วันเสาร์ที่ 5 กรกฎาคม พ.ศ. 2551

Thai National Costume : The Royal Style

The royal style Thai national dress can be categorized into eight styles.

Thai Ruean Ton
Thai Ruean Ton is the most casual of all styles. It comprises a horizontally or vertically striped silk or plain-coloured pha sin with a patterned band at the hem, sometimes folded to one side, The collarless blouse that goes with it is separated from the ankle-length skirt. The sleeves are elbow length, and the blouse has a front opening. It is suitable for casual and non-official functions such as Kathin Ton, the religious ceremony of the conferring of royal offerings to monks.

Thai Chakkri
Thai Chakkri is a formal and elegant wear, normally produced using "Yok" weaving technique (Yok creates additional thickness within the fabric without adding supplementary threads. Often a touch of gold or silver-colored threads are added, making the fabric produced this way particularly more expensive) The costume is finished with "pha sin", a full length wrap-around skirt with two pleated folds in the front called "na nang".

Thai Boromphiman
Thai Boromphiman, also a formal evening attire, comprises a long sleeved blouse which is either buttoned at the front or the back. The blouse is tucked beneath pha sin with its front pleats (na nang). The fabric is brocaded to create a highly luxurious look and feel. The collar of the blouse is round-necked. The skirt length runs about the ankle. The skirt and blouse are sewn together like a one piece dress of which style is suitable for a tall and slender wearer. It can be worn in either formal or semi-formal events such as the League Ceremony or royal functions. Royal decorations are also worn.

Thai Chakkraphat
Thai Chakkraphat is a Thai dress with a shawl like Thai Chakkri. However, it is more conservative and considered more official. The upper part has a pleated shawl cover a thicker shawl with full embroidery on the upper shawl. It can be worn for royal or national ceremonies.


Thai Siwalai
Thai Siwalai, a formal evening costume, is quite similar to Thai Boromphiman, but it has an over-shoulder shawl. It is worn for royal ceremonies or formal functions.



Thai Dusit
Thai Dusit is a wide-necked and sleeveless brocaded dress. The skirt and blouse can be sewn together. It can be worn for evening ceremonies in place of Western-style clothes. The Yok silk fabric is used. Either Thai or Western-style accessories can be worn.


Thai Amarin
Thai Amarin is evening attire, made of brocaded fabric. With this style, the wearer does not have to wear a belt. The blouse can be wide and round-necked. The sleeve length sits just below the elbow. The beauty of this dress is its textile and accessories. It can be use for an evening dinner or at the Royal Birthday Procession. The royal decorations are worn


Thai Chitlada
Thai Chitlada, with its brocaded band at the hem of the pha sin, is a daytime ceremonial dress. It can be worn with a long sleeved silk blouse, with the front opening attached with five ornamental silver or gold buttons. The pha sin is a casual wraparound. It can be worn to a ceremony that is a not too informal such as welcoming the official royal guests at the airport. Wearers do not need to wear royal decorations but the color and style should be appropriate.

Queen Sirikit Revives Traditional Wear

Our beautiful Queen was responsible for setting the trend in Thailand's fashion scene. If it weren't for the Queen, the Thai national costume would not have enjoyed the prestige it does today.


When Queen Sirikit was preparing to accompany H.M. the King on a six-month long visit to 14 countries in merica and Europe in 1960, Thailand had no national costume, so to say. True we did have the traditional wear of the various periods, but no one had come up with any definition of formal attire. So the question which naturally came up was, what should the wardrobe of the Thai queen consist of? What should she wear and when ?


The nightmares of the World War years and the rapid changes that took place in the meantime still haunted Thai society to a great extent. Searching for a formal dress style, H.M. The Queen made a through study of oldphotographs and paintings of royal ladies. The outcome of the task was that no fixed style ever existed.


At one the queen entrusted her close relative and aide, Thanpuying Maneerat Bunnag, to round up the country's leading historians, scholars and designers. They were to agree upon a series of fixed traditional styles that would be practical and attractive. Thus, through H.M. The Queen's inspiration, the numerous defined styles of Thai Traditional wear came into being, complete with instructions for their proper use. The basis for all the designs were
Thai silk and the ankle-length wrap or pasin.

Thailand National Costume


Thailand National Costume


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