As you might wonder, what does this have to do with fashion in Malaysian ethics? In the golden days, we were united from many different places by different ethnicities. Every fashion from different ethnicities has their own style and origin. This does not necessarily mean they are copying other ethnicities. Going back to the map we can see how these ethnicities evolve to different  places and bring their own cultures as a sense of identity. 

Five centuries ago, The word "iranun" literally meant "a kingdom based on the sea." The Iranun are the people who came from this place. In this case, the Iranun people were ruled by a sultan (king), which is an Islamic political figure, in which the kingdom then ruled what is now Brunei and the Malaysian state of Sabah, as well as Mindanao Island in the southern Philippines.

Like other every Muslim community, the Iranun are Sunni Muslims following the five pillars of Islam. The Iranun do follow these principles though they are not particularly rigid about them. Spirits are always feared and believed in by the Iranun. They, therefore, take part in various animistic ceremonies outside of Islam.

Every effort to evangelize the Iranun people was resisted. Even now, their attitude toward Christianity is one of indifference. In the Philippines, attempts to contact them have not produced many positive outcomes. Reaching the Sabah Iranun people in Malaysia is most likely not being attempted at all. Malaysia being a Muslim country could likely mist some effect on this matter. 

As we noticed here, the Iranun are like Van Gogh when it comes to colors. They are a mixture of vibrant and dark colors. Other than that, they also frost themselves in jewelry. Obviously in the picture, their headpiece is always a statement to the outfit. Not only for women but also for men. 

One the first picture, it is actually a wedding picture. Some details can be pointed out. Both the bride and groom have henna painted on their hands. Both are also wearing a gold neck piece. The color patterns are also matching to symbolize unity and love. 

During the fourth Usunan Festival series in Kota Belud, Sabah, young women from the Iranun community carried their handcrafted basket. If the picture above focuses on something more ceremonial, this photo focuses more on the tradition. As you can see the color scheme for the clothes are heavily influenced by Philippine culture. 

This is as mentioned, they are migrants from the southern Philippines. They brought along their cultural identity to Sabah to find a new place to evolve. 

The similarities between are the use of the color red and black on both genders. Differences between them are that the Iranun are mostly exposed to Islam but the national religion of the Philippines is Roman Catholicism. Hence, explained the difference of style between two. 

As you can see here the headpiece is always the statement that is iconic for this ethnic. The tawung and all the other traditional headdresses of the Iranun are indeed priceless parts of the rich legacy of the tribe. These headdresses, which are elaborately made and usually further accented with beads or metals, have always played the dual role of decorative accents and status and identity markers in Iranun civilization.  The tawung is prepared from materials that can be found locally, showcasing the ability and craftsmanship highly regarded in most Filipino societies.

"Tindal, naught's so distant or dreadful but what for thee shall be tame and pleasant. As thousands more of a mass of ills in battle must I endure, so thousands of my heart's warmest fervent do I vow to prove my love to thee, to make it shine as bright as the eternal light of the moon."  This the dramatized version of a dialogue between Tungu and Tindal. The two fictional characters of their own love story. A story that was never much heard across Malaysia but an icon to the Rungus.

If you are going uphill, you are reaching for the top of the world. But if you walk along the Borneo island you will reach its tip: Kudat. A step further is where Borneo island meets the sea. However, that is not the only iconic fact about Kudat. It also resides in another tribe out of all tribes in Malaysia. Rungus. 

Colorful traditional attire, famous for its intricate embroidery and bright colors, supplements this linguistic heritage. These dresses, which show both the artistic workmanship of the community and its relation with tradition, form one of the common sights in festivals and other cultural functions.

Amongst all these tribes, the Rungus are known to possess an authentic culture that has really survived. According to the locals, the handloom cotton to make up their traditional dress is termed as "kapok." In terms of traditional attire, black is preferred by the Rungus people of Sabah. The concept of using black because it symbolizes strength or divinity, which would protect the owner from evil spirits is the logic behind this preference. Some put forward the argument that the use of black conforms to natural surroundings and lifestyle of the time.

In Iranun culture, headdresses symbolically denote either a person's marital state or position in the community. The tawung has come to represent both individual identity and collective tradition in every ceremonial and important event. The Iranun headpieces are those that perfectly capture a complicated fusion of artistic expression and societal relevance to add up to the larger story of Philippine cultural identity.

Traditional Rungus women's clothes are extravagantly decorated with beads handmade by their own hands. Centuries ago, Rungus women could be seen wearing these outfits in doing routine chores like sewing, cooking, and fetching water. Today, these costumes are worn only for occasions such as welcoming visitors to the longhouse or for weddings, celebrations, and deaths.

Nevertheless, the traditional clothing worn by the Rungus male is very elementary in nature and consists of a "sandai" or "sopilang," a term applied to long cloth worn diagonally whereas "hokos" is a type of belt made of cloth normally red, green and yellow; "sigar" is head wear while "baduh" is used to refer to a shirt or sarong worn in the usual dance of Sumundai Mongigol.

Among the Rungus ethnic group, the parents choose their partners for the young males without giving them an opportunity to choose their wives. When the sons come of age and are ready to undertake marriage responsibilities, compatible partners are sought from the parents. This usually takes place when the parents of a young man get a girl they admire; they pay a visit to the parents of the girl to find out whether she is engaged or not.

The Rungus ethnic community wed their wives in three ways, which includes:

1. Ontong Totuo: This is a large-scale, wholly ceremonial wedding where the bride and husband dress up in traditional Rungus attire. These kinds of weddings are usually planned by wealthy families.

2. Ontong Kobasan: This is usually the marriage of the less well off, and is generally a simpler wedding ceremony. It is often characterized by less than full traditional clothing.

3. Ontong Moden Om Laid: This is a modern version of traditional weddings, adapted to suit the taste and lifestyle of a modern world. In doing this, however, it also follows the proper Rungus wedding arrangement to the letter.

One of the Wonders of Malaysia is found in Ranau, Kinabalu Mountain. This is the tallest mountain in Southeast Asia. Nevertheless, our next ethnic group is also found in Ranau. Dusun In the state of Sabah, North Borneo of Malaysia, they are the collective name for an indigenous ethnic community. They account altogether as the biggest ethnic group in Sabah.

The "Koubasanan costume" is the general term for traditional Kadazandusun costume made from black velvet cloth and embellished with distinctive embroidery motifs, beads, flowers, colored buttons, golden laces, and linen.

The Koubasanan costume consists of the traditional attire common in the district of Penampang, usually marketed as the cultural emblem of the Kadazandusun people. The Koubasanan costume in the district of Penampang consists of 'Sinuangga' for women and 'Gaung' for men. The 'Sinuangga' is comprised of the following: a hat called 'Siga', which is made up of woven dastar fabric; a waistband called 'Himpogot', also known as the money belt, made out of linked silver coins; 'Tangkong', which consists of copper loops or rings that are secured by strings or threads; and 'Gaung', which is adorned with gold lace and silver buttons. Each locality often has its variations in koubasanan costume regarding embellishments and designs.

For example, the traditional set of koubasanan dresses for Kadazandusun women in Penampang would include a sleeveless blouse with long skirts without any hats, while for the Kadazandusun women of Papar, it consists of a long-sleeved blouse, a knee-length skirt, and a siung hat. In fact, the various clans of the Kadazandusun tribe in Sabah have more than 40 types of different Koubasanan dresses.

The Dusun ethnic group is divided into more than 30 sub-ethnic, dialect, or tribe groups. Each of them speaks a slightly different dialect of the Dusunic and Paitanic family language which formerly accounted for about 40% of Sabah's population. Most of them are understandable to one another. The term "Dusun" became popular because the British colonial rulers so named it, appropriating the term from the Malays of Brunei.

Whether you noticed it or not, out of the 5, three ethnicities are from Sabah, so let's go ahead to the neighboring state, which is Sarawak. The Usun Apau Plateau, sometimes called Usun Apo, in Plieran River valley, or Apo Kayan Highlands, is a far-inland forested plateau situated on the border separating Malaysia and Indonesia. This area falls within the current Indonesian province of North Kalimantan, while Malaysia's Sarawak is held by the Kenyah people to be their place of origin. The plateau was indeed the most significant number of congregation place for Kenyah populations between the late 19th century up to the early 1980s.

Their tattoos are deeply spiritual in meaning and usually depict protection or coming of age. These tattoos, often made up of nature, animal, and space-influenced designs, sometimes fill up the calf muscles and forearms. Telenga, the stretching of the ear lobes with copper or brass weights for decoration, is another symbolic tradition among women from Kenyah. In this culture, it is a tradition to represent beauty and status, and the length of the earlobe can be interpreted to mean the woman's devotion to her family line.

In the past, Kenyah warriors would don a coat made of bark-cloth for headhunting and initiation as a warrior. Since Kenyan men and women still wear these coats on special occasions and consider them invaluable products of their culture, these coats survived the decline of headhunting.

Prevalent on the jacket border are huge curved designs comprising dragon, or aso, motifs, which are prestige symbols Fig. 1).

These images are stenciled onto the skin using a wooden pattern employed by men and using a reddish natural dye to obtain the color. Even today, these patterns are status markers because people believe that someone who uses motifs proclaiming a position to which they are not entitled would be punished by the spirit world. The punishment would be something like a tragedy in illness or some kind of accident that could not be explained.

The white bark fabric comes from the Ti tree itself, as it is known to the Kenyah Lepo' Ke. Some scientists say this is the same Antiaris toxicaria commonly called ipoh, used for extracting poison and making venomous darts. However, few convincing studies were done on this subject and there is considerable doubt surrounding this.

In Kenyah, young and old, wear traditional clothes. The motif or pattern which is typical of the Dayak Kenyah tribe consists of the ornament arrangement of colorful beads adorning black cloth worn as basic material for clothing. This is to show that the Dayak Tribe uses nature with discretion in everyday life.

The traditional dresses for women are called ta, and for men, they are called sapei sapaq. They usually dress up in traditional dresses made to order to greet the grand occasion and great guests.

Ta is the headdress, traditionally made of pandan and worn by the elderly. It addresses its subordinates as ta, while Sapei addresses tops, shirts, or skirts as inoq. The superiors and subordinates are decorated with sequins.

Women who wear tas generally complete them with an untaiannya or an uleng, a beaded necklace of coloured beads worn beneath the chest.

In school, we learn the great colonization happening in Sarawak. But barely ever they teach us about the ethnics affected. Borneo is another island from our land. The people has a totally different background. That is what the British colonists and outsiders referred to them as, though the Lun Bawangs insist they never called themselves Murut. The word Murut means "to massage" or "to give dowry", both of which in the language of the Lun Bawangs not really related to their identity. The colonists perhaps adopted the term Murut, even from the name of a mountain called "Murud" fairly near an historic Lun Bawang town, to define this ethnic group, although it may have simply meant "mountain men" or "hill people.".

That is what the British colonists and outsiders referred to them as, though the Lun Bawangs insist they never called themselves Murut. The word Murut means "to massage" or "to give dowry", both of which in the language of the Lun Bawangs not really related to their identity. The colonists perhaps adopted the term Murut, even from the name of a mountain called "Murud" fairly near an historic Lun Bawang town, to define this ethnic group, although it may have simply meant "mountain men" or "hill people.".

Dress in this respect can show who the Lun Bawangs are. Women traditionally wear a long skirt-a so-called tawa-accompanied by a brightly colored blouse. The skirts are beaded in a detailed fashion, normally with colors of red, black, and white prominent. Women also wear beaded belts, bracelets, and necklaces, many including intricate geometric designs that can represent prosperity and harmony.

Traditionally, men wear a loincloth called abpar and include a jacket made of handwoven fabric on special occasions apart from other modest yet distinctive pieces of clothing. The traditional colors of red, white, and black in both men's and women's outfits symbolize power, purity, and balance, respectively.

Traditional dress, the Ngepan Adang, is worn during festivals and major events by the people of Lun Bawang. Men may wear a headband or a small decoration on the head with beads, while women may wear very high, decorative caps or headdresses with a great deal of silver trim and sometimes feathers. One such common occasion where traditional dress is worn is during the Irau Aco Lun Bawang festival, which celebrates the culture and heritage of Lun Bawang and is held annually.