VietNamNet Bridge - Traditional costumes are cultural beauty of each country. Below are the traditional dresses of ten countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Cambodia

Photo: Cambodiaguide

The traditional Cambodian sampot is a woman’s long skirt with a fold or pleat in the front, but some sampot styles actually look more like trousers. It is worn with a modest shirt or blouse. On special occasions women match the color of their sampot to the traditional color for that day. Cambodian men typically wear cotton or silk shirts with short or long sleeves. They wear cotton trousers as well.

Thailand

Photo: Wemagazin

The women’s national costume is named the Chakri. It is made up of Thai silk. The dress includes a back-less and shoulder-less shirt, a ready-to-wear skirt with Na-nang (a typical Thai cutting style on a center of a skirt), and a shawl which is made by organdy. The men’s national costume is known as sue phraratchatan (royally bestowed shirt).

Laos

Photo: Laosclosing

Lao women wear the silk skirts, blouses and scarves to attend important ceremonies. Lao men wear salong, big large pants or the peasant pants.

Singapore

Singapore hasn’t their own traditional dress because they are separate into 4 nationalities are Chinese, Malaysian, Indian and European, and each nationalities got their own traditional dress.

Indonesia

Photo: Fashion

A Kebaya is a traditional blouse-dress combination worn by women in Indonesia. It is sometimes made from sheer material and usually worn with a sarong or batik. Indonesian men generally wear sarongs (usually with a checkered pattern) in the home. In public, the sarong is worn only when attending Friday prayers at the mosque. For formal national occasions, the men wear batik shirts with trousers or teluk beskap, a combination of the Javanese jacket and sarong.

Malaysia

Photo: Malaysiatours

Baju Melayu is a traditional Malay outfit for men. The Muslim males in Malaysia wear the traditional dress, baju Melayu, during festivals and wedding gatherings. They will usually wear accompanying accessories like the songkok (black hat) and samping (extra piece of sarong wrapped around the waist).

The female version of the baju melayu is called the baju kurung. Baju Kurung is the traditional dress for the Muslim ladies in Malaysia. It is simple and graceful, and covers most part of the wearer’s body.

Myanmar

Photo: Myanmardaily

The longyi is the Myanmar national dress worn by men as well as women. It is basically a piece of cloth sown into a cylindrical tube, slipped over the head by men and stepped into by the women and tucked in at the waist. Men and women however fasten their longyis at the waist in different ways. Men fold the garment into two panels and knot it neatly at waist level.

Vietnam

The most popular and widely-recognized Vietnamese national costume is the Áo dài, which is worn nowadays mostly by women while men no longer wear Áo dài, except for traditional ceremonies. Áo dài consists of a long gown with a slit on both sides, worn over silk pants.

Philippines

The barong Tagalog (or simply barong) is an embroidered formal garment of the Philippines. In Filipino culture it is a common wedding and formal attire, mostly for men but also for women. Thebalintawak is the traditional Filipino costume for women. The costume typically features a white or cream-colored blouse with puffy-butterfly short sleeves.

Brunei

Bruneian traditional dress looks similar to traditional dress of Malaysian, called “Baju Melayu” for the women called “Baju Kurung” but Bruneian traditional woman dress will be more colorful. The most of it will be a dress cover a body from head to toe. Man wears a long arm shirt, a shirt length to the knee, a trousers and sarong.

The famous destinations associated with the ASEAN countries:

Cambodia: Phnom Penh, Siem Reap, Sihanouk Ville, Battambang, Kampot ...

Thailand: Bangkok, Ayuthaya, Chiang Mai, Phuket ...

Laos: Vientiane, Xieng Khuang, Savannakhet, Luang Prabang, Champasak ...

Singapore: Sentosa Island, the insect kingdom, the wax museum ...

Indonesia: Jakarta, Bali, Yogyakarta ...

Malaysia: Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Melaka, Langkawi ...

Myanmar: Yangon, Bagan, Mandalay ...

Brunei: Kampong Ayer Floating Village, the Royal Palace Istana Nurul Iman, Bandar Seri Begawan Mosque...

Philippines: Manila, Makati, Boracay Island, Cebu ...

Vietnam: Ha Long, Hanoi, Sapa, Hue, HCM City, Phu Quoc, Nha Trang...

Compiled by Pha Le