Not always you have one of those warm sunny days in Hong Kong’s December, but in Myanmar, you can enjoy the radiating sun everyday. The high temperature here is a challenge for putting on the right and comfortable outfit everyday. A little tip is that tight jean and legging should not be worn for your daily traveling because sweats will definitely bring your legs heat rash. Maybe this is one of the reasons why Burmese, both men and women, wearing dresses, which they call it LongYi.
If Long Yi has been introduced to the international fashion industry, I will say that it would undoubtedly become the next fashion trend in the upcoming season, as neo-ethnic styling is a hit nowadays. Long Yi reminds me one of the collections presented in Mercedes-Benz New York Fashion Week 2015, which is created by Miss Amanda Valentine. She has reinterpreted the Bohemian style into her ten pieces spring collection and lighted up show with her sophisticated skills of using color blocking, tribal prints and flowing textiles. Her garments also have a significant exotic vide as Long Yi, but the messages spread by the clothes are completely different.
The aesthetic of Miss Valentine is similar to most of the international fashion designers creating ethnic outfits, for example, Vivienne Westwood and Emilio Pucci. They all try to embrace a kind of spirit and living attitude in their clothing. Specifically talking about Miss Valentine, her Bohemian long gowns have given a sense of easiness to the audiences by the flowing movement on the runway. Fantasy has been created for the audience to imagine how easy their life could be by wearing these gowns. Also, color blocking work on the clothes has spread a spirit of “Harmony” because who could expected that aquamarine, dark blue and black could co-operate with each other without any contradiction. These clothes have a strong voice telling you that what kind of life you should pursuit.
Although I am not a big fan of ethnic clothing, I have to say the way of how Burmese wearing Long Yi is avant-garde in the modern society. It is like the front-runner in the international fashion industry because it has present the perfect combination of masculinity and femininity, which tells a story of gender fight. Burmese usually pair up the Long Yi with shirts. In details, the men-wear shirts usually presented with clean cutting to embody the toughness and power, which is like the men’s image in the society, meanwhile the softness of Long Yi has embraced a sense of vulnerability and tenderness, which is still the perception towards women nowadays. Tension has been created between the crispness of the upper half (Shirts) and the softness of the bottom half (Long Yi), which symbolizes the fight between sexes in the history.
This does not only reflect the actual gender inequality of the local community, but the universal community. The whole world is facing the same social problem that men have overpowered women, which deprive their human rights. To tackle this issue, it requires a complete change of gender’s concept and this is what the fashion industry tries to do all the time. No matter John Galliano or Karl Lagerfeld, they attempted to reshape the public’s aesthetic towards the beauty of sexual neutrality by their garments, in order to strengthen gender equality. Unlike the styling of Long Yi, their designs might be too abstract for the public to understand and not able to create voice to attract people’s eyes.
In future, maybe these two well-known designers should co-operate with the Burmese Long Yi designer to produce a crossover collection in order to introduce the world unisex concept through the ethnic garments. By the time, it would be the shining moment for Long Yi.
However, unlike these ethnic clothing in the international platform, Long Yi has a voice speaking up for the Burmese self-recognition. Although the colors and print patterns of Long Yi have a wide range of choices, the silhouette of Long Yi is unique to be recognized as produced by Burmese only. Throughout the whole journey, it is observed that Long Yi has been sewn into cylindrical shape. This sarong-like tube of fabric has become a signature for the local community to distinguish the insider and outsider. This is not the outfit that simply worn by men and women, it is the outfit worn by every occupation in the society. Monks, hotel receptions and vendors on the street are all wearing it. When they see people like us, foreigners or travelers, wearing jumpsuits or tailcoat pants, they will immediately recognize that we are coming from the outside world and start chatting with us, even giving us some travel tips. This is the magic of Long Yi. It is not simply representing a specific kind of dressing style or designer’s aesthetic, it unites the whole nation from different position, different races and different sexes. All Burmese have the equal opportunities to wear Long Yi to ensure their identity in the local community and no one will be excluded. What makes it even beautiful and attractive is that the local never isolate the outsider and forbidden them to dress with Long Yi, on the other hand, they welcome us to dress like them. By offering us a chance to wear Long Yi, it shows the friendliness of the local and also their willingness to the world that everyone is welcomed to be one of them.
At first, observing the Burmese on the street, I thought that Long Yi is like unisex attire for the local community, but looking deep, the textiles’ colors and patterns have major differences between men and women. Men usually wear checked or striped patterns in subdued colors, whereas women don flowery patterns in brighter hues. On the way, I was told by the local shopper that for other special events, like wedding, there are more delicate designs for Long Yi by using elegant silk and combining embroideries. No matter what is the design of Long Yi, it has a strong exotic vide, which attract the attention of foreigners and travelers and make them want to dress up like the local.
Do you know how to wear Long Yi?
Traditional longyis comprise rectangular lengths of printed or embroidered cloth, around two metres long, which are sewn into a tube shape. When worn by men it’s known as a pasoe; or a htamein if worn by a woman.
Both look similar but are wrapped differently: men tie a knot in front, while women tie one to the side, with the knot tucked into a black waistband called a htet sint, sewn to the top of the longyi. (source from Insight Guild, 2010)
Private Wardrobe... for LongYi
Reference:
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Insight Guild (2010) "Thanaka and LongYi" reserved at http://www.insightguides.com/destinations/asia-pacific/burma-myanmar/cultural-features/thanaka-and-longyi, available at 19th Decemebr 2014