Bhutan’s national dress - My battle with the kira

Unless it’s exam time or I’ve had a big night, I can usually walk out of my house feeling reasonably confident that I’ve dressed myself correctly. Unfortunately, since I decided to start wearing a kira to work I haven’t had this luxury. After two weeks of trying to master the intricate process of folding and wrapping, getting dressed still takes me half an hour and at least four failed attempts. I can’t help but envy the elegance of the Bhutanese women as they glide around the city in their perfectly wrapped kiras while I struggle, tripping over my hem as I shuffle from my house to the office. 


Bhutan’s national dress code (Driglam Namzha ) was introduced in the 17th century and is worn everywhere that formal dress is expected i.e. the office, government buildings, school and special occasions.  In the 1980s Bhutan began to implement a series of laws to protect their culture from the dominant influence of China and India, and the national dress became enforceable by law. Anyone found in public out of national dress was charged by police.

Coming from Australia where the closest thing we have to a national dress is a flannelette shirt, boardshorts and thongs, the cultural importance of clothing is easy to underestimate.  But to the Bhutanese the significance of their clothing extends far beyond fashion or aesthetics. The debates surrounding Bhutan’s national dress symbolise many of the contentious issues facing modern Bhutan. The old vs the new. Culture and tradition vs modernisation. Cultural protection vs cultural diversity.

A Bhutanese woman in her kira and men wearing the gho which is their national dress.

The half kira

I find it hard to believe that anything, apart from perhaps childbirth, could be harder than putting on the kira. But the kira now worn by the majority of women in Bhutan (including me) has actually been adapted from the traditional full kira and is apparently much easier to put on. This transition has not been without controversy and has been a hot topic, even in national parliament.  While the younger generation sees the half kira as a necessary adaptation to modern life, older generations see it as cheapening of Bhutan’s traditional culture. Singay Dorki, 81, believes that “When you wear clothes in half, it means your life span gets shortened by half.” And others believe that this is just the beginning of the path that will inevitably lead to the loss of the kira altogether. 


Personally I see the adoption of the half kira as a positive compromise between the protection of culture and the inevitable modernisation of Bhutan. Women are able to meet the demands of modern life and still observe the national dress code. The half kira has prevented (at least temporarily) the complete abandonment of the kira. 

Attempting to look elegant in a kira!

And while I think that the full kira is beautiful and an important part of Bhutanese culture I don’t think I’ll be donning one anytime soon if I plan on making it to work before lunchtime