MALAYSIAN TRADITIONAL COSTUMES

Malaysia comprises three major cultures: Malay, Chinese and Indian, each culture has its own traditional and religious articles of clothing all of which are gender specific and may be adapted to local influences and conditions.

The richness and diversity of Malaysian traditional costumes can be seen throughout the length and breadth of Malaysia. There is a great variety of beautiful costumes which differ in style and design from state to state.

MALAY

The man is dressed in a Baju Melayu Cekak Musang matched with hand woven songket sarong with floral design and a headgear know as songkok.

Malay women wear the baju kurung, a knee-length blouse worn over a long skirt. Usually a scarf of shawl is worn with this.

CHINESE

The Chinese women wear the cheongsam, which is especially popular around the time of the Chinese New Year and other formal gathering.

The man is wearing a Chinese satin samfoo intricately woven with Chinese motif matched with trousers.

Older well-respected women wear a samfoo, which looks like pyjamas with a separate loose fitting top fastened by toggles and ankle length, or above the ankle, pants.

Old chinese immigrants who married Malays and adopted some of their culture are known as the Baba Nyonya. They wear "kebaya", which are hard-made lace-word clothing, often with intricate embroidery.

INDIAN

Indians in Malaysia as with elsewhere in the world wear sarees, a cloth of 5-6 yards which is usually worn with a petticoat of a similar shade. It is wrapped around the body so that the embroidered end hangs over the shoulder, while the petticoat is worn above the bellybutton to support the saree, which can be made from a wide variety of materials.

The Punjabi Salwar kameez is popular with women from northern India, and is a long tunic worn over trousers with a matching shawl.

In formal occasions indian men wear the "kurta", a knee-length shirt usually made from cotton or linen.

OTHERS

Those descended from the Portuguese often wear Portuguese-style outfits. Men often wear jackets and trousers with waist sashes, while women wear broad front-layered skirts. The dominant colours are black and red.

The male Iban is dressed in Baju Burung or vest and sirat woven loin-cloth which is a warrior's outfit. They also wear accessories such as a belt, armlet and anklet made from silver and a headgear decorated with hornbill feathers.

The Iban maiden wears the ceremonial dress consisting of the bidang cloth, marek empang which is a chest adornment, the sugu tinggi headdress and other silver ornaments such as the coin belt and bangles.

The male Kadazan is wearing a ceremonial costume usually worn during the Sumazau dance. It comprises of a jacket and trousers with gold trimmings and a woven destar cloth headgear known as siga. The female is wearing a ceremonial Kadazan Papar costume made of embroidered colour and gold thread. It is worn with a headgear made of bamboo strips known as siung and silver coin belt. These clothes are usually made from black velvet or silk.