Travel To Asia – Admiring The Impressive Traditional Asian Costumes

Asia has been well known for culture with rich national identities, especially traditional clothes. Here is some the impressive traditional costume in some Asian countries.

Ao dai, Vietnam

 

Ao dai is the traditional costume for all ages in Vietnam. In the past, both men and women wore ao dai, but today the image of women in Ao dai is more popular.

To Vietnamese people, Ao dai is discreet but still full of charm. This outfit is used mostly in important occasions such as engagement, wedding, graduation ... Because of being simple, not fussy, Ao dai is choosen as uniform in some schools or companies.

Ao dai consists of two separate parts: fabric or silk trousers and cloth with high collar and long skirt. Depending on creativity and preference of woman wearing, Ao dai is designed with many innovations. For example, dresses are sewn in two layers, round collar design, fabric garment with arnica or crystal ... However, essentially all of detail will be combined to create a charming and sweet apperance.

Hanbok, Korea

 

Traditional costume of Korean people is Hanbok, used for both male and female. The color of Hanbok is mostly white which symbolizes purity, integrity, and other color such as red, yellow, blue, black represent the five elements of the universe are metal, wood, water, fire, earth.
 

Basically, women's hanbok consists of outerwear (jeogori) and long skirt (called chima), men's hanbok consists of outer jacket and baggy pants with pockets (baji). Outer coats for both men and women include gil (the largest part of the shirt), git is a silk collar, dongjeong is the white collar and goreum is belt.

Hanbok is classified into daily wearing dresses, and special occasions: holidays, birthdays, weddings or funerals. However, despite different occasions, Hanbok still gives the wearer a balance and harmony appearance.

Kimono, Japan

 
In the past both male and female wore kimono every day, but today only women use as official clothes and men only wear in weddings or other traditional occasions. 

In terms of composition, kimono consists of four main pieces which is two-piece jacket, 2 pieces of sleeves and a small piece to creat a narrow neck and seal. In addition there are other accessories like belts (obi), ties, underwear ... Because complicated design so it is sophisticated to wear and is sold with quite high price.

Cheongsam, China

 

 
Cheongsam seems to be the sexiest dress among the traditional costumes in Asia. This is pretty picky outfit to wear and just for women who have a standard body and long legs. 

Cheongsam is a body-hugging one-piece Chinese dress for women, which is the interface design of Chinese culture and Western culture. It includes collared shirt with buttons along the side and is cut high on the thigh, making a graceful and feminine to wear. Silk is usually used to give a soft feeling.

Kebaya, Indonesia

 

Although Kebaya is Indonesia traditional dress but the name was from Arabic, which means costumes.

Kebaya is a body-hugging shirt with the collar, long sleeves.

It is sometimes made from sheer material such as silk, thin cotton or semi-transparent nylon or polyester, adorned with brocade or floral pattern embroidery. A Kebaya is usually worn with a sarong or batik kain panjang, or other traditional woven garment such as ikat, songket with a colorful motif.
 

This dress is so important to woman who is about to get married - a wedding dress which presents power and is considered as a masterpiece of art. It is not only the symbol of history and national culture but also the elegant fashion style.

Sari, India

 
Among the Asian traditional dresses, the Sari is filled with mystery, and is very preferred by Indian women.

Saru consists of a long piece of fabric ranging from 4 - 9 meters, sometimes up to 12 m which is used to wrap the body in many different ways. Colors and designs depend on the region and the people who wear it. A woman with high status usually wears green or blue, pregnant women usually wear yellow one ... In addition, depending on the circumstances, different sari will be used to become reasonable. For example, widowed women often wear simple white sari and no jewelry or bride will wear a red sari ...

Today, Sari is less frequently used, only in important ceremonies. However, in rural areas, sari is still main costume.