Clothing, Traditional—Malaysia

Malays, the majority population in Malaysia, are a Muslim people indigenous to villages (kampung) in Southeast Asia. Village dress is situational and reflects relationships and contexts. Traditional dress for women is the sarung kebaya. The kebaya (blouse) may be diaphanous to near transparent and is commonly pleated significantly above and below the part of the garment covering the breasts. The sarung, a cotton skirt hemmed into a cylindrical shape, is stepped into, folded right to left, and tucked at the waist. It is commonly of a floral pattern. Although normally worn with a blouse or pullover top, it can also be worn alone; this is commonly done when sleeping or bathing. The final piece of traditional women's dress is a head scarf (selendang); although often serving as a veil, it can be worn in a number of ways.

The male shirt (baju) and small black hat (songkok) are usually reserved for formal occasions, such as Friday prayers or certain feasts. Men often wear sarung, differentiated from women's by the fold (left to right, below the navel) and the pattern (plaid, rather than floral).

In the distant past, both men and women used the sarung as the primary and often sole garment. However, varieties of dress have risen with increased trade and contact with other cultural groups. Even so, women are careful to conform to public forms of dress in the market, the mosque, and village celebrations. The more accepted contemporary form of public village dress is the tudung. Commonly, this consists of a matching long sleeved tunic and floor length skirt (baju kurung), accompanied by a head scarf (anak tudung). It is not uncommon for women to mix and match long skirts and tunics, even substituting short-sleeved blouses or tee-shirts. The baju kurung is often made from very colorful cloth, and may also be patterned. In recent times, the sarung kebaya has fallen into disrepute as a public garment and been replaced by more modest clothing, usually a variation of the baju kurung ensemble. The sarung itself, however, continues to be a staple of the kampung.

WEARING STYLE

A typical Baju Kurung is worn with a sarong which is tailored in the "ikatan ombak mengalun" or "ikatan mengombak" (wavy knitted and sewn) at one side of the sarong.

Besides the aesthetics aspect, this of course is for practical ease of walking, as although tight at the top, the lower part of the sarong is still wide enough and expandable for a big stride.

The Baju Kurung is either worn in the style of "kain berdagang luar" (with the sarong worn outside the dress) or "kain berdagang dalam" (worn inside the dress).

Where the sarong is worn in the style of "kain berdagang luar", the sarong is held at waist level. This sarong also becomes a "kain kelubung" (a head-dress) when worn over the head covering down to the chest.

Normally for the kampung (village) women, the kain berdagang luar is used as a head-cover to shade from the hot sun, or used as a shawl, and sometimes it is tied at the waist like a "samping" (or "sampin").

The sarong normally used for the kain berdagang luar is usually made of kain gerus, kain telepok, kain songket or kain corak Muar (Muar patterned sarong).

In the old days, the Baju Kurung Teluk Belanga used to be made of velvet matched with songket. And just like the male Baju Melayu the dress is sewn with pieces of gold and jewelries. These attires are usually custom-made specially for traditional Malay weddings.

Normally the sarong for the Baju Kurung Teluk Belanga is tied with the "tali kendit" (string), but nowadays the modern zip and buttons are used.

When putting on the sarong, if the fabric or cloth pattern has a "kepala" (or head), then this head portion of the sarong is worn at the back (just like the manner of wearing a sampin and sarong by the male Malay).