Singapore National Costume

Posted by admin on Jul 3, 2012 in Asian | 0 comments

The first thing you will notice is that the Singapore national costume seems to be a collective of other national costumes from other countries. The reason for this being that many people from China, India, Malaysia and Indonesia chose to immigrate to the country through its history.

Although the national costume isn’t worn on a daily basis it still plays an important role in the lives of the people of Singapore especially during the festive seasons. Certainly which costume is worn will actually depend on where the person’s family originally came from. Below we take a look at just some of those that are worn today. 

1.  Chenogasm

This costume actually comes from China originally so would be worn by women of Chinese descent normally. The costume actually comes for the Ching Dynasty period in China’s history and would have been by the wives and daughters of this royal dynasty. This very tight fitting dress is very simple in design, but will have a small amount of ornamentation to the side of the collar.

Although women originally wore it this costume is now one that men of Chinese descent also choose to wear.

2.  Baju Kurung

This is what would be classed as the Singapore national costume worn by those who are of Malaysian descent. Unlike the Chenogasm this one is made up of a long skirt over which a loose tunic is then worn. The skirt is normally pleated on one side whilst the tunic should reach down to the wearers mid thigh.

The tunic tends to very plain as those of the Muslim faith wear it.

3.  Baju Kebaya

This costume looks very similar to the one we have already mentioned above. Again it is made up of a long skirt over which is then worn a tunic. But the tunic with this particular Singapore national costume is much more ornate. Plus it is much more daring as it is made from a translucent material.

To help provide some modesty to the wearer the tunic has elaborate patterns or flowers embroidered onto it. Also you will notice that the tunic is much more figure hugging and further more the person wearing this costume tends to wear an undershirt as well.

As for the skirt it looks more like a sarong and is much more elaborately decorated than that which comes with the Baju Karung. Often a batik design will have been used to decorate this particular element of this costume.

4. Saris

Women who are of Indian descent wear this particular Singapore national costume. Normally they like the other costumes mentioned in this article are only worn on special occasions and will be very elaborate in design and will use vary bright colors. Sometimes to help provide the wearer with a little more modesty the placing of a matching or contrasting blouse over the top is done. Generally such costumes are made either from high quality silk or cotton to help keep the wearer cool.