A
Kebaya is a traditional blouse-dress combination worn by women in
Indonesia,
Malaysia,
Brunei,
Burma,
Singapore,
southern Thailand. It is sometimes made from sheer material and usually worn with a
sarong or
batik kain panjang, or other traditional woven garment such as
ikat,
songket with a colorful motif.
The
kebaya is the
national costume of Indonesia, although it is more accurately endemic to
Java,
Sunda and
Bali[1].
Kebaya is inspired from
Arab region clothing;
[2] the
Arabic word
abaya means clothing.
The earliest form of Kebaya originates in the court of the
Javanese Majapahit Kingdom as a means to blend the existing female
Kemban,
torso wrap of the aristocratic women to be more modest and acceptable
to the newly adopted Islam religion. Aceh, Riau and Johor Kingdoms and
Northern Sumatra adopted the Javanese style kebaya as a means of social
expression of status with the more
alus or refined Javanese overlords
[3].
The name of Kebaya as a particular clothing type was noted by the
Portuguese when they landed in
Indonesia. Kebaya is associated with a type of
blouse
worn by Indonesian women in 15th or 16th century. Prior to 1600, kebaya
on Java island were considered as a sacred clothing to be worn only by
royal family,
aristocrats (
bangsawan) and
minor nobility, in an era when peasant men and many women walked publicly bare-chested.
Slowly it naturally spread to neighbouring areas through trade, diplomacy and social interactions to
Malacca,
Bali,
Sumatra,
Borneo,
Sulawesi and the
Sultanate of Sulu and
Mindanao [4][5][6]
Javanese kebaya as known today were noted by Raffles in 1817, as being
of silk, brocade and velvet, with the central opening of the blouse
fastened by brooches, rather than button and button-holes over the
torso wrap
kemben, the kain (and unstitched wrap fabric several metres long erroneously termed 'sarong
in English (a sarung (Malaysian accent: sarong) is stitched to form a tube, like a Western dress)
After hundreds of years of regional acculturation, the garments have
become highly localised expressions of ethnic culture, artistry and
tailoring traditions.
The earliest photographic evidence of the kebaya as known today date from 1857 of Javanese, Peranakan and Eurasian styles.
[7]
The quintessential
kebaya is the Javanese kebaya as known today is essentially unchanged as noted by Raffles in 1817
[8][9]. It consists of the blouse (
kebaya) of cotton , silk, lace, brocade or velvet, with the central opening of the blouse fastened by a central brooch (
kerongsang)
where the flaps of the blouse meet. Traditional kebaya had no buttons
down the front. A typical three-piece kerongsang is composed of a
kerongsang ibu (mother piece) that is larger and heavier than the other two
kerongsang anak (child piece).
Kerongsang
brooch often made from gold jewelry and considered as the sign of
social status of aristocracy, wealth and nobility, however for
commoners and peasant women, simple and plain kebaya often only
fastened with modest
safety pin (
peniti).
The blouse is commonly semi-transparent and worn over the torso wrap or
kemben. The skirt or
kain is an unstitched fabric wrap around three metres long. The term
sarong in English is erroneous, the
sarung (Malaysian accent: sarong) is actually stitched together to form a tube, like a Western dress- the
kain is unstitched, requires a helper to dress (literally wrap) the wearer and is held in place with a string (
tali), then folded this string at the waist, then held with a belt (
sabuk or
ikat pinggang), which may hold a decorative pocket.
[edit] Varieties
There are two main varieties. The blouse, known as
baju kebaya
may be of two main form: the semi-transparent straighter cut blouse of
the Java, Bali and the more tightly tailored Sunda kebaya and the more
Islamic compatible, plainer
baju kurung is a loose-fitting,
knee-length long-sleeved blouse worn in the more adherent Muslim areas-
including former Kingdom of Johor-Riau (now Malaysia), Sumatra and
parts of coastal Java.
In Java, Bali and Sunda, the kain is commonly batik which may be from plain stamped cotton to elaborately hand-painted
batik tulis embroidered silk with gold thread. In
Lampung, the kain is the traditional
tapis- an elaborate gold-thread embroidered ikat with small mica discs.
[10]
Sumatera, Flores, Lemata Timor, and other islands commonly use kain of
ikat or songket. Sumba is famous for kain decorated with
lau hada: shells and beads.
[11]
During
Dutch colonization
of the island, European women began wearing the less restrictive and
cooler kebaya as a formal or social dress. European women wore shorter
sleeve and total length cotton in prints.
The day kebaya of the Eurasians was of white cotton trimmed with European handmade lace- commonly from Bruges or
Holland and black silk for evening wear.
In the
Malacca region, a different variety of kebaya is called "nyonya kebaya" worn by those of Chinese ancestry: the
Peranakan people. The
Nyonya kebaya is different in its' famously intricately hand-beaded shoes (
kasut manek) and use of kain with Chinese motive batik or imported printed or hand-painted Chinese silks.
[edit] Political Significance
The only woman present during Indonesia's Proclamation of Independence, Dutch-educated activist
SK Trimurti- wore
kebaya cementing it as the female dress of Nationalism.
In Japanese internment camps
during the Second World War, Indonesian female prisoners refused to wear the Western dress allocated them and instead wore
kebaya as a display of Nationalist and racial solidarity separate from fellow Chinese, Europeans and Eurasian inmates.
[12]
The 21st of April is celebrated in Indonesia as National Kartini Day
where Raden Ayu Kartini, the female suffragist and education advocate
is remembered by schoolgirls wearing traditional dress according to
their region. In Java, Bali and Sunda it is the
kebaya.
[1]
Cultural rivalry between Malaysian and Indonesia has given rise to media-based spats over the true ownership of the '
kebaya.
Former President
Megawati Sukarnoputri is a public champion of
kebaya and wears fine red
kebaya whenever possible in public forums and 2009 Presidential election debates.
The
Suharto-era bureaucrat wives' social organisation
Dharma Wanita wears a uniform of gold kebaya, with a red sash (
selendang) and stamped batik pattern on the
kain unique to
Dharma Wanita. The late Indonesian first lady and minor aristocrat Tien Suharto was also a prominent advocate of the
kebaya.
[edit] Modern Usage and Innovations
Apart from traditional kebaya, fashion designers are looking into
ways of modifying the design and making kebaya a more fashionable
outfit. Casual designed kebaya can even be worn with jeans or skirts.
For weddings or formal events, many designers are exploring other types
of fine fabrics like laces to create a bridal kebaya.
Modern-day kebaya now incorporate modern Western tailoring
innovations such as clasps, zippers and buttons- zippers being a much
appreciated addition for ladies' requiring the bathroom, without
requiring being literally unwrapped by a helper- to the extent the true
kain is near unanimously rejected.
Other modern innovations have included the blouse
baju kebaya worn without the restrictive kemben, and eve the kebaya blouse worn with slacks or made of the fabric usually for the
kain panjang.
Modern kebaya blouses are also zippered at the back- for
practicality and for larger frame women's busts not to literally burst
out the front of their blouse.
The "
Singapore Girl" uniform worn by
Singapore Airlines stewardesses is a rather more tight-fitting interpretation of the traditional costume by French haute couture designer
Pierre Balmain in 1972, considered provocative and exploitative by some
[who?] at the time. The female flight attendant of
Malaysia Airlines also featuring batik kebaya as their uniform.
The female uniform of
Garuda Indonesia flight attendants is more authentic modern interpretations, the kebaya is designed in simple yet classic
kartini
style kebaya derived from 19th century kebaya of Javanese noblewomen.
The kebaya made from fire-proof cotton-polyester fabrics, with
batik sarongs in
parang or
lereng gondosuli motif, which also incorporate
garuda's wing motif and small dots represent
jasmine.
[13]