Dressing in a modern way does not necessarily mean doing away with traditional values.

WHEN it comes to fashion, the generation gap looms wide in Myanmar – where Western jeans and skirts are fast replacing the longyi in many young people’s closets.

Some parents worry that their children’s values will end up in the dustbin along with their traditional clothes. But academics and designers say they should have more faith in the choices young people are making.

“If we can’t adjust to today’s trends, I daresay we old people are wrong,” says U Aung Than Oo, an associate professor of psychology at Yangon University.

“People build an attitude according to their own experience,” he says. “Young people simply dress the same way as those around them.”

Older people, he says, are beginning to realise that changing fashion doesn’t mean abandoning traditional values such as modesty.

“They say it’s the Korean Wave,” he says, referring to the popularity here of South Korean soap operas. “The world has become a global village, and we connect with each other more. So we’re getting used to change.”

But he says Myanmar fashion is still very traditional compared to other countries.

“When I went to Korea, I found out that they wear their national dress only on formal occasions,” he says. “Here, most girls and boys still wear the longyi casually.”

People in traditional dress are sometimes seen as more patriotic, but well-known Yangon fashion designer Ko Tatee says that is not necessarily true.
“I’ve seen men wearing a taik pon (traditional jacket) who still look down on this country and Myanmar people,” he says. “It’s important to respect our culture. But for style, we can dress whichever way trends take us.”

Styles have changed, but that doesn’t mean traditional Myanmar culture – or fashion – have disappeared.

“I have never seen a Myanmar girl who says Myanmar traditional clothes are just a nuisance, so we should get rid of them,” says Daw Thein Thein Khin, an associate professor of dramatic arts at the University of Culture in Yangon.
“They wear trousers or skirts to feel free or imitate movie stars,” she says, “but that doesn’t mean they don’t want to wear Myanmar clothes any more.”

However, many local girls are leaving their hta main (women’s longyi) at the bottom of the drawer as they match modern cotton blouses with jeans and skirts. Meanwhile, many boys still wear their pa soe (men’s longyi).

The result: people joke that girls are more up-to-date than boys. But boys reply with a laugh, saying longyis are cheaper than pants and more suitable for Myanmar weather.

“Whether a man is handsome or not, he looks better in a white shirt and longyi,” says 28-year-old Ko Thura Myo. “When you meet an elderly person, you can easily impress them by wearing traditional clothes.”

Hip-hop singer Zaw Htay is a big fan of baggy shirts and trousers, but he says longyis will never vanish. He still wears them when he goes to his guitar shop or attends cultural celebrations.

“The style here has changed quite a lot over the last five years,” says the 22-year-old rapper. “Both boys and girls have become more trendy, but the elderly people understand as long as it’s not too excessive.”

Ma Lei Lei Phyu, a 23-year-old marketing assistant, says her wardrobe has changed immensely in the last five years.

Before, it contained only longyis, long skirts and loose blouses. Now they stand alongside the short skirts, trousers and colourful blouses she once avoided.

“I wear modern clothes, but I still love traditional dresses,” she says. “My parents know I’m keeping up with the times, but also keeping the modesty of a Myanmar woman in mind.”

Girls in traditional clothes are often seen as more modest. But Ma Hla Hla Yee, the wife of designer Tatee, says some girls wear a longyi and yin bone ingyi (traditional blouse) just to attract attention from foreign men. “It obviously shows that you can’t judge people by the way they dress, ” she says.