Miss Malaysia to wear songket at Miss Universe pageant

KUALA LUMPUR: Miss Malaysia Carey Ng will be wearing Terengganu 'songket' at the 62nd Miss Universe Pageant to be held in Moscow, Russia next month. 

The black 'songket' with gold flora motif was designed by famed designer Syomir Izwa, who took more than three months to produce the costume called 'The Princess of Perak'. 

'The Princess of Perak' consists of three pieces - top, pants and 'samping' - and will be worn by Ng during the Best in National Costume category at the competition. 

Syomir said he was delighted when Pageant Advisor and Mentor Elaine Daily asked him to engage with the project since he had always dreamt to showcase Malaysian culture and heritage to the world. 

"I used 12 metres of 'songket' and the total cost is RM25,000 since some of the 'songket' are vintage while some are custom-made," he told a press conference here, today. 

Syomir said three types of 'songket' were used, which were 'songket jalur bunga tanjung' for the top, 'songket bunga tabur' (pants) while the 'samping' was made using 'songket bunga penuh'. 

He also noted that he was attracted to Perak traditional costume since Ipoh, Perak is his 'kampung'. 

"And if we look at the other states, all their women's traditional dresses are kain sarung, different from Perak where the pants are used. 

Meanwhile Ng said she was thrilled with the costume, describing it as 'traditional with fashion twist', and easy to put on. - Bernama