Traditional Thai clothing
Traditional Thai clothing is called chut thai (Thai: ชุดไทย, pronounced [t͡ɕʰút.tʰāj]) which literally means "Thai outfit". It can be worn by men, women, and children. Chut thai for women usually consists of a pha nung or a chong kraben, a blouse, and a sabai. Northern and northeastern women may wear a sinh instead of a pha nung and a chong kraben with either a blouse or a suea pat. Chut thai for men includes a chong kraben or pants, a Raj pattern shirt, with optional knee-length white socks and a sabai. Chut thai for northern Thai men is composed of a sado, a white Manchu styled jacket, and sometimes a khian hua. In formal occasions, people may choose to wear a so-called formal Thai national costume.
History
Historically, both Thai males and females dressed themselves with a loincloth wrap called chong kraben. Men wore their chong kraben to cover the waist to halfway down the thigh, while women covered the waist to well below the knee.[1] Bare chests and bare feet were accepted as part of the Thai formal dress code, and is observed in murals, illustrated manuscripts, and early photographs up to the middle of the 1800s.[1] Prior to the 20th century, the primary markers that distinguished class in Thai clothing were the use of cotton and silk cloths with printed or woven motifs, but both commoners and royals alike wore wrapped, not stitched clothing.[2] Traditional Thai attire has changed significantly throughout the Rattanakosin period.[3]
Prior to the 1700s, Thai men and women both kept their hair long. However, following the Burmese–Siamese War of 1759-60 and 1765–67 and repeated Burmese invasions into Ayutthaya, central Thai women began cutting their hair in a crew-cut short style, which remained the national hairstyle until the 1900s.[4]
From the 1860s onward, Thai royals "selectively adopted Victorian corporeal and sartorial etiquette to fashion modern personas that were publicized domestically and internationally by means of mechanically reproduced images."[2] Stitched clothing, including court attire and ceremonial uniforms, were invented during the reign of King Chulalongkorn.[2] Western forms of dress became popular among urbanites in Bangkok during this time period.[2] During the early 1900s, King Vajiravudh launched a campaign to encourage Thai women to wear long hair instead of traditional short hair, and to wear pha sinh (ผ้าซิ่น), a tubular skirt, instead of the chong kraben (โจงกระเบน), a cloth wrap.[5]
On 15 January 1941, Plaek Pibulsonggram issued a Thai cultural mandate to modernize and westernize Thai dress, by deeming long-practiced customs of wearing underpants, wearing no shirt, or wearing a wraparound cloth, as forms of inappropriate public attire.[6]
Tradition costume
Pha nung
The pha nung(ผ้านุ่ง) is the Thai name for a cloth worn around the lower body that resembles a long skirt
Chong kraben
Chong kraben or Chang kben (Thai: โจงกระเบน Thai pronunciation: [tɕoːŋ.kra.beːn]) is a lower-body, wrap-around cloth. It is a Thai word that is synonymous with the Khmer sampot. The sampot is a long, rectangular cloth worn around the lower body. The traditional dress is similar to the dhoti of southern Asia. The Ching kraben resembles pants more than skirts. It is a rectangular piece of cloth measuring 3 meters long and one meter wide. It is worn by wrapping around the waist, stretching it away from the body, twisting the ends together then pulling the twisted fabric between the legs and tucking it in the back of the waist.
Sinh
The sinh (Thai: ซิ่น Thai pronunciation: [sîn]) is a tube skirt which is worn by wrapping around the waist. A sin typically consists of three parts: hua sin, tua sin, and tin sin.
Sabai
Sabai (Thai: สไบ Thai pronunciation: [sa.baj]) or pha biang (Thai: ผ้าเบี่ยง Thai pronunciation: [pʰâː.bìaŋ]) is shawl-like garment, or breast cloth. Sabais can be used by women and men. Sabai is also known as a long piece of silk, about a foot wide, draped diagonally around the chest by covering one shoulder which its end drops behind the back.
Suea pat
Suea pat (Thai: เสื้อปัด Thai pronunciation: [sɯ̂a.pàt]) is a long-sleeved shirt with no buttons. It is worn by wrapping the right side of the front panel of the shirt over the left side of the front panel, and the two panels are tied together via strings. Suea pats are typically worn by northern Thai women
Raj pattern
Raj pattern (Thai: ราชปะแตน, rtgs: ratcha pataen) refers either to a Thai men's costume consisting of a white Nehru-style jacket with five buttons, a chong kraben, knee-length socks and dress shoes, or to the specific form of the jacket itself. It was worn chiefly during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries by government officials and the upper class in Bangkok, and nowadays is used in select circumstances as a national costume.
Formal costume
Formal Thai costume
The formal Thai costume, known in Thai as ชุดไทยพระราชนิยม (rtgs: chut thai phra ratcha niyom, literally Thai dress of royal endorsement), includes several sets of dress, designed as the Thai national costume in formal occasions. Although described and intended for use as national costume, they are of relatively modern origins, having been conceived in the second half of the 20th century.
Thai dress royally bestowed shirt
Few people know that woman in Thailand have traditional clothes by the graciousness of her majesty, queen Sirikit, the queen of King Rama 9. She has diligence to study about patterns of dresses that appeared since the days before the Sukhothai period until the Rattanakosin period, and she applies that lay out to set Thailand women's dress styles to be the traditional clothes of woman since 1960. The Thai woman’s traditional clothes are call “Thai dress royally bestowed shirt”.
The meaning of Thai dress royally bestowed shirt is a national costume, which represents the tradition, culture, race, and identity of the Thai people clearly. The layout of the dress is from uniforms of the ancient Thai woman, such as Sinh, silk fabric, and Sbai in various styles. Most of Thai dress royally bestowed shirt still use the original layout, but has been sewn and decorated to be appropriate with the present time.
School uniforms in Thailand
Uniforms are compulsory for all students with very few variations from the standard model throughout the public and private school systems, including colleges and universities.
The dress code in elementary and secondary grades for boys is knee-length dark blue, khaki, or black shorts with a white open collar short-sleeved shirt, long socks, and brown or black trainers. Girls wear a knee-length dark blue or black skirt and a white blouse with a loosely hanging bow tie. The bow tie is dropped in favor of an open-necked light blue shirt from Matthayom 4. The girls' uniform is complemented by white ankle socks and black school shoes.
The student's name, number, and name of the school are often embroidered on the blouse or shirt. Some independent or international schools have uniforms more closely resembling British school uniform standards, and boys in senior high school grades may be allowed to wear long trousers.
The standard dress for children in kindergarten is a red skirt and white blouse for girls and red shorts and a white shirt for boys. In all Thai schools, one day per week, usually Thursday, is dedicated to scouting, when beige scout uniforms for boys and dark green guide uniforms are the rule, both wearing yellow neckerchiefs. Many schools have some color variations of the scout uniform such as blue uniforms with blue neckerchiefs for girl scouts at Wattana Wittaya Academy. The use of accessories is prohibited for males, while females are sometimes allowed to use simple accessories. All students are prohibited from coloring their hair or having tattoos.
See also
References
- 1 2 Terwiel, Barend Jan (2007). "The Body and Sexuality in Siam: A First Exploration in Early Sources" (PDF). Manusya: Journal of Humanities (14): 42–55.
- 1 2 3 4 Peleggi, Maurizio (2010). Mina Roces, ed. The Politics of Dress in Asia and the Americas. Sussex Academic Press,. ISBN 9781845193997.
- ↑ Mayusoh, Chanoknart (2014). "Formal Thai National Costume in the Reign of King Bhumibol Adulyadej". International Journal of Social, Behavioral, Educational, Economic, Business and Industrial Engineering. World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology.
- ↑ Jotisalikorn, Chami (2013). Thailand's Luxury Spas: Pampering Yourself in Paradise (in cj). Tuttle Publishing. p. 183.
- ↑ Saruta (10 September 2002). "Women's Status in Thai Society". Thaiways Magazine. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
- ↑ The Royal Gazette, Vol. 58, Page 113. January 21, B.E. 2484 (C.E. 1941). Retrieved on June 4, 2010 in thailand.
Further reading
- Conway, Susan, and Mūnnithi Čhēm ʻĒt Dapbœ̄nyū Thō̜msan. Power dressing: Lanna Shan Siam 19th century court dress. Bangkok: James H.W. Thompson Foundation, 2003.
- Conway, Susan. Thai textiles. London: British Museum Press, 1992.
- Lu, Sylvia. Handwoven textiles of South-East Asia. Singapore: Oxford University Press, 1988.
- Meanmas, Chavalit. Costumes in Asean. Thailand: The National ASEAN Committee on Culture and Information of Thailand, 2000.
- Wee, C. J. Wan. Local cultures and the "new Asia": the state, culture, and capitalism in Southeast Asia. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2002.
External links
- Traditional Thai Costumes
- Thai National Costume
- The Formal Thai National Costume
- Thai National Costume in Thailand