Phuket Nyonya

When you come to Phuket, you might see a number of Phuketian ladies dress in Nyonya. In Phuket, Nyonya refers to traditional ladies Peranakan clothing. Nyonya is suitable for weddings, ordination ceremonies, and other social activities and every Friday government officers wear Nyonya to work.

An Introduction to Phuket Nyonya:

Nyonya outfits comprise of 4 items. The first are the beautiful blouses. These are made from traditional Nyonya fabric and lace. The former feature flowers in beautiful colours. The latter is simple lace. The blouses come in one unique colour. Next are the Sarongs. These sarongs also feature flowers which match with the colour of the blouse. There are plain flower patterned sarongs, whilst some are decorated with colorful beads and others textured with gold paint. The next item is the elegant beaded shoes. These colorful beaded shoes are designed to match the beautiful flowered patterned blouses and batik sarongs. If you ever wear Nyonya, never forget the beautiful gold accessories! To begin you’ll need golden hair pins. Those who wear Nyonya usually accessorise their hair with beautiful hair pins. Golden blouse pins are another necessary accessories. These pins come in a form of 3-piece sets which are made from old coins, used as buttons. Most importantly, you cannot forget the gold necklaces, bracelets, and ankle bracelets.

Wearing Nyonya is slightly different when it comes in the form of bridal wear. Brides wear plain white blouses beneath long gowns, together with long bold Nyonya sarongs. Bridesmaids wear almost identical outfits, except they wear short lace blouses instead of a gown.

Colors of Nyonya

As mentioned earlier, Nyonya blouses and batik sarongs are quite colourful. Softer shades of either warm or cool tones are worn! Blouses and sarongs are usually 2 contrasting colours, for example, red and yellow. However, you can wear any colour of blouse and choose a black batik sarong, which features flowers the same colour as those on the blouse. For example, you can wear a blue blouse and black batik sarong which has blue flowers. And white goes with any colour.

If you are interested in trying, or owning this beautiful Nyonya, you can head to Thalang Road, in old Phuket town! There are many stores where you can shop for Nyonya. Nyonya are available for rent and sale. In addition, you can have them tailor-made for you. Nyonya blouses usually come in one size only and prices start from 800 Baht going up to 3,000 Baht, while sarongs cost anywhere between 100 and 3,000 Baht.