Showcasing the beauty of 'Baju Impit'

TELUPID: Standing at 170 centimetres tall, Kimberly Lim makes heads turn in Sabah's traditional costume - 'Baju Impit'.

Offering unique embroidery designs in beautiful colours with a premium quality fabric, "Baju Impit" greatly magnifies her persona.

"The Baju Impit originated from Kampung Telupid. It is a traditional costume of the Dusun Labuk in the Telupid district," she said, explaining that "Impit" means "sempit" or tight-fitting.

"This is the first time Baju Impit is showcased on the Unduk Ngadau pageant stage," said Lim who was crowned as the Unduk Ngadau Borderless Telupid district-level recently.

As the name suggests, Baju Impit fits closely to the body of the wearer, thus clearly revealing their shape.

"Combining both hand and machine stiches, the Baju Impit has embroidery with floral motif.

"And it is exclusively decorated with 'Montailas' (a type of beads used for the costume)," she said.

The costume is usually paired with traditional accessories such as "kerongsang botungkat" (multiple coins brooch) and "kambot" (money belt made of British silver coins).

The 21-year-old Lim added that due to financial restrictions in the old days, only certain people could afford to have it.

"It's commonly worn during festivals and ceremonies like 'Alum Raami' (a ritual ceremony held in the Telupid area after harvesting paddy)," she said.

Lim, who is among those vying for the state-level Unduk Ngadau title for this year's Kaamatan or Harvest Festival, said the competition is one of the best platforms to showcase the traditional costumes of each district in Sabah.

"The finalists of Unduk Ngadau will be wearing traditional costumes as part of the judging criteria.

"As Unduk Ngadau Telupid, I hope I can promote our traditional costume as well as the uniqueness of the Dusun Labuk culture especially in the Telupid district," she said.

In 2015, the committee of Unduk Ngadau Kaamatan state-level led by Joanna Kitingan pushed the idea of going back to basics.

They started to emphasise on the contestants wearing authentic traditional costume of the district they represent. This led to many contestants unearthing rarely seen traditional costumes on the Unduk Ngadau stage.

Before that, costumes like "Sinuangga" of the Kadazan from Penampang, "Siya" of Kadazan Papar and "Sinipak" of Tindal Kota Belud were often worn during the pageant.

The month-long Kaamatan in Sabah is traditionally held as a thanksgiving gesture after the harvest of paddy.

In every Kaamatan Festival, the Unduk Ngadau pageant is usually the highlight of the occasion.

The pageant celebrates Huminodun, a maiden who was sacrificed by her father, Kinoingan, to save the people from famine by bringing about a bountiful harvest.

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