Kira

Kira is a traditional Bhutanese dress for a woman. It is a large, rectangular textile that was wrapped around the body, folded into a wide pleat in front and fastened at the shoulders with ornate silver and gold brooches. The dress was belted tightly and bloused about the waist to form a pouch. A kira was worn over a blouse and topped by a jacket.

This kira is made of cotton with raw silk patterning. It was woven as a long narrow panel with supplementary weft and then cut into ten panels and joined together. The width of the panels indicates the age of this piece, since it was created before the introduction of wider looms. The plaid design features maroon with accents of green, yellow, blue, and white. Groups of five multicolored, geometric cross shapes are centered in squares created by the yellow weave.