartments before relocating to its current home in Garapan. 

Sea Shell Pink’s new boutique is open from Monday to Friday, 10am-5pm. For more information, call 233-8191.