Ipoh World

Here we have a traditional cotton, floral Sam Fu, the traditional everyday dress of Chinese women in days gone by. They are rarely seen in Ipoh these days.

The Singapore National Library Board describe the Sam Fu as:

"Samfu (also spelt as samfoo) is the Cantonese term for an everyday attire that was popular with the Chinese in South China, Hong Kong and Singapore right up until the mid-20th century. Known as shanku in Mandarin, the two-piece outfit comprises an upper garment called a sam(meaning “shirt” or “blouse”) and a pair of trousers referred to as fu.¹Some rural people in China still wear the samfu today.

The sam is an upper garment with an overlap at the front that is secured with loops and toggles. The edges of the garment are outlined with bias-cut bands to prevent them from fraying. The fu is a pair of loose trousers with a wide waistband that is secured around the waist with a belt or cord. After the fu has been secured in place, the excess cloth around the waistline area is tucked in under the belt. Strips of cloth are also fastened around the ankles to prevent the bottoms of the trousers from flapping.

The samfu can be made from a variety of materials. In the past, rural folk wore samfu made from hard-wearing materials such as hemp and cotton that were usually dyed in sombre colours of black and blue. On the other hand, the wealthy had samfusmade from more luxurious materials such as silk, satin and brocade.

The samfu was traditionally made with hand-woven cloth produced by family members using Backstrap looms. As this was a slow and laborious process, much care was taken to cut the cloth as economically as possible for use in making a samfu."

Female labourers in the tin mines usually wore blue Sam Fu, almost as a uniform.