Dhoti

The dhoti, also known as mundu, pancha, mardani or veshti, is a traditional men's garment worn in India. It is a rectangular piece of unstitched cloth, usually around 4.5 metres (15 ft) long, wrapped around the waist and the legs and knotted at the waist, resembling a long skirt.

Saree

• The 6 yard long cloth which you still drape around your body has a history. You might wonder who was the first woman to wear a sari. Although none of us can answer that question, but we do have details of how the sari originated.
  Sari, this word is derived from the sanskrit word 'sati'. Sati, as you know, means a strip of cloth. This sound first evolved into 'sadi' and then into 'sari'.
  There are some indications which suggest that the sari originated in the Indus valley civilization in 2800 to 1800 BC. That is a long time back. Just imagine the women then draping themselves in a sari. Sari has certainly come of age.
  In some states of southern India, the nine-yard long saree is worn. A saree, as you must be knowing, can be draped in numerous styles. The blouse, which covers the upper part of the body can be long or short depending on where you are wearing it.
  It is believed that apart from dhoti, men and women also wore lungi (sarong) in their daily life. To cover the upper part of their bodies, women wore breast bands. Another unstitched cloth was used to cover the shoulders and head.
  In a sari the midriff is left bare. This is because according to Hindus, the navel is considered the source of life and creativity (maybe because through it the foetus is fed).
  Dhoti, Indian men's traditional attire, is believed to be the forerunner of saree. Historians say that until the 14th century, dhoti was being worn by both men and women. Dhotis are still being worn in rural India.
  Many old sculptures show a variety of different sari draping styles worn by men and women.
  What we call the Odissi Fishtail wrap, where the saree is draped around the legs and the pallu hangs at the centre lengthwise, has been dated back to 1-6th century. There are sculptures in which gods and goddesses are wearing the Odissi Fishtail style of draping a saree. It is believed that both men and women used the same style of draping.
  In India, a beautiful figure is judged by a slim waist, and large busts and hips. A saree which exposes the waist and highlights the upper part of the body due to saree pleats is considered a perfect dress for Indian women.
  The origin of the blouse and the petticoat is still doubtful. As it was a tradition in India to use only one unstitched cloth to cover the body, it is believed that ancient women did not wear blouses and left the upper part of their bodies uncovered. Some other say that they did wear breastbands to cover thier upper body. It is still unknown how blouses and petticoat originated, although it is largely believed that it was only after the arrival of the British that Indian women started wearing blouse and petticoat.
  Also, stitched clothes were considered impure by Hindus. It was only after the arrival of Muslims that tailored clothes became popular in India.
  
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Anarkali Salwar

An Anarkali Salwar suit is a form of traditional women's clothing for Indians. The Anarkali suit consists of a long, frock style top and is to be worn with a slim fitted pants. The Anarkali is highly popular among women located in Northern India and Pakistan. Many women opt for fancy, heavily embroidered Anarkali suits on wedding functions and events.

Baju Kurung

The baju kurung is a traditional Malay costume which loosely translated as "enclosed dress". This type of costume is the national dress of Brunei and Malaysia. 

History

The early baju kurung was longer and looser, unsuited to the figure of Malay women. It was popularised in the late 19th century by Sultan Abu Bakar of Johor.

It has been reported that the baju kurung has "not only survived, but prospered" in modern Malaysia, pointing to its popularity during the Islamisation of Malaysia in the 1970s and 1980s.

Types of Baju Kurung

1. Baju Kurung Pahang/ Riau

2. Baju Kurung Biasa

3. Baju Kurung Kedah 

4. Baju Kebaya

5. Baju Kebarung (Kebaya Kurung)

Baju Kurung Kedah

Baju Kebaya

Baju Kurung 

Baju Kurung Pahang

Baju Kebarung

Songket

Songket is a fabric that belongs to the brocade family of textiles of Indonesia, Malaysia andBrunei. It is hand-woven in silk or cotton, and intricately patterned with gold or silver threads. The metallic threads stand out against the background cloth to create a shimmering effect. In the weaving process the metallic threads are inserted in between the silk or cotton weft(latitudinal) threads in a technique called supplementary weave.

The term songket comes from the Old Musi word sungkit, which means "to hook". It has something to do with the method of songket making; to hook and pick a group of threads, and then slip the gold and silverthreads in it. Another theory suggested that it was constructed from the combination of two terms; tusuk (prick) and cukit (pick) that combined as sukit, modified further as sungki and finally songket. Some says that the word songket was derived from songka, a Palembang cap in which gold threads was first woven.^[4] The Malay wordmenyongket means ‘to embroider with gold or silver threads’. Songket is a luxury product traditionally worn during ceremonial occasions as sarong, shoulder cloths or head ties andtanjak, a headdress songket. Songket were worn at the courts of the Malay Kingdoms inSumatra especially Srivijaya, as the source and the origin of Malay culture in Southeast Asia.^[5]In the early kingdom age, Songkets are also traditionally worn as an apparel by the Indonesian royal families in Sumatra such as the Deli Sultanate in Medan, Serdang Sultanate, Palembang Sultanate in Palembang and the recently restored royal house in Jambi. Traditionally women are the weavers of songket, however in this modern time males also are known woving it as well.

History

The historical records of use of gold thread in Indonesia and Malaysia is somewhat sketchy. Songket weaving is historically associated with areas of Malay settlement in Sumatra, and the production techniques could have been introduced by Indian or Arab merchants. In Indonesian tradition, songket is associated with Srivijaya, a wealthy 7th to 13th century maritime trading empire based on Sumatra, due to the fact that Palembang is the famous songket producer in Indonesia. Songket is a luxurious textile that required some amount of real gold leafs to be made gold threads and hand-woven into exquisite fabrics, hictorically the gold mines are located in Sumatra hinterland; Jambi and Minangkabau highlands. Although gold threads was found buried in the Srivijaya ruins in Sumatra, along with unpolished rubies and pieces of gold plate, there is no corroborating evidence that the local weavers used gold threads as early as 600s to early 700s CE. Songket probably developed in later period somewhere in Sumatra.

However according to Kelantan tradition this weaving technique came from the north, somewhere in the Cambodia-Siam region and expanded south into Pattani, and finally reach the Malay court of Kelantan and Terengganu as early as the 1500s. The weaving of songket continues as a small cottage industry on the outskirts of Kota Bharu and Terengganu. However, Terengganu weavers believe that songket weaving technique was introduced to Malaysia from India through Sumatra's Palembang and Jambi where it probably originated during the time of Srivijaya (7th to 11th century).

Much documentation is sketchy about the origins of the songket but it is most likely that songket weaving was brought to Peninsular Malaysia through intermarriages between royal families. This was a common occurrence in the 15th century for sealing strategic alliances. Production was located in politically significant kingdoms because of the high cost of materials; the gold thread used was originally wound with real gold leaf.

Songket as king's dress was also mentioned by Abdullah bin Abdul Kadir writings in 1849.

Songket making and patterns

There are two categories of songket weaving equipments; the main weaving equipment made from wooden or bamboo frame and supporting equipments which includes thread stretching tool, motive making tool, thread inserting and picking tools. The materials to making songket consist of cotton threads or other fibers as base fabrics and decoration threads made from golden, silver or silkthreads. It is believed that in ancient times, real gold threads were used to create songket; the cotton threads are ran along heated liquid gold, coating the cotton and creating gold thread. However today because the scarcity and the expensiveness of real gold threads, imitation gold or silver threads are commonly used instead.

Songket weaving is done in two stages, weaving the basic cloth with even or plain weaving and weaving the decoration inserted into basic cloth, this method is called "inlay weaving system". The shining gold, silver or silk threads were inserted and weaved into plain cotton basic cloth in certain motifs, creating shimmering effect of golden pattern against darker plain background. The songket weaving is traditionally done as part-time job by young girls and older women in between their daily domestic chores. The complicated process of songket making is believed to cultivate virtues, as it reflects diligence, carefulness and patience values.

Baju Melayu Johore

In the state of Johor, both the design and the wearing of Baju Melayu is somewhat different from that of other areas. Here, the kain samping or kain sarung is worn below the baju rather than above it. The baju itself does not have the cekak musang collar or any placket. Instead, the opening is hemmed with stiff stitching called tulang belut (literally eel's spine) and ends with a small loop at the top of one side to fit a singular kancing (similar to the collars of Baju Kurung worn by women). This style is known as the Teluk Belanga style and was believed to be designed by Sultan Abu Bakar's aides to commemorate the move of Johor's administrative capital from Teluk Belanga in Singapore to Tanjung Puteri in 1866 (known as Johor Bahru from 1866).

Baju Melayu (fox's lease)

Baju Melayu is a traditional Malay outfit for men. It literally translates as 'Malay shirt' and consists of two main parts. The first being the baju (long sleeved shirt) itself which has a raised stiff collar known as the cekak musang collar (literally fox's lease). The second part is the trousers. The two parts are made out of the same type of fabric which is usually silk, cotton, or a mixture of polyester and cotton. A skirt-type adornment is also commonly worn with the Baju Melayu, which is either the "kain samping", made out of songket cloth or the kain sarung, made out of cotton or a polyester mix. Both are loops of fabric which are folded around the wearer's waist. A jet-black or dark coloured headgear called the songkok can also worn to complete the attire.

In shirts made with the cekak musang collar, the placket of the baju will seem to form a third of the baju from the top when it is worn beneath the kain samping or kain sarung. However, the hem line of the baju actually runs to the middle of the lap. The placket typically has three to four buttonholes and is fastened together by dress studs called kancing which are not unlike those used in Western-style formal dress shirts. The studs usually have screw-in backs and can be made from a variety of materials including gold, silver and precious or semi-precious stones. The studs may also be connected with a light metal chain which will be concealed behind the shirt when the placket is fastened.