Traditional Women Costumes of the Southeast Asian Countries

Hey Chics!

I'm not good at geography but I love the culture around the world, especially if talking about fashion. And today I want to post about traditional costume dresses of Southeast Asian countries, where I live. Maybe next time I would post about other countries' traditional dresses.

According to wikipedia.com, there are 11 countries in Southeast Asia. Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste, and Vietnam. I find a lot of them have beautiful traditional dresses in their way. Fashion changes faster, we don't even wear the same, style after 20 years. In this article, I won't talk about their costumes throughout history. Instead, I will talk about their traditional current fashion style that I've found from any sources, especially from collections of Southeast Asian countries designers currently.

So, let's get into the lists below.

BRUNEI

Modern-day Bruneians wear a style of traditional Malayan dress "the baju kurung" or a long tunic over a long pencil skirt. And that has been in existence since the 15th century. Recently, Bruneian women still wear the baju kurung both at work and on formal occasions. Influenced by Islamic codes of dress, the costumes will typically be paired with a headscarf (tudung).

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CAMBODIA

The sampot is the national garment of Cambodia. Developed and preserved by Khmer women in Cambodia. This costume has a long history, Cambodian King ordered his people to wear sampot at the request of Chinese envoys. Silk is the main material to weave the sampot. This cloth has a large rectangular piece of cloth, which usually has a length of five to six feet. This cloth can be draped and folded in different ways and variations depending on the occasion as well as social class. Together with sampot, Cambodians wear Chang Pong at the upper half of the body which crosses their shoulders and covers the breast of the woman but reveals a bit of belly to symbolize the charming beauty of Khmer women.

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INDONESIA

Indonesia has so many different cultures itself with different traditional costumes. However, I will talk about kebaya, because it's the most widely recognized Indonesian national costume for Indonesian besides batik. The kebaya is the national costume for Indonesian women that is more accurately endemic to the Javanese, Sundanese, and Balinese. Kebaya is mostly made from sheer lace material, silk, and cotton with floral embroidery ornament. Kebaya is usually worn with a sarong batik or pencil skirt with colorful patterns. Nowadays Indonesia has so many designers that create kebaya in their collections. My favorite designers are Anne Avantie, Ivan Gunawan, and Asky Febrianti.

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LAOS

The "sinh" is a Laotian national costume for women and it's composed of different parts. Wearing a "sinh" has become a unique symbol that separates Laotian women from others. The sinh is a traditional tube skirt made of silk. The sinh meaning in English is clothes. Laotian female is said to first put on the sinh about 3.000 years ago. If you're having a vacation in Laos, you'll be amazed by their weaving skill. Laotian knows how to weave from a very early age. A good wife is considered to be one who can weave well.

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MALAYSIA

For women in Malaysia, Kemba was the ancient traditional dress for Malay women. Which included sarongs tied above the chest. Currently, Malay women wear baju kurung as their traditional outfits similar to Brunei. It's understandable because they are neighboring countries. Baju kurung comprises a knee-length, full-sleeved blouse and a long skirt called kain. The skirt is pleated on one side. This outfit is usually paired with tudung or a scarf.

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MYANMAR

The traditional costume of Myanmar is the Longyi both for Burmese women and men. Burmese women's traditional clothes are Thummy. Thummy has a similar style to Laos and Thailand's traditional dress. But nowadays Myanmar designers have created beautiful traditional dresses for example the designer Minnn Thet Sean signature in gold embroidery Myanmar dress.

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PHILIPPINES

The traditional costume of women in the Philippines is the Baro't saya. It's an elegant hybrid of Filipino and influenced by Spanish clothing styles. The term itself comes from the Tagalog words "baro at saya" or "blouse and skirt". The silhouette of the garment relates to traditional Spanish costume., particularly the cut of the sleeves, the shawl collar, and the trailing skirt. The baron's saya was everyday dress during the period of Spanish colonization. Nowadays Philipines designers have created beautiful national costumes in their collection.

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SINGAPORE

Singapore is a small island with different ethnic and cultures. These are Chinese, Malay, Indians, and a small number of Eurasians. Singapore is home to a diverse range of ethnic wear which helps in defining the city's culture. Same with its neighborhood countries Brunei and Malaysia, Singapore with Malay ethnic women wearing Baju Kurung as their traditional costume. And then there is Cheongsam which is an elegant traditional Singapore costume for Chinese ethnic women. Next is Saris, saris worn by Indian ethnic women. In the picture is Miss Singapore from 2011 in Miss Universe National Costume.

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THAILAND

Thailand's traditional dress is called chut thai or Thai dress. Chu thai for women usually consists of pha chung hang or pha nung, a blouse, and a pha biang. Thai clothing was influenced by India and Khmer Cambodia. Sabai also worn by women, a 'sabai' is an elegant shawl-like garment covering just one shoulder that wraps around the upper body and trails to the ground. The traditional Thai dress was created in 1961 by Queen Sirikit. She designed Chut Thai as the traditional Thai dress. This charming traditional dress is bright, delicate, and modest. There are a few types of Chut Thai dresses. In the picture is Siwalai dress type. It's one piece gown made from two garments of clothing sewn together: a long tube skirt with two front pleats and a blouse with buttons on the front and elbow-length sleeves sewn together. The formal look paired with a sabai draped over the shoulder.

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TIMOR LESTE

Ceremonial cloth is known as tais. Tais is the handwoven traditional textile in Timor-Leste. They are made in two styles which are called mane and feto. Mane tais is a piece of Timor Leste clothing which is worn following the style of sarong around the waist of a person. Feto is another piece of Timor Leste clothing that is sewn into a long tube and the woman steps inside it and wears it like a dress. In the picture is the Timor Leste woman wearing Feto with a traditional headpiece called Kaibauk.

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VIETNAM

The traditional dress in Vietnam is the ao dai, a silk tunic with pants worn by women and men. Ao dai is one of the country's most striking symbols of beauty. Also, it is a symbol of national pride. During the festival, many women will be wearing ao dai dresses to show their respect and longing for Vietnam. Today, Vietnamese people will usually wear ao dai for culturally significant events/celebrations and weddings, and other special occasions. School teachers wear ao dai on certain days, and it's also the school uniform of many Vietnamese students. In the picture is ao dai worn by Vietnam's Miss Universe contestant in 2015.