Malay Traditional Costume

Assalammualaikum to all,

First of all, I would like to thanks to those who view my blog…..this blog is actually about our Malay Traditional Costume. Malay is one of races that rich with their own culture, custom, costume and so on. I as a Malay people very proud with my own costume because I found that all of Malay Traditional Costume had it own uniqueness and beautifulness.

The objective of this blog is to tell all people especially teenagers like me about our Traditional Costume. If you can see, nowadays there is a lot of weird fashion we can see such as punk, gothic, skin head and others. What I can say, most of this fashion was influence by western culture. If this situation still goes on I’m afraid that one day our next generation will never know about our costume.

Hopefully, when they are read my blog they will start to realize about our costume…..and start to appreciate. What I like about our traditional costume is, it suitable to be wear to many places. To know more you can read all entries in my blog….enjoy your day. Thank You.

Baju Kurung Pahang or Baju Kurung Riau is one of Pahang Traditional Costume. Baju Kurung Pahang also looks similar with Baju Kurung but what make it different from Baju Kurung is, Baju Kurung Pahang or Riau have gore at it left and right side.

Although, Baju Kurung Pahang is a Pahang Traditional Costume, we still can see many Malay women around Malaysia wearing this Baju Kurung Pahang. It not just only a Pahang Traditional costume but it had become one of the Malay Traditional Costume.

What make Baju Kurung Pahang a little bit different from Baju Kurung is at the bottom of the clothes it also have big gore that make the clothes look more larger at the bottom.

What make Baju Kurung Pahang a little bit different from Baju Kurung is at the bottom of the clothes it also have big gore that make the clothes look more larger at the bottom.

The baju kebarung is the combination of the baju kebaya and the baju kurung. It is in the form of the baju kebaya and has the size of the baju kurung. That’s why it’s called baju kebarung.

The baju kebarung is not a traditional Malay costume but it is the creation of the modern Malay society. It is still perfect for the women and has the Malay touch instilled in it.

It’s design and colour shows the wearer’s identity. The colours yellow, light blue, red etc. and decorated flowers are favourites. Abstract designs are also favourites because it is unique. Baju look similar like Baju Kebaya but it a little bit loose like Baju Kurung.

But if we can see, day by day Baju Kabarung becomes unfamiliar to the women nowadays. Now it quite difficult for us to see our Malay women wearing Baju Kebarung even for kenduri. If this situation still goes on…I’m afraid one day there is no Baju Kebarung anymore and our next generation will never know and get a chance to wear it.

The Baju Kurung, or more specifically, the Baju Kurung Teluk Belanga, is the Pahang traditional Malay costume for women.

And in more "modern" times, we have the Baju Kebaya, more specifically the Baju Kebaya Turki (also known as Baju Riau-Pahang or Baju Belah), become another popular and favorite attire for ladies in Pahang.

And wear with matching shoes and handbag, well the lady will look... should I say... demure... charming and... with a well mannered poise -- ahh, a real lady.

The baju Melayu is for the men. Like the baju kurung and kebaya, the baju Melayu is usually worn by the men during celebrations and weddings. In the old times the baju Melayu has only one colour, but now it can be found in many colourful designs and patterns.

The baju Melayu is worn with a songket, samping or a tengkolok. Some match the songket, songkok and baju Melayu to look smarter.

Besides wearing long pants, the baju Melayu can be worn with the kain pelekat. This match can be seen during Friday prayers in the mosque every week.

There is two type of Baju Melayu which is Baju Melayu Telok Belanga and Baju Melayu Cekak Musang.Baju Meayu Cekak Musang is a traditional Malay Man Traditional Custome. What makes it different from Baju Melayu Telok Belanga is the neck design. Baju Melayu Cekak Musang style has a raised or stiff collar of about 1 - 2cm, and is opened down to the chest, with holes for five buttons including two buttons for the collar. Men look smarter if they are wearing this Baju Melayu with samping and songkok….what can I say, they make all women fascinate when we look at them.

 A Kebaya or more correctly 'kain-kebaya is a traditional blouse-dress combination worn by women in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Burma, Singapore, and some parts of Cambodia.

 It sometimes made from sheer material . There are variations to this dress. But this costume is more "modern" and is more body hugging and worn either short - up to the waist - or longer down above the knee. And it is worn or complemented with a sarong, usually of batik or songket, or other traditional women garment such as ikat,songket with a colourful motif although other fabrics with plain and colorful designs are also popular.

Our teenagers are more prefer to wear baju kebaya than baju kurung because it makes them look more traditional and at the same time it can protect their country heritage which is kebaya from extinction.

In addition, when we are wearing baju kebaya it shows a symbol of Malay ladies that full of gentleness, humble and polite. Nowadays, in market we can found a lot of baju kebaya with an affordable price…..so we can afford to buy it.

The Baju Kurung Teluk Belanga originated, as its name implies, from Teluk Belanga, in the island of Singapore, which was previously the capital of the state of Johor. The Teluk Belanga shirt normally has only two pockets both at the bottom.

Similar with other Baju Melayu, Baju Belayu Telok Belanga is a loosely fitting shirt with long sleeves, worn with long pants with a "sampin" or "samping" which is wrapped around the middle of the body from the stomach to the knee and sometimes lowers.

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. Malay men look tidy and smart when wearing baju melayu especially when they wearing it with samping and songkok. Baju Melayu also suitable to be wearing when they going for pray….what I can say they look so smart with the clothes.

There is a lot of technique for embroider such as Classical Embroidery, Crosstitch and so on. But for this time I will explain and teach you on Classical Embroidery to the blog visitor. Before we start the embroidery, we need to make embroider pole cloth. You can imagine it by using pencil, or copy from the picture that you like with help of carbon paper. You can also use the already made pole from magazine or from the handicraft shop.

Handwork of Embroidery

Tikam Jejak Technique

Many people keep asking on how to sew bugle beads, because of the long size which is from hexa 2 cut many people sigh for difficultness of sewing this bugle beads. For me, no matter what kind of bugle beads that had been using, it had its own uniqueness. More creative the people design it; we will get a better result. So, one of the simplest ways to sew a bugle beads will be shown below. Just follow the steps and further instruction.

Step 3: repeat the steps until we get the line of bugle beads. This technique can be use if we wanted to highlight certain pattern on the fabric that intends to be embroidered.

Step 4: lastly, see the sewing at the back of the fabric