Brunei National Costume

Posted by admin on Sep 21, 2012 in Asian | 0 comments

Even though Brunei has become quite westernised in recent years, there are many of its people who still choose to wear the Brunei national costume on a daily basis. However as you will soon discover as you read through this article that the costume is one that is worn in other countries.

There are actual several forms of Brunei national costume that those who are indigenous to this country will wear at any time not only on special occasions. Below we take a look at just what these are.

Baju Melayu

This particular costume is worn by the men of Brunei and consists of a long sleeved shirt (Baju) and a pair of trousers. The shirt tends to come with a raised stiff collar known as a Cekak Musang and is made normally from silk or cotton. As for the trousers these also tend to be made from silk or cotton.

Along with the shirt and trousers the men will also wear a type of skirt around their waist known as a Kain Samping and some form of headgear known as a Songkok.

Baju Kebaya

This is the Brunei national costume that the women of the country wear and comprises a long dress and blouse. Most of these costumes tend to be made from sheer fabrics such as thin cotton, silk or nylon or polyester that is semi transparent. However to help provide some cover for the women these outfits tend to be adorned with either brocade or embroidered floral patterns. Most often when wearing this costume the women will also wear sarongor batik or other woven garment that has a colourful motif upon it such as a Songket or Ikat.

Baju Kurung

This is another costume that some Brunei women may choose wear and when translated into English it loosely means “enclosed dress”. Although it is one of the national costumes of Brunei you may also find that the people of Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia also wear this as well.

As with other costume mentioned above worn by women in Brunei this one covers the body from top to toe. This is because as part of their religious beliefs the showing of any part of the woman’s body in public is not allowed.

Even though each Brunei national costume may look different one thing is similar throughout and it is that they all seem to be very highly decorated. Plus the use of vibrant colors along with materials that are shiny is very common. Furthermore the patterns chosen to decorate these outfits tend to be very complex in some cases it could take hundreds of hours for one person to embroider a particular design on to a costume that may well be worn only once.

Also you will notice that when it comes to the Brunei national costume certainly colors tend to be used more than others. The main colors that seem to be favored are blues and gold’s.