Traditional Dress

[cel2]

East Asian, South Asian, Southeast Asian, European, Native American, African, Middle Eastern or otherwise.

Inspired by Jeymi quite awhile ago. Post pictures or rant about your most favourite traditional national or ethnic costumes. Both of the male and female variety.

The explosive sex appeal of the cheongsam slit and its high-collared rigidity remains a favourite of mine. I've also made it a point to collect an entire wardrobe of traditional dresses in the future.

[TeeHee]

cool thread cel i've always admired various traditional dresses, but could never find any occasion to wear them to. so far, i just have my viet ao dai's. these pics were taken just this past asian new year's at a local fair/concert.

[valen]

Some pictures of Thai traditional dresses (I have like a bazillion on my computer...just chose some randomly)

Akha women's dress:



Akha girls:



Central Thailand women's dress:



Central Thailand (where I come from) women and men's dress:



Northern Thailand women's dress:



Southern Thailand women's dress:



Thai Isan:



Men and Women Northern Style:



Women's Dress:



Women's Dress 2:



Women's Dress 3:



Kids:




Hill tribe boys:

[cel2]

Gorgeous pics!!

The Chinese "long dress" I was talking about earlier.






jk.

For men:



And I also have a strong affinity for the Indian chilvakhrata. They're made for comfort and I'm a total sucker for the beadwork.

[TeeHee]

oh, which reminds me, i have a love for the indian sari. i remember the last time going to this indian plaza and seeing all these beautiful intricate designs. i practically fell in love with these dresses and wanted one for myself. but then, as i said before, i couldn't think of any times where i would actually wear it .

[i move the stars for no one]

hardly glamorous,but lavalavas have got to be the most comfortable article of clothing on the planet:

they're traditionally made of tapa cloth,a cloth made from the fibers of certain trees.the process of making tree into cloth takes a lot of work,with men laboring over the transformation and weaving of the fibers and the women decorating the finished product.Tapa cloth is very important in Samoan culture,it's a big part of our heritage,the decorations on a particular piece can tell things about lineage,etc.nowadays most lavalavas are made out of other materials (mostly cotton,i think) and the decorations have no meaning.not that that's a bad thing,necessarily,i think it makes real tapa that much more precious.men and women both wear these.
the puletasi,which i couldn't find a picture of (since no one wanted to be caught dead in one) is the traditional Samoan dress for women,and i hate it.the top is somewhat fitted to the waist,short-sleeved,with puffy shoulders/upper arms;the skirt is long with no particular shape,though not tight.it's so unflattering-who decided that a race of women already built like linebackers should wear puffy shoulders?when i went looking for pics of it,i found even in the Miss Samoa pagent,in the puletasi division,the girls were wearing western style gowns.

[cel2]

Teehee, those saris are beautiful. I'd parallel collecting traditional dresses to...getting tattoos. I wouldn't get one if I don't understand the culture or the meaning behind them. In a way, even though I may not have the opportunity to wear or display them more than a scarce couple of times during my lifetime, they do have significant meaning to me anyway. - whether it's reminiscent of vacations or holidays, places I've been to or people I've met from various backgrounds. Wearing or displaying it is a small bonus but it's not really a priority. Hope that makes sense.

Juniper, the tapa cloth reminds me of the batik cloth of Malaysia/Singapore though from the sounds of it, it seems like the technique for making the patterns might be different. Is that you in the pic? Sarongs are super comfy too.

Some batik designs:
www.ethnicarts.com/textiles/images/BA10.jpg

[i move the stars for no one]

ooh,pretty sarong patterns.i think the process must be different because pattern isn't woven into tapa cloth,it's painted on after the cloth is made.if i can dig up pics of more traditional tapa cloth patterns,i'll post.oh,here are some: coas.missouri.edu/AnthroMuseum/ethno/samoatapamac1984-43.htm
and i'm not sure i understand the parallel you drew between tattoos and cultural dresses...tattoos may have started of as a polynesian ritual,and were once heavily imbued with both cultural,ceremonial,and personal meaning,but nowadays anyone can get one.maybe i misunderstood..
and yeah,that's me in the pic,i'm the guy with the fro. ;D kidding,those are just pics i found off the web when i searched for lavalava.
and i know what you mean about saris,they're so beautiful,but i'd feel silly wearing one and would be worried that someone would take offense.though if i put on a bindhi,some people assume i'm indian,so i might get away with it lol.

[cel2]

I don't know where the act of putting ink into the skin originated from or from what region but I was referring to different tattoo styles and designs. Ie. getting characters or a script in a language an individual can't read nor write doesn't make sense to me. In the same way, if someone collected traditional dresses without knowing the culture itself, it still doesn't make sense to me. Other than for purely aesthetic reasons which I disagree with. Often people opt for keeping tatts private because they are personal (not many, but there are those who do). Similarly, it doesn't matter whether or not the dress (in a collection) is worn or displayed just as it does not matter whether a tattoo is worn or displayed publicly. What matters is that I know where it's from, why I have it and of how much significance it bears on an internal level. Hopefully that makes more sense. (?)

You brought up an interesting point about running the risk of offending people if an outsider (foreigner) wore the dresses purely for aesthetic reasons. I don't think though that Indians for one, would ever take offense to something like that if they know that your interest in their culture is sincere. People are afraid of appearing like wannabes but I think they forget that others usually are flattered when they express interest in their way of life. For the most part anyway.

It would be cool to hear other people's views.

Those tapa patterns are amazing. Batik cloth was not woven either..rather some material (ie. wax) was put on the cloth and then it was dyed.

[p****cat]

This old professor keeps on asking me when I'm going to wear my traditional cheong sam to the office.

Also, in the summer time when it's blistering hot, he also asks me when am I going to wear my bikini to the office. I'm like, "whenever you're wearing your bathing suit." Yeah, like I want to imagine him in one.

[stamp]

p****cat~ said:

This old professor keeps on asking me when I'm going to wear my traditional cheong sam to the office.

Also, in the summer time when it's blistering hot, he also asks me when am I going to wear my bikini to the office. I'm like, "whenever you're wearing your bathing suit." Yeah, like I want to imagine him in one.

Heh. Where I went to college he would be swinging from an administrative tree for either of those comments. For making BOTH of them...he'd be immolated as well.

[i move the stars for no one]

ah,gotcha,Cel,about the tattoos.i read somewhere that Britney Spears thought the character she got on her hip meant mysterious,but it translates as strange.
that's a neat technique,batiking..is that the mother of tie-dying?

[sim]

I'd never wear a cheong sam. They do have a certain sex appeal but I think I'd look like I had a massive shelf on top.

[cel2]

juniper said:

ah,gotcha,Cel,about the tattoos.i read somewhere that Britney Spears thought the character she got on her hip meant mysterious,but it translates as strange.
that's a neat technique,batiking..is that the mother of tie-dying?

lol I have no idea! But that crossed my mind too.

[LucySnowe]

www.carolynfriedberg.com/dolls/foreignDolls.htm

^Dolls dressed in various ethnic outfits. I'm not sure what the lady that collects them was going for with the Pacific Islander and the Czechoslovakian dolls. They look subhuman (more so than the others). And notice she's got the Polish girl dolls spread eagle. What a sicko.

Miscellaneous (dolls, fans, dolls, kids, women, wedding.... ;D):