Cultured Slackers

The Malay Traditional Costumes:

Baju Kurung

The baju kurung is a traditional Malay costume which loosely translated as "enclosed dress". A baju kurung is a loose-fitting full length dress, consisting of a skirt and a blouse. The skirt is made from a long cloth with foldings on one side; the blouse is collarless, has long sleeves, and extends to between the hips and knees. The modern baju kurung commonly uses lively colours and geometric patterns. A woman will often wear a baju kurung with a headscarf (a tudung) in the more conservative states in northern Malaysia.

Kebaya

It consists of the blouse (kebaya) of cotton, silk, lace, brocade or velvet, with the central opening of the blouse fastened by a central brooch (kerongsang) where the flaps of the blouse meet. Traditional kebaya had no buttons down the front. A typical three-piece kerongsang is composed of a kerongsang ibu (mother piece) that is larger and heavier than the other two kerongsang anak (child piece). Kerongsang brooch often made from gold jewelry and considered as the sign of social status of aristocracy, wealth and nobility, however for commoners and peasant women, simple and plain kebaya often only fastened with modest safety pin (peniti).

The blouse is commonly semi-transparent and worn over the torso wrap or kemben. The skirt or kain is an unstitched fabric wrap around three metres long. The term sarong in English is erroneous, the sarung (Malaysian accent: sarong) is actually stitched together to form a tube, kainis unstitched, requires a helper to dress (literally wrap) the wearer and is held in place with a string (tali), then folded this string at the waist, then held with a belt (sabuk or ikat pinggang), which may hold a decorative pocket.

Baju Melayu

The cekak musang shirt also normally has three pockets – two at the bottom, and one at the upper left breast. The teluk belanga shirt normally has only two pockets both at the bottom. The baju melayu is a loosely fitting shirt with long sleeves, worn with long pants with a sampin which is wrapped around the middle of the body from the stomach to the knee and sometimes lower. This sampin is usually a three-quarter length or full sarong-style cloth made of kain songket, tenun pahang diraja or other woven materials with traditional patterns.

The Chinese Traditional Costumes:

Cheongsam

The cheongsam is a body-hugging one-piece Chinese dress for women, also known in Mandarin Chinese as qipao, and Mandarin gown in English. The stylish and often tight-fitting cheongsam or qipao (chipao) that is best known today. The modernized version is noted for accentuating the figures of women, and as such was popular as a dress for high society. As Western fashions changed, the basic cheongsam design changed too, introducing high-necked sleeveless dresses, bell-like sleeves, and the black lace frothing at the hem of a ball gown.

Changshan

In traditional Chinese dress, a changshan is the male equivalent of the women's cheongsam (qipao). It is also known as a changpao or dagua. The Mandarin Chinese word changshan is cognate with the Cantonese term chèuhngsàam, which has been borrowed into English as "cheongsam". Changshan are traditionally worn in pictures, weddings, and other more formal historically Chinese events. A black changshan, along with a rounded black hat, was, and sometimes still is, the burial attire for Chinese men. Changshan are not often worn today in mainland China, except during traditional Chinese celebrations but, with the revival of some traditional clothing in urban mainland China, the Shanghainese style functions as a stylish party dress.

The Indian Traditional Costumes:

Sari

A sari, saree, sadi or shari is a South Asian female garment that consists of a drape varying from five to nine yards (4.57 meters to 8.23 metres) in length and two to four feet (60 cm to 1.20 m) in breadth that is typically wrapped around the waist, with one end draped over the shoulder, baring the midriff. The sari is associated with grace and is widely regarded as a symbol of Indian, Nepalese, Bangladesh, and Sri Lankan cultures. There are more than 80 recorded ways to wear a sari. The most common style is for the sari to be wrapped around the waist, with the loose end of the drape to be worn over the shoulder, baring the midriff. However, the sari can be draped in several different styles, though some styles do require a sari of a particular length or form.

Lehnga

Lehenga or lehnga in Tamil or Langa in Telugu and Kannada is a form of skirt which is long, embroidered and pleated. It is worn as the bottom portion of a Garga choli or Langa Voni It is secured at the waist and leaves the lower back and midriffbare. In North India and Pakistan a lot of embroidery work is done on a lehenga and is popular during the festivals and weddings.

A choli is a midriff-baring blouse or upper garment in the Indian sari costume worn in India, southern Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladeh, and other countries where the sari is worn. It is also part of the ghargra choli costume of India. The choli is cut to fit tightly to the body and has short sleeves and a low neck. The choli is usually cropped, allowing exposure of the midriff and the navel.

Kurta

The straight cut kurta is a loose shirt falling either just above or somewhere below the knees of the wearer, and is traditionally worn by men. They were traditionally worn with loose-fitting paijama (kurta-paijama), loose-fitting shalwars, semi-tight (loose from the waist to the knees, and tight from the calves to the ankles) churidas, or wrapped-around dhotis but are now also worn with jeans. Kurtas are worn both as casual everyday wear and as formal dress.