Other lands
The Bhutanese kira
The ankle-length wrapped dress of Bhutanese women, fastened at the shoulders with clasps and tied at the waist with a belt, worn with a blouse and jacket.
Presented by ClearTrust Free for wearers, makers and the curious.
The kira is the national dress of Bhutanese women. It is a rectangle of woven cloth wrapped round the body to the ankle, pinned at the shoulders and belted at the waist, and worn over a blouse with a short jacket. It is not a saree, but another wrapped garment of the Himalayan region.
Wrapped step by step
Each drawing shows the cloth so far, with the newest step outlined in gold. The figure is a front view; the wearer's left is on your right.
Step 1 Put on the wonju blouse, with the sleeves turned back. Step 2 Wrap the rectangle of cloth once round the body round the body to the ankle. Step 3 Fasten the cloth at both shoulders with the koma clasps. Step 4 Fold and tuck the cloth at the waist, and wind the kera belt round it and tie it. Step 5 Put on the toego jacket and fold back its cuffs. Step 6 Let the cloth fall to the ankle with the weave showing. Finished The Bhutanese kira, seen from the front.
Where it comes from
The kira is the women's counterpart of the gho, the knee-length robe worn by Bhutanese men. Both are worn as national dress and are required in schools, offices and government buildings. The kira is woven by women, mainly in the east of the country, on backstrap and other looms, in cotton, wool and silk, with patterns of supplementary weft that take months to make. Particular patterns are known by regional names. The brightly patterned kira of Bhutan is a distinct weaving tradition, and dress rules were set down in law to keep the national style in public places. Weavers often work in family workshops, and the finest cloths sell for a high price.
How it looks
The cloth is wrapped round the body and fastened at both shoulders with a pair of clasps, called koma, and a woven belt, the kera, is wound round the waist and tied. Under it, a blouse, the wonju, is worn, and over it a short open jacket, the toego. The cloth falls to the ankle with a bright striped or patterned weave, and the way the top is folded at the waist is part of the style. Many Bhutanese women wear a scarf, called a rachu, over one shoulder for formal occasions.
Who wears it and when
Women wear it daily to work and school, and for festivals, weddings and visits to the dzong, the fortress offices of each district. Silk and finely woven kira are worn for special days, and plainer ones for daily use. Younger women may use cheaper machine-made cloth, though woven kira from the east is valued as heirloom and a sign of skill. The cloth is folded and tied in the same way for centuries, and the wearer needs help at first. This guide gives the general form, and a maker, dresser or family may do it a little differently.
Sarees worn this way
Also part of it, and being written: Kira (The garment itself.), Gho (The matching dress of Bhutanese men.).
Sources and further reading
Original text and drawings by the EveryPallu desk, written with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. The drawings are simplified diagrams of the order of wrapping, not a lesson: how a drape is worn differs from family to family. If we have something wrong, tell us.