Known to be “The Queen of Thai Silk”, Her Majesty Queen Sirikit of Thailand has spent most of her time dedicated and supporting local Thai weaving villages and communities, preserving the cultures and traditions. This began way before I was born. Since I remember when I was young, the pictures I saw whether it’s in school, out in the public or anywhere on the internet, I would always see the Queen wearing garments made out of Thai Silk. Back then I never really knew or understand why she was wearing it everywhere, when Thailand is a tropical and warm country, I never thought that someone would wear Thai Silk to work during most of the days, when obviously she could afford more expensive and comfortable clothing, until I realised the importance Thai Silk in the past few years.
It first began when she was newly crowned as the Queen of Thailand, both King Bhumibol Adulyadej and Queen Sirikit would travel to all provinces in Thailand in order to visit and see the people’s needs to improve the lives of people, especially ones that are living in rural areas. When they both visited the Northeastern part of Thailand, the Queen saw the beauty in the Phuthai dresses and Praewa Silks that the villagers were wearing to welcome the father and mother figure of Thailand. Consequently, she had an initiative of bringing back the art of weaving local textiles. Her Majesty has spoken to the villagers to weave the fabrics that she will purchase through The Foundation for the Promotion of Supplementary Occupations and Related Technique. Soon enough, she ordered the villagers to increase the volume and the size of the woven fabrics, therefore generating income for the villagers in each household, as well as reviving the arts of weaving.
In addition to travelling around Thailand, and reintroducing weaving local textiles, she has also brought Thai Silk to an international level when both the young King and Queen went on a Royal Tour in the USA and Europe in 1960. The Queen wanted a wardrobe that combines contemporary and Thai style for her appearances. She surrounded herself with a team of Thai designers led by Urai Lueumrung and the famous French couturier, Pierre Balmain, to create from couture gowns to cocktail dresses and day-to-day wear. Most of her outfits use Thai Silk as a representative of the nation but shared similarities in the style depending on the degree formality. Her appearances in the Thai National Costumes and Thai Textile gowns were very successful, therefore Queen Sirikit was named one of the people who was chosen to be in The International Best Dressed Hall of Fame from Vanity fair.
As it is known until today that The Queen’s royal intention is to preserve the beauty of local Thai Textiles, she opened up Queen Sirikit Museum of Textiles in Bangkok as a source knowledge for the public to understand about Thai Textiles, the Thai National Costume and her royal outfits. Since I was young, watching Queen Sirikit from the television, travelling alongside the King, visiting rural areas around Thailand and working closely with villagers, wearing Thai silks everywhere she went and still making the clothes look timeless and elegant, as well as knowing her aims and positive intentions have inspired me and increase my determination to full potential with this project.
Furthermore, by researching and watching multiple videos about Thai Silk has made me realised the fact that Thai Silk is very delicate, yet hard to make, but people still look over these facts. Seeing Queen Sirikit worked so hard for decades to revive the arts of weaving back into Thai Culture has also inspired me to bring these silks into the spotlight, allowing people to see that value and appreciate the work that has gone behind each metre of silk.
From all the above pictures, Queen Sirikit as clearly shown that Thai Silk is a timeless piece of fabric which doesn’t have to be tailored using the same style and have to be worn only on important occasions. Yet Thai Silks could be worn daily and on any occasion, we just need to tailor it depending on the formality.
Not only is Queen Sirikit being my inspiration in starting this project, but also moving to study in the UK has made me realised that I can use this opportunity to create further steps for Thai Silk. Looking back, before I came to the UK, I thought to myself of bringing clothes that are made by Thai fabric, whether it’s Thai Silks or the fabrics famously worn in Phuket, tailored it as a ready-to-wear. I wanted to bring my own culture during the study here, however, there wasn’t enough time as I didn’t really know what to do or how it would be possible. Now that there is this project, I wanted to incorporate the biggest inspiration in my life about Thai Silk as well as my personal wants of bringing the culture to a foreign place as it is a chance for me to work on Thai Silks as I wanted, but also showing it to foreigners at the same time.
References:
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“Pantip – Learn, Share & Fun”. Pantip.Com, https://pantip.com/topic/35717095. Accessed 25 Jan 2019.
““งามสมบรมราชินีนาถ” ราชินีผู้นำความงามผ้าไทยสู่สายตาชาวโลก”. MGR Online, 2017, https://mgronline.com/celebonline/detail/9600000081377. Accessed 25 Jan 2019.
“Fit For A Queen: Her Majesty Queen Sirikit’S Wardrobe Created By Pierre Balmain – Google Arts & Culture”. Google Arts & Culture, https://artsandculture.google.com/exhibit/xAJSA6Wcte14LA. Accessed 25 Jan 2019.
PIMSAMAN, PUTSAPONG. “ฉลองพระองค์สุดวิจิตรแห่งพระบรมราชินี ผู้พลิกชีวิตผ้าไหมไทย – ELLE Thailand”. ELLE Thailand, 2018, https://www.ellethailand.com/fashion/queen-sirikit-thai-silk-dresses/. Accessed 25 Jan 2019.
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