The go of men

The term »go« for the costume of male Bhutanese is a local form of the Tibetan gö and means very generally »clothes«.

For the Bhutanese the cut of the go is a variation of the Tibetan male costume (chuba), as designed by the Shabdrung. Like the chuba, the go is a coat which overlaps considerably in front and is tied by a belt. In Bhutan, however, a lot more cloth is pulled up through the belt than in Tibet. This allows a spacious belly pocket in which Bhutanese men can keep utensils of daily use, such as their bowl, betel, mobile telephone or knife. It furthermore gives the legs more space to move freely.

The women's kira

The term »kira« for the traditional costume of the women literally means »dress for wrapping up«. It consists of a rectangular piece of cloth which is sewn together from three lengths of cloth in the direction of the warp. The cloth is wrapped around the body in such a way that it makes a big fold in front. It is held together below the shoulders by two brooches and around the waist by a sash as tight belt. It is then pulled up through the belt so that the cloth makes a spacious belly pocket, in which articles of daily use can be stored. Women wear a blouse under the kira and cover it with a jacket. Although all kiras are worn in the same way, the amount of patterns, each of which has its own name, seems enormous. As this dress does not have a specific cut, different fashions only show in the patterns.