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Nawawi, Norwani Md.. "Malaysia." Berg Encyclopedia of World Dress and Fashion: South
Asia and Southeast Asia. Ed. Jasleen Dhamija . Oxford: Bloomsbury Academic, 2010. 311–
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Malaysia
by Norwani Md. Nawawi
DOI: 10.5040/9781847888532.EDch4046
Page Range:
311–319
Malaysia, part of the Malay Archipelago, consists of West and East Malaysia, starting from
southern Thailand and stretching to the northern part of Borneo. The people of Malaysia
include indigenous ethnic groups—Malays, Ibans, Kadazan, and aborigines—as well as
groups originating from China, India, Portugal, Bangladesh, and Indonesia. Traditional
garments therefore have a variety of shapes, patterns, colors, and accessories that carry
influences from other countries.
The Malays are believed to have originated on the mainland of continental Asia. It is
thought that the earliest inhabitants of Southeast Asia were the Negritos, a people of
Austral-Melanesian descent who spoke an Austro-Asiatic language. In 2500 b.c.e., people
known as Proto-Malays, from Yunnan, in China, south to the Malay Peninsula, spread to
Borneo, the Philippines, Sumatra, Sulawesi, Java, the Marquesas, and Hawai’i. Their arrival
on the Malay Peninsula during the Stone Age pushed the Negritos into the interior. Later,
other settlers forced the Proto-Malays to vacate the lowlands and move to the mountains,
where they still live.
The Proto-Malays were hunters, cultivators, sailors, and fishermen; they built boats and
houses, were skilled potters, and made jewelry. They were ancestor worshippers and
believed in life after death. The Jakun of West Malaysia, the Dayak in Sarawak (East
Malaysia), and the Batak of Sumatra, all descendants of the Megalithic Proto-Malays, are
among the most outstanding weavers in Southeast Asia. Heirloom weaving skills can still
be found in Sarawak, where the Dayak use a simple backstrap loom to produce a warp-
patterned ikat cloth known as pua.
Later arrivals from the Asian mainland were the Deutero-Malays, who make up the early-
twenty-first-century Malay population of Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Myanmar
(Burma), and Thailand and who were the ancestors of the Khmers and the Cham of
lowland Indochina. The first hierarchical settlements originated during the Iron Age,
around 500 b.c.e. It is believed that the Deutero-Malays, also from Yunnan, moved down
to the Malay Peninsula, bringing with them the Dongson culture of Vietnam. The Deutero-
Malays were culturally more advanced than the Negritos and the Proto-Malays; they lived
in matriarchal villages with basic laws, were animists, and worshipped their ancestors.
They were also skilled woodworkers and navigators, had a rudimentary knowledge of
metals, and were knowledgeable about weaving. It is possible that they introduced
weaving technologies to the earlier settler inhabitants. About fifteen hundred years ago,
their coastal settlements facilitated the flow of foreign ideas into the Malay Peninsula,
especially those associated with the Hindu-Buddhist and Islamic traditions.
External Influences
During the first century c.e., Indian traders from the Coromandel coast started to explore
the Malay Peninsula. They were skilled craftsmen, weavers, metalworkers, and architects.
Many of them married locals and settled down. They introduced Indian customs, including
rule by rajas in place of, or side by side with, the simpler Proto-Malay patriarchal or
Deutero-Malay matriarchal modes of organization. It is believed that Indian immigrants
introduced painting, literature, architecture, sculpture, and dance. The Indian economy
also influenced the Malays up until the fifteenth century (Singam and Durai 1962). These
factors explain the influence of Hindu dress.
China’s relations with the states and kingdoms of the Malay Peninsula strengthened from
about the sixth century c.e. on. Describing the Kingdom of Langkasuka in the thirteenth
century, a Chinese account noted the heavy use of silk in the dress of local rulers: “The
ruler wrapped himself in silk and walked bare-footed. The inhabitants of the country
trimmed their hair and wore silk and foreign merchants there traded in spirits, rice, and
skeins of Ho-ch’in [Heqin] silk” (Wheatley 1980). The exchange of Chinese silk for cotton
fabric from one of the kingdoms of the Malay Peninsula was mentioned in the sixth and
seventh centuries c.e., and, according to Chinese records from the seventh century, the
Chinese emperor gave a hundred rolls of silk to the Kingdom of Chitu (Tanah Merah),
believed to have been situated in West Malaysia along the Kelantan River. The fact that
the Malays have been in contact with China for centuries is also reflected in traditional
Malay dress such as the trousers known as seluar cina (“Chinese-style trousers”) and the
baju kurung cekak musang, which features the high mandarin collar borrowed from the
Chinese cheongsam (a slim-fitting Chinese dress).
During the late seventh century c.e., the arrival of Islam brought dramatic changes to the
people of the Malay Peninsula. The Muslim religion was imported by Indian, Chinese, and
Arab traders as the peninsula became involved with east-west trading networks and the
rise of urban centers at key points along them. In a marked shift away from Hindu-
Buddhist sartorial influence, Malay dress started to reflect Islamic styles, which stressed
covering most of the body. This philosophy of dress is still seen in the early twenty-first
century in the baju kurung, which covers the entire body and conceals its shape.
The arrival of Europeans increased the records of textile production. From the sixteenth
to the middle of the nineteenth century, European traders brought significant amounts of
textiles from India to the peninsula, where they were exchanged for spices, highly prized
commodities in Europe. The Portuguese Duarte Barbosa, who lived in Malacca around
1511–1517, wrote about the sarong worn by the Malays. A length of homespun cloth with
unsewn ends, it covered the body from the waist to the calf or ankle. The sarong had
many uses, for example, as a bathing garment, a headwrap for protection from the sun, a
cradle, a carrying bag, or a shroud. It could also be used as a sleeping garment that could
be pulled up to cover the entire body. Ordinary Malays mainly used local textiles for their
daily needs, while the nobility used imported textiles from India or China, which were
finer and more expensive. Later on, as local production decreased, more imported textiles
from the West came into the markets. During British rule in the 1950s, some Malays
combined Western-style clothing with indigenous fashions. For example, women wore the
shapely baju kebaya (women’s blouse) with a batik sarong, and men wore Western shirts
and long trousers. The baju kurung for men was stylized into its modern shape, which
hugs the body, instead of the loose, baggy shape of the past.
Detail of a cotton batik sarong made using the hand-stamped wax-resist and dye
technique. Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia, 2007. photograph by norwani md. nawawi.
Traditional Dress
The Malaysian population consists of many ethnic groups, including Malay, Chinese,
Indian, Kadazan, Iban, and other ethnicities. The traditional Chinese dress is the
cheongsam, while the Indians wear the sari. Some of the fourteen Malaysian states have
their own traditional dress. For example, Kelantan is famous for its Cik Siti Wan Kembang
traditional dress, while the Puteri Perak, or Perak Princess, ensemble is from Perak. In
Sabah, such tribal groups as the Kadazan, Dusun, Lotud, Bajau, Murut, and Rungus have
distinctive traditional garb. However, these are not for everyday use but mainly for
traditional dance performances, costume competitions, and similar special events. The
national dress of modern-day Malaysia consists of the traditional garments of the Malays,
notably the baju Melayu, baju kurung, and baju kebaya.
Malay attire in the early twenty-first century is still largely influenced by the traditional
Muslim belief that clothes should cover the body except for the face and hands. This
applies to men and women alike. The underlying concept is that the garment should be
decent, presentable, and comfortable. In addition to Islamic guidelines, however, the
Malays are influenced by other cultural traditions. Different ceremonies mark an
individual’s life stages from birth until death, and textiles play an important role in many of
these. Modern Malay attire either uses traditional textiles, such as kain songket
(supplementary-weft gold cloth), kain tenun, and kain limar (Malay weft-ikat cloth), or
imported fabrics such as satin, velvet, and lace from China, Japan, India, Europe, and
elsewhere.
In the past, the Malaysian Chinese wore traditional clothes for everyday wear; in the early
twenty-first century, however, they prefer to wear practical clothing suited to the weather.
Urban ethnic Chinese wear modern Western fashions and don traditional outfits only to
celebrate the New Year and weddings. The elegant silk cheongsam is comfortable to
wear and emphasizes the female figure. It has a high mandarin collar and can be
sleeveless or have full-length, medium, or short sleeves. It buttons on the right side and
features a somewhat loose bust, fitted waist, and side slits. The beauty of the cheongsam
is that it can be worn for both casual and formal occasions. It is simple yet elegant.
Like the ethnic Chinese, urban Indians in Malaysia generally prefer Western dress. Many
Hindu women still wear the traditional sari, but they have also been influenced by the
Western lifestyle. The sari consists of a rectangular piece of unstitched cloth ranging from
five to ten yards (five to nine meters) in length. It is draped in various styles and
commonly worn with a choli, or fitted top. Worn over a petticoat, the sari is wrapped
around the waist, with the end draped over one shoulder. Indian men wear the dhoti or
veshti, an ankle-length, rectangular white cloth that is wrapped and tied around the waist.
It usually hangs down to the feet and is sometimes worn with one end pulled up between
the legs and tucked into the waist at the back. For formal wear, Indian men usually wear a
long, embroidered shirt with a Nehru collar, known as a kurta, along with fitted churidar
pants.
Until the late twentieth century, women in Malaysia wore berkemban, which consists of
three pieces of cloth: the shawl, the sarong, and a breast cloth. drawing by norwani md.
nawawi, 2007.
In East Malaysia (Sabah and Sarawak), there are many ethnic groups, and their styles of
dress are fairly simple but enhanced by ornaments and jewelry. In Sabah, traditional dress
varies among the different ethnic groups. Most of the clothes worn in daily life serve the
basic function of covering the body. However, for certain occasions, such as weddings or
rituals, ostentatious clothing distinguishes the wearers from one another. In Sarawak, the
men of the three main ethnic groups—the Iban, the Orang Ulu, and the Bidayuh—wear a
plain loincloth, the women wear a short skirt, and young children generally go naked.
These traditional outfits are simple and comfortable in a hot and humid climate. Most
fabrics—for example, pua and kayu tarap—are handmade. Garments are decorated with
beadwork and elaborate ornaments made from silver, gold, brass, organic materials, and
objects. Traditional dress is worn only in remote rural areas, however. In urban areas,
people wear Western fashion, saving their unique traditional dress for formal occasions
and rituals.
Woven Textiles
Fabric or cloth, known as kain in Malay, was always a precious possession. Fine, high-
quality woven materials were worn by the elite, while coarser materials could be afforded
by the broader population. In the early twenty-first century, several types of woven fabrics
are popular. The generic Malay term for handwoven fabric is kain tenun, of which there
are many types. Imported woven textiles include kain cindai (patola or double ikat from
India). In these contexts the phrase “woven textile” refers to any material that is produced
using either a floor loom or a back-tension loom (also known as a body-tension or
backstrap loom).
Pua is woven by the Iban in Sarawak. It is made by weaving dyed warp, and it is woven
using a backstrap loom. The original patterns were based on dreams; the individual motifs
are inspired by the environment and reveal a lot about the beliefs and values of the Iban.
The use of the warp-ikat technique indicates that the pua belongs to an ancient category
of cloth, for warp-ikat weaving is associated with the influence of the Dongson culture of
northern Vietnam. Still in production, pua is used for the women’s skirt known as bidang
or kalambi and for the traditional Iban men’s jacket.
Kain dastar is a traditional cloth from Sabah, woven especially for men’s headgear using a
backstrap loom; the weavers come from the Bajau tribe. The Bajaus prefer distinctive
motifs and patterns, such as geometric and floral motifs, on dastar, a piece of cotton cloth
about thirty-nine inches (one meter) square, woven in a supplementary weft of yellow,
red, orange, white, and green yarns against a black background. Kain dastar is still being
produced but is worn only with Sabah traditional dress.
Kain cindai is imported from India. Cindai cloth, which has many colors produced in
double-ikat technique, was popular from the fourteenth to the sixteenth century, when
Malacca was an entrepôt for Southeast Asia. Although Gujarati merchants brought many
other types of cloth to Malacca, cindai textiles were highly sought after by the Malays of
the peninsula and Indonesia. Kain cindai was mainly used for the selendang (women’s
shawl) and kain ikat pinggang (men’s waistcloth). This type of cloth is no longer produced
and has become a valuable antique found in specialist shops and museums.
Kain tenun Pahang is a plain-weave fabric with stripes or a checkered design. Woven
using a traditional loom known as kek-siam, or Thai floor loom, it is usually made of silk
and cotton. Normally, kain tenun Pahang is woven into sarongs and kain samping (short
sarongs). In kain samping tenun Pahang, a special pattern known as gigi kain
(teeth) is
woven at the selvage. This is followed by sepit-udang (prawn claws) and tali air
(canal)
motifs. Sometimes, weavers use the warp-ikat technique with songket, supplementary
weaves of gold thread that impart more variety. Kain tenun Pahang is also woven in four-
yard (four-meter) pieces that can be made into baju kurung or baju kebaya for women.
Kain ikat loseng is not woven with a continuous warp like the pua. Instead, it is woven on
a Malay frame loom (kek), with warp threads wound onto a piece of board known as
papan loseng that is stored at the back of the loom. Few weavers have adopted this
method, because it is too time-consuming for market-scale production. Ikat loseng fabric
is woven in several patterns: corak merpati sekawan
(pair of doves), corak giling kacang
(grinding nuts), corak perahu rosak (broken boat), corak hujan lebat (heavy rain), corak
Jepun (Japanese pattern), and corak tikar rhu (pine mat), among others. In the early
twenty-first century, this fabric can be found in tenun Pahang, and the technique of warp
ikat is used in making songket. Kain ikat loseng is mainly woven into sarong pieces and
four-meter (about four-and-one-third-yard) lengths for traditional attire.
Ikat limar is a weft-ikat woven fabric made by a technique called ikat pakan. Weft-ikat
weaving is relatively new compared to warp ikat. The technique is believed to have come
from Patani, in southern Thailand; ikat limar designs were developed in combination with
the weaving techniques of the local people of Kelantan and Terengganu. Weft-ikat fabric
was traditionally connected with cloth worn at the royal court; it was usually made of silk
and required painstaking work to produce. There are four types. The most beautiful
designs were kain limar sarong, kain lepas limar bersongket (shawl), and kain limar
tenggarun (striped limar with songket). Ikat limar cloth was commonly woven in a dark red
color highlighted with touches of orange, blue, light brown, green, and white. Sometimes
the cloth had two colors to show the background and the motifs. Although ikat limar
stopped being produced after World War II, the Malaysian Handicraft Development
Corporation is reviving the technique in the early twenty-first century.
Baju kurung Pahang (also known as baju riau pahang or baju turki) is a long dress with a
front opening secured by seven or more buttons. It is worn with a kain sarong in the
ombak mengalun style, that is, folded or pleated at one side of the sarong. drawing by
norwani md. nawawi, 2007.
Kain songket is known as “golden cloth” among the Malays. Songket is woven using a
supplementary weft of gold threads. Not just for apparel, it was also made for gift
exchange, a mechanism used to establish or strengthen social relations and allegiances.

According to John Guy (1998), textiles are at the heart of the exchange mechanisms of
many Southeast Asian societies, a fact that cannot be explained by economic reasons
alone. Many social, political, and spiritual transactions are sealed through the giving and
receiving of cloth. Songket has many patterns, and its motifs represent flora, fauna, and
the cosmos, reflecting the environment and the cultural ties of its weavers. It is woven into
sarong pieces and long fabric, and is popular for wedding attire and formal functions.
Songket is still in production in Kelantan and Terengganu, though in the early twenty-first
century, it is woven in trendy colors, using a variety of colored metallic yarns.
Nonwoven Textiles
There are six indigenous nonwoven textiles made on the Malaysian Peninsula. Historically
important nonwoven textiles imported from Indonesia included Javanese batik.
During the 1950s most Malays bought batik Jawa, Javanese batik, to wear with baju belah
labuh (a long jacket open at the front), baju kebaya pendek (short kebaya), and baju
kurung. Batik is produced by means of the resist technique. A pattern is made in hot wax
on white cotton or silk either by hand (batik terap) or with metal blocks (batik blok). The
colors in Malaysian batik are mainly bright yellow, red, blue, and green, in contrast with
batik from Java. Batik fabrics, which are very popular, range from cheap cotton sarongs
for everyday use to more expensive and exclusive designs on silk for weddings or formal
occasions. There are many batik makers in Kelantan, Terengganu, and other parts of
Malaysia, and they produce beautiful as well as trendy designs.
Pelangi is a local traditional tie-dyed cloth. The word means “rainbow,” referring to the
colorful design. In the past, kain pelangi held a special place in Malay culture, being used
as a shawl, head covering, or sash or as a wall decoration. This kind of cloth is no longer
produced in Malaysia but can still can be found in Palembang, in Sumatra.
Telepuk refers to gold-leaf stamping on plain dark cloth or on a batik. Telepuk was made
by block-printing gold leaf fixed with gum arabic; the wood block was first carved into
intricate patterns for stamping. The designs for kain telepuk were mainly for sarongs. It is
no longer produced in Malaysia.
Keringkam is a cotton voile fabric embroidered with a floral pattern using flat gold or
silver metal thread; it is mainly used for shawls in Kelantan and Sarawak. In Kelantan this
embroidery is no longer produced, but it can still be found in certain areas of Sarawak. A
keringkam shawl is normally worn by brides and for important functions. The shawls are
made in either bright or dark colors such as black, bright red, dark blue, green, and
purple.
Tekatan refers to velvet with gold-embroidered motifs. The technique involves sewing
gold thread into a flower motif on cut-out paper. The paper is pasted on the velvet, and
the thread is stitched down over the pattern with white cotton thread. Tekatan can be
found on bridal dresses and often decorates brides’ bedrooms and the wedding dais.
Finally, kain pis is a headwrap generally worn by Rugus men in Sabah. It is made of two
squares of material that are usually black but can also be red or orange. The cloth is
embroidered with at least seven bright colors. Designs are sewn in a dense satin stitch, in
motifs that traditionally represent the worldview, lifestyle, and legends of the people who
make it. Kain pis is used as an integral part of both daily and ceremonial attire among the
Sabah.
Types of Malay Traditional Dress

Malay dress evolved to suit the local climate and environment. Intercultural exchanges
with the kingdoms of Langkasuka, Sri Vijaya, Majapahit, and the Malacca Sultanate also
had influence. In the sixteenth century, the Malays in Kelantan and Terengganu usually
wore locally woven fabrics. Women were taught to weave and cook before they were
allowed to marry. Most textiles were woven in rectangular pieces and were not sewn or
tailored but instead made to be folded, draped, or tied around the body. Men usually
wore a sarong, a shirt, and a headwrap, or sometimes only a sarong without any shoes
because of the hot and humid weather. Noblemen usually wore a headwrap, a baju
Melayu shirt with a baju hias overshirt, three-quarter-length trousers, a samping, and a
pair of chapai (slippers).
This drawing shows the traditional style of clothing worn by Malay men in Kelantan. It
consists of a baju Melayu or baju hias (head tie) on top, a pair of three-quarter-length
pants, a samping (short sarong), and a kain ikat pinggang (waistcloth). drawing by norwani
md. nawawi, 2007.
Berkemban comes from the word kemban (breast cloth). The berkemban, usually
consisting of three pieces of cloth, was worn by women beginning in the sixteenth
century. One piece, about eight feet (two and a half meters) in length, was wrapped
around the lower body sarong style, covering the wearer from the hips to the ankles. A
second, shorter piece, about five feet, nine inches (one and three-quarter meters) long,
was used as a breast cloth, and a third piece, about six and a half feet (two meters) in
length, was used as a shawl to cover the wearer’s head and shoulders. Prior to the mid-
nineteenth century, women in the northeast wore this type of ensemble when they left
their houses, but at home they usually wore an unsewn sarong, wrapped just below the
armpits, that covered their body from their breasts to their calves or ankles. This style of
clothing was well suited to the climate.
The berkemban was very popular during the rule of the Kelantanese warrior queen Cik
Siti Wan Kembang. (In 1910 Sultan Muhammad iv banned this form of attire. From then
on, women had to wear a sarong and a long shirt such as the baju belah depan or baju
kurung.) The outfit worn by Cik Siti Wan Kembang is said to have consisted of a sarong
made of limar bersongket and a green piece of kain limar as a breast cloth, which was
wrapped around the body and tucked in. It was secured with a brooch, with the fabric
ends left to hang loosely to display the beautiful patterns of the ikat limar. A golden belt
and a buckle were worn over the breast cloth. To cover her shoulders, the queen wore a
long shawl of kain limar bersongket, and she held a keris (a Malay dagger or a Malay
weapon in the shape of a knife with wavy blade) to show authority. The limar bersongket
of which her sarong was made had been woven in weft-ikat technique, and her shawl
ends were decorated with songket, a supplementary-weft weave using golden thread. In
the early twenty-first century, this type of dress is used only in dances, fashion shows,
exhibitions, and traditional fashion contests.
Sarong in Malay means “cover”; therefore, kain sarung means “cloth that covers” (in this
case, the wearer’s body). The structure of kain sarung is tubular, developed from a piece
of rectangular cloth one yard by two yards (ninety-four centimeters by two meters) that is
sewn together at the ends. The fabric is notionally divided into three sections: the badan
kain
(body of a sarong), kepala kain (head of a sarong), and kaki kain (feet of a sarong).
The sarong is worn by both men and women in Malaysia. A cotton one can be worn at
home or when going out and is comfortable attire in heat and humidity. It must be worn
correctly, however, or it may fall off. Men wear the sarong by overlapping the cloth over
their stomach and rolling it down tightly. Women tuck the wrapped cloth in tightly on one
side or gather it in folds known as ombak mengalun
(waves). The sarong can be worn with
baju kurung, baju Kedah, or baju kebaya. Materials used to make it are mainly cotton
batik and songket.
The baju belah depan is a women’s blouse that has long, wide sleeves and a front
opening. It exists in two versions, a short one that ends just below the buttocks and a
longer one that ends below the knees, or about six inches (fifteen centimeters) from the
ground. The baju belah is worn with a batik or songket sarong. The front opening is
fastened with the three brooches known as kerongsang or kerongsang berantai (linked
brooches). This style of blouse was popular from the nineteenth until the early twentieth
century.
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Baju kurung literally means “concealing dress,” indicating that it covers the whole body
without showing the wearer’s shape. A loose-fitting dress with wide sleeves, it is very
suitable for tropical and equatorial climates like Malaysia; it is worn with a sarong. There
are two types of collar for the baju kurung. The first, known as leher teluk belanga, is
round with a front slit about four inches (ten centimeters) long and sewn using tulang
belut stitches, while the other type, known as leher cekak musang, is upright and also
appears on blouses known as baju wan. The baju kurung consists of two panels of cloth
for the front and back of the body, four gussets, two kekek (pieces of cloth under the
arms), and a sarong. The sarong is worn in ombak mengalun style, with the pleats
gathered at one side of the body and fastened with a metal belt or a string. Usually, the
baju kurung is made from kain telepuk, kain tenun, kain songket, or kain batik sarung with
a plain top. Although somewhat old-fashioned in style, the baju kurung remains popular
among modern-day Malaysians whether it is made from silk, cotton, or synthetic fabrics.
Different styles of traditional Malay women’s headgear. The main picture shows a woman
wearing the baju Kota Bharu upper garment with tudung sering headgear. On the right,
top to bottom, a mini telekung (a square piece of material folded into a triangle and fixed
with brooches), a tudung sering (a square piece of material folded into a triangle and tied
at the back of the head), and a selendang (shawl) can be seen. drawing by norwani md.
nawawi, 2007.
The baju Kedah was originally from the state of Kedah. A shorter version of the baju
kurung, it features three-quarter-length sleeves and is worn with kain sarung batik. There
are two types of collar, one with a V-shape and the other in teluk belanga style. The baju
Kedah is a casual garment that can be worn at home and, if made with better-quality
material, as office attire.
The baju Pahang is originally from Pahang. It is sometimes called the baju Riau-Pahang or
baju Turki. It features a long gown with a high collar that is slit at the front. It is fastened
with seven or more buttons and is worn with a sarong in ombak mengalun style. The baju
Pahang is normally reserved for formal occasions, such as weddings and traditional
events, and is usually made of silk songket cloth, kain tenun, or newer materials such as
satin, jacquard, and synthetics.
The traditional men’s baju kurung consists of three pieces and is known as baju Melayu.
The top part has three pockets, a round neck with a slit, known as teluk belanga, and
long, loose sleeves. Sometimes the kurung shirt has a Nehru or mandarin collar, in which
case it is called kurung cekak musang. It is worn with a pair of pants and a samping.
Normally, the pants, or seluar, are made of the same material as the top. Traditionally,
they are loose and held up with a string. There are different types, including seluar
potong cina (Chinese style), seluar potong Aceh (Acheh style), and seluar potong Melayu
(Malay style). The material used is mainly traditional woven cloth such as striped kain
tenun.
Kain samping is a short sarong used by men essentially as an accessory, worn over the
baju kurung and trousers. A shorter version of the sarong, it resembles a kilt, covering the
body from the waist to the knees. Kain tenun or kain songket can be used as samping.
This short sarong is often woven in checks and is a form of traditional formal dress.
Baju hias is a jacket or overcoat that men wear over the baju kurung or other shirts. In the
1880s most wealthy men wore baju hias to show their rank. The baju hias worn by
noblemen is also known as baju sikap or baju megan in some places. Baju hias is a loose
overcoat with long sleeves and one button at the front opening. The edges of the
opening and the sleeve ends are sometimes decorated with gold or silver embroidery.
The decorated baju hias was traditionally worn by sultans. Each state has a different style
of baju hias.
The traditional women’s baju kebaya is a knee-length tunic or blouse that opens down the
front. According to the scholar Mubin Shepard, this style of dress was probably adapted
from the Portuguese in Malacca in the sixteenth or seventeenth century (Shepard 1972). It
is also believed that the word kebaya comes from the Arabic word harbaya, referring to a
long jacket opening in front (Abbas and Md. Nawawi 2003). In Malaysia, there are two
types of kebaya: long (kebaya panjang or kebaya labuh) and short (kebaya pendek). The
long kebaya evolved from the baju belah with some modifications; it has a fitted shape
that slightly shows the outline of the waist. The short kebaya is also fitted. The baju
kebaya Perlis is made with pesak. Traditionally, the bodice was fastened with a set of
three brooches known as ibu and anak keronsang. The large, open, almost heart-shaped
brooch known as the ibu (mother) was worn at the top, followed by the two smaller
circular ones, the anak (children). The kebaya blouse is worn with a batik sarong or kain
songket. In the early twenty-first century, kebaya are made from various synthetic
materials and fastened with one or three brooches. The kebaya is worn for casual as well
as formal occasions.
Another traditional garment that is slightly different from the short kebaya is the baju
Kota Bharu, a blouse with long sleeves and a front opening across which a modesty panel
is placed and fastened with snaps. The baju Kota Bharu is worn with the batik sarong in
wiron style (a style of wearing a sarong pleated like a fan at the front) and is believed to
have been developed in Indonesia. However, in Kota Bharu, Kelantan, this dress is known
as baju potong Medan. In the 1940s most baju Kota Bharu were made with imported lace
material or cotton batik.
Baju Puteri Perak is a classic ensemble believed to have come from Acheh, in Indonesia,
en-route to Perak. It consists of a baju kurung cekak musang with a high collar, pants, and
a samping on top. In the 1920s, the ladies of Perak usually wore this practical, easy
ensemble. It can be made from kain tenun or plain satin, with kain songket for the
samping. This kind of apparel is no longer popular except for traditional dances and
fashion contests.
Baju jubah is a long, loose-fitting dress with long sleeves. This fashion came from the
Middle East and was spread by pilgrims en route to Mecca. It became popular in the
1990s, and the Malays produce it according to their own taste. Its collar can be round or
upright. Sometimes the baju jubah is embellished with embroidery, sequins, and beads.
This garment can also be worn with a pair of pants, so that the blouse resembles a knee-
length loose jacket, or as outerwear.
Various styles of headgear known as tanjak or destar worn by Malay men in different
states in Malaysia. drawing by norwani md. nawawi, 2007.
Headgear and Accessories

Malay women have many types of headgear. Village women wear a cotton shawl when
they leave their homes. Until the late 1950s, most wealthy Malay women secured their
hair in a bun with cucuk sanggul ornamental pins or with traditional hairpins. Only one or
two pins would normally be used, but on festive occasions they were worn in sets of
three, five, or seven. Jewelry was worn not only to enhance the wearer’s appearance but
also to display wealth.
Malay brides wear beautiful traditional headgear in various styles. They also wear
traditional accessories, including a golden buckle (pending), three brooches (kerongsang),
a pendant (dokoh), gold bracelets, and ankle rings (gelang kaki). These ornaments are
also worn by traditional dancers and in classic Malay theater.
Muslim Malay women in the early twenty-first century take care to cover their hair. The
mini telekung is a small head cover using a square of material folded into a triangle and
fixed with brooches. The tudung sering consists of a square folded into a triangle and tied
at the back of the head, with the rest of the cloth tucked neatly at the sides. Another
piece of cloth or scarf is tied on top like a ribbon or left loose. These various types are
mainly worn with the kurung, baju kebaya, and baju jubah.
Malay men normally wear headgear for everyday and formal occasions and for prayers at
the mosque. The tanjak (headwrap) is one of the important elements of traditional dress.
Also known as tengkolok or destar, it is made of kain songket that is stiffened and tied
into various styles. The king wears a tengkolok, and each state has a different type with a
different name. Not just a headdress, it indicates the wearer’s social status and varies in
shape, color, pattern, and material. A yellow tengkolok with a state crest on top is worn
by the king only during the coronation. Ordinary Malay men wear a tengkolok only for
their weddings, when they are considered “king for a day.” A bridegroom’s tanjak is made
of the same material as his baju Melayu.
In Sabah, Bajau horsemen men wear a dastar. It has colorful floral and animal motifs with
geometric patterns and is known as pudong. The Bajau and Suluk ethnics in Sabah also
wear a dastar made of kain pis; a version with colored embroidery on a dark background
is worn for certain ceremonies and formal functions.
Villagers who work in the rice fields wear head coverings, usually semutar or terendak, to
protect themselves from the sun. A semutar is a piece of cloth wrapped around the head,
while a terendak is a hat made of dried palm leaves. Men usually wear a songkok (black
velvet hat) or a kopiah (a cap, typically of white cotton), for prayer either at home or at
the mosque. Schoolchildren wear either a kopiah or a songkok on Fridays, when they go
to pray.
Malay Dress in the Early Twenty-First Century

Around the beginning of the new millennium, the Malays started to develop new ideas
and styles influenced by both tradition and the outside world. The baju Melayu moden
has the same features as the traditional men’s ensemble, but the pants are modified to
include a front zipper. The shirt for the modernized baju Melayu has only two pockets and
is styled with a round tunic collar or sometimes an upright collar of the cekak musang
type. The material used for the baju Melayu is normally plain-colored kain tenun or
imported synthetic fabric.
The baju kurung moden worn by women has a different cut from the traditional one. It
may retain the pesak, but they are smaller; the blouse is more fitted and ends above the
knee. The sarong has ready-made “wave” side pleats and a side zipper. The material used
can be the traditional kain tenun or imported fabrics. The baju kurung moden can also be
sewn without gussets, decorated with embroidery, and embellished with sequins and
glass beads.
The baju kebaya moden is a shaped, knee-length blouse with a front opening. The kebaya
separuh tiang typically has a high folded collar, sometimes with lace at the lapel and at
the bottom of the opening. The kebaya moden dress is a departure from traditional
guidelines and represents a creative development. It can be worn with a sarong in batik or
any other suitable material.
In the early 1990s a fashion appeared that was a mixture of the baju kebaya and baju
kurung and was thus called baju kebarung: a loose, knee-length blouse worn with a
sarong, usually of the same material. Sometimes the blouse is made of a fine material,
such as cotton voile, chiffon, or organza with a hand-painted batik design, and worn with
a sarong of thicker material, such as plain satin silk or cotton; sometimes the ensemble is
made of kain songket or kain tenun. This style is worn with one to three brooches
(kerongsang) at the front opening for formal functions and is popular among middle-aged
and elderly women.
The traditional baju kurung for Malay men, known as baju Melayu, consists of a shirt (with
pockets), a pair of loose trousers, and a samping (short sarong) worn over the trousers.
The diagrams around the main image show how to wear a samping. drawing by norwani md.
nawawi, 2007.
Although Malaysia is home to many ethnic groups, the overarching philosophy is to wear
attire that is beautiful, modest, and pleasing to the eye of the beholder. Given this
attitude, traditional dress is an important expression of identity. There is no doubt that
Malay traditional dress is becoming popular among Malaysians of other ethnic groups.
For this reason people are trying to develop new designs that show unity among
Malaysians. Malay traditional dress has been used for centuries and has evolved in a way
that shows its flexibility. For example, under the influence of the West, the loose kebaya
labuh evolved into the shapely and elegant kebaya pendek dress.
Among all the traditional Malay styles, the baju kurung and baju kebaya are the most
popular. The kebaya is also popular among the Chinese, especially the version known as
baba nyonya, in which the kebaya blouse is embroidered with beautiful floral and animal
designs—an expression of the beauty of the union of two cultures. Some designers have
even tried to modify the kebaya blouse by pairing it with pants or jeans. However, this is
not suitable to Malay culture, as it does not reflect indigenous identity.
The baju kurung blouse can be paired with pants and has slits at both sides. This fashion,
which somewhat resembles the Indian kurta, is popular among young women because it is
both elegant and practical. For men, the baju kurung or baju Melayu has not changed as
much in shape as in material and style. Fabrics like satin or jacquard, with stripes or in
solid colors, are used. The baju Melayu has also been upgraded by using a samping of
expensive material like songket, with multicolored metallic threads and a warp-ikat
background.
Designers in the early twenty-first century add contemporary elements to their designs
and materials to make them more attractive to the younger generation. Although for
many years young people, especially ethnic Malays, have been wearing Western garments
such as T-shirts, skirts, jeans, jackets, and tailored pants, they still sometimes adopt
traditional dress for daily use, religious ceremonies, and formal functions. Traditional
Malay dress has devised its own ways of surviving in a multiethnic country. Given the
existence of religious guidelines governing dress, fashions will continue to evolve without
dismissing the cultural values of the past.
References and Further Reading

Abbas, Alias, and Norwani Md. Nawawi. Pakaian Melayu Sepanjang Zaman. Kuala
Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa & Pustaka, 2003.
Abdullah, Wan Yahaya. Destar, Malaysian Destar Heritage: Selected Collection. Kuala
Lumpur: Department of Museums and Antiquities, Ministry of Culture, Art and Heritage
Malaysia, 2004.
Arney, Sarah. Malaysian Batik: Creating New Traditions. Kuala Lumpur: Malaysian
Handicraft Development Corporation, 1987.
Fraser-Lu, Sylvia. Hand-woven Textiles of South-East Asia. Singapore: Oxford University

Press, 1988.
Guy, John. Woven Cargoes: Indian Textiles in the East. London: Thames and Hudson,
1998.
Howard, Michael “A Comparative Study of Ikat Patterned Textiles in Vietnam.” Paper

presented at the Southeast Asian Textile: Life, Culture, History symposium, University of
Washington, Seattle, 5 October 2002.
Maznah, Mohamad. The Malay Handloom Weavers: A Study of the Rise and Decline of
Traditional Manufacture. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asia Studies, 1996.
Md. Nawawi, Norwani. Malaysian Songket. Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka,
1989.
Nik Abdul Rahman, Nik Hassan Suhaimi, ed. Early History, Encyclopedia of Malaysia. Vol.
4. Kuala Lumpur: Archipelago Press, 1998.
Raja, Singam, and S. Durai. A Malayan Heritage. Kuala Lumpur: Author, 1962.
Ryan, N. J. The Cultural Heritage of Malaysia. Kuala Lumpur: Longman, 1962.
Serian Songket. Kuala Lumpur: Malaysian Handicraft Development Corporation, 1981.
Shawal, Zubaidah. Busana Melayu. Kuala Lumpur: Jabatan Muzium dan Antikuiti Malaya,
1994.
Shepard, Mubin. Taman Indera: Malay Decorative Arts and Pastimes. Kuala Lumpur:
Oxford University Press, 1972.
Syed Ahmad, Jamal, vol. ed. The Encyclopedia of Malaysia: Crafts and the Visual Arts. Vol.
14. Kuala Lumpur: Archipelago Press, 2007.
Wheatley, Paul. The Golden Khersonese. Kuala Lumpur: University of Malaya Press, 1980.
For relevant Oxford Art Online content, see Malaysia, IX. 4. Dress.

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8/17/22, 1:53 AM Berg Encyclopedia of World Dress and Fashion

Accessed from: www.bloomsburyfashioncentral.com

Copyright © Bloomsbury Publishing Plc. All rights reserved. Further reproduction or

by Norwani Md. Nawawi

exchange, a mechanism used to establish or strengthen social relations and allegiances.

Types of Malay Traditional Dress

satin, jacquard, and synthetics.

material or cotton batik.

Headgear and Accessories

Malay Dress in the Early Twenty-First Century

References and Further Reading

Fraser-Lu, Sylvia. Hand-woven Textiles of South-East Asia. Singapore: Oxford University

Howard, Michael “A Comparative Study of Ikat Patterned Textiles in Vietnam.” Paper

Ryan, N. J. The Cultural Heritage of Malaysia. Kuala Lumpur: Longman, 1962.

Serian Songket. Kuala Lumpur: Malaysian Handicraft Development Corporation, 1981.

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