Traditional Wedding Costumes from Malaysia.

Malaysia is issuing a new set of five stamps representing traditional wedding costumes from various parts of the country.The garb depicted on these stamps represents the wide range of cultures and traditions existing in Malaysia, including wedding dress from Chinese and Indian traditions.

First stamp shows the Malay bride and groom in their traditional wedding attire made of songket cloth along with a decorative headgear.

Second stamp shows Chinese bridal couple in the traditional wedding costume. The bride is dressed in an embroidered skirt with a matching long red silk jacket and around her neck is a large elaborately decorated detachable collar, resembling the neck feathers of the phoenix. On her head is an ornate headdress made of gilded gold and silver inlaid with kingfisher feathers and embellished with pearls and red pom-poms. The bridegroom's wedding attire is a long embroidered dragon robe. He wears a black hat with red tassels.

The third stamp depicts an Indian bride and bridegroom in their traditional colourful wedding attire. The bride is in a beautiful silk saree and matching blouse with gold thread embroidery while the bridegroom in a long-sleeved shirt and matching cotton cloth woven with gold thread. The bride is adorned with flowers in her hair and the garland of flowers round their neck, with flower bouquets in their hands. In the background is a picture of a garland normally used at Indian weddings where the garland is exchanged by the bride and the groom.

The fourth stamp shows the costume for the Orang Ulu bridegroom, an embroidered bead vest and a loin-cloth. The headgear is fashioned from feathers and woven beads. The Orang Ulu bride is in a colourful sequined dress and her head is beautifully adorned with a "lavung doh". In the background "Bunga Jarau", a wood ornament shown is a decorative item used at weddings.

The fifth and the last stamp shows Bajau bridal costume, the "badu sipak"; the yellow blouse made of satin with flared sleeves, showing off an under-blouse of a contrasting hue and the "olos berangkit" which is a full length black wrap-skirt. Other interesting accessories adorn the bride such as "mandapun", a decorative ornament with stylised silver or gold leaves worn around the neckline; "serempak", a two-piece head decoration in the shape of a ship made of gilded silver and "garigai" which are small ornaments dangling down from the hair bun. Silver bangles and jewellery such as the "ingkot pangkat" or the silver coin belt and "keku"; long tapered gold fingercovers complete the finishing touch for the bride.