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Traditional Costumes of Asia
Unfortunately, as the past few decades have brought the Eastern nations into intimate contact with the West, many of the old ways have been changing. One of the most obvious signs of this change is in the way the people dress today. Many members of the younger generation quickly adopted the now-universal uniform of t-shirt and jeans and now wear their traditional attire only on special occasions, if at all, much to the despair of the older generation. Relegated to a 'special occasion' One of the earliest casualties to the T-shirt and jeans brigade was the kimono (pictured above), Japan’s most beloved garment. Worn by men and women for thousands of years, it is considered one of the most elegant and elaborate costumes in Asia. Its demise had its beginnings in the Meiji restoration. Foreign influences ran rampant at the time and the Government was officially encouraging its people to take up western dress and habits to aid the industrialization effort. They even instituted a law requiring officials to wear western clothing at official functions (the law is no longer in effect).
The kimono’s was one of the casualties of
Japan’s industrialization. Women were increasingly going out to
work in the factories and offices and needed simple, easy to wear
clothing suited to their new environment. Unfortunately, the
elaborate kimono was difficult to care for; traditionally, washing
a kimono entailed completely disassembling the pieces and then
re-sewing them after washing. The kimono was almost impossible to
put on without assistance and its voluminous folds were also quite
dangerous in a bustling factory. Everyday use of the kimono
declined until today, the kimono is only worn on special occasions.
The only people who wear these costumes on a regular basis are the
geishas and their apprentices the maikos, who now serve as enduring
symbols of Japan’s national identity. A costume that is going the way of the kimono is the cheongsam. Often considered the sexiest of the traditional Asian costumes — at least in its shorter form — the tight fitting sheath of the cheongsam is very versatile: it is perfectly respectable attire for an elderly matron, while being beguilingly attractive on a more nubile wearer. Every good cheongsam is custom made (though there are, inevitably, mass produced versions) so that it can accentuate every good point and downplay every bad point of an individual woman’s body. This beautiful costume is known in the Mandarin tongue as the qipao (pictured below), or banner dress. The name came from the costume’s royal origins: during the time of Manchu rule, society was stratified and on top were the banner people, the Manchus. The qipao was a one-piece dress worn solely by the Manchu women. It was a long, loose fitting uniform, which proved to be popular enough to become adopted by the nation as a whole after the dethronement of the Manchus by the foreign powers in the late nineteenth century. The most characteristic features of the dress — the high collar for warmth and the slits for easy movement — are legacies of the Manchu dress, but the formfitting cut of the modern form first developed in Shanghai, the most modern Chinese city of the time, where close contact with western ideas of sensuality and dressmaking strongly influence the qipao’s design. It was in Shanghai where the slits, which previously ran modestly up to the knee, began to be run higher and higher. It was here as well that the dress became known as cheongsam, meaning simply "long dress". This interpretation of the ancient pattern became set as the quintessential Chinese dress for much of the twentieth century (barring the period when everyone wore nothing but mao uniforms). Unfortunately, as the twentieth century continued and western fashions and habits were imported wholesale into the East, the cheongsam steadily declined in use. It was perceived as old-fashioned and embarrassingly ethnic and even today, most Chinese women only wear it for special occasions. Many of the younger generation are apt to modify the traditional form to more modern ideas of fashion — much to the dismay of their more conservative parents. In recent years, there has been a strong move to reinstate the cheongsam as everyday attire. Fashion designers constantly modify the traditional form (occasionally with outrageous results) and in the Hong Kong movie In the Mood for Love, the endless parade of exquisitely tailored cheongsams stole the show from the attractive stars, prompting a brief revival of the dress. Some Commonly Worn Traditional Costumes One traditional costume that has circumvented obsolescence and Western influences to become firmly embedded in modern life is the Vietnamese ao dai. The ao dai got its start in 1744, when Lord Vu Vuong of the Nguyen Dynasty decreed both men and women should wear an ensemble of trousers and a gown-like blouse. It was not until 1930 however that the ao dai as we know it really appeared, when the top was lengthened to reach the floor, the bodice was fitted to the curves and raglan sleeves were incorporated. Like the cheongsam, the upheavals of the twentieth century made the ao dai unfashionable for long periods. This was particularly true in the seventies, as austerity drives caused the Vietnamese to shelve the ao dai as an impractical luxury. It was only with the brightening economy of the late eighties and the early nineties that the ao dai made its comeback and today, the dress is a common sight on Vietnamese streets. It is the standard uniform of schoolgirls. It can be seen on office women going about their daily tasks. Respectable matrons doing their morning grocery shopping often step out in ao dais. Traditionally, the colour of the ao dai indicated age: pure white for girls, soft pastel colours for young, marriageable woman and strong, rich colours for the older ladies.
Of course, with the changing whims of fashion and the
availability of lush materials, the ao dais seen on the streets are
often altered to be short sleeved, high hemmed or embroidered;
practically every modification is tried in the quest to impress,
but the basic form remains the same. Even in the United States, the
forces of conformity hasn’t been enough to staunch the ao dai’s
popularity — after years of complete assimilation with the local
community, the Vietnamese Americans are increasingly showing their
pride in the heritage, with many communities staging Ms. Ao Dai
pageants to celebrate their traditions. Another costume that is still commonly seen is the baju kurung in Malaysia, which is the traditional dress for the Malays. The baju kurung consists of a long (below the knee) tunic with long sleeves, worn over a sarong. Like many of the traditional dresses mentioned previously, the baju kurung evolved through the country’s long history from a distinctly different predecessor into the form commonly seen today. A very strong boost to this evolution was the introduction of Islam, for up until that time, most of the women’s clothing consisted of a sarong casually tied about the hips (as was the case in Bali until recently). Religious requirements meant that the women now had to cover themselves more completely and so the baju kurung was born. Unlike the cheongsam or the ao dai, the baju kurung never went through a phase where it wasn’t common attire, perhaps because Malaysia has never gone through major upheavals on the same scale as China or Vietnam. Throughout the turbulent twentieth century, the baju kurung has been a common sight on Malaysian streets, though it has gone through a number of alterations to keep up with fashion and the demands of modern lifestyles.
There are almost limitless variations on this basic
pattern but perhaps the most striking and consistent aspect of the
dress is its colourfulness, for Malaysian women as a rule favour
bright colours and lively patterns. Though the trendier women of
the nation’s capital Kuala Lumpur often wear western dress, the
baju kurung is still a common sight even in the cities and it is
pretty much the standard attire outside of the cities. The baju
kurung is also often seen on Indian and Chinese women, who
typically use the baju kurung for work and their own traditional
dresses for formal functions.
Unfortunately, not all traditional costumes are
as commonly worn as the baju kurung or the ao dai. Nowadays, the
T-shirt and jeans combination is almost a global uniform and many
people fear that as the world becomes more closely linked on every
level, there will be more pressure for each culture to abandon many
of their traditions for the sake of uniformity. Early in 2000,
UNESCO officials called for efforts to preserve and protect the
traditional costumes of ethnics groups around the world. A number
of countries are already taking such steps and we can only hope
that fifty years from now, there will still be a few people around
who are still proud to wear their traditional costumes.
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Article Information This article was written by
AH Anuar and was first published 4 November 2004
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