Did you know? The Kain Sarong:

It is a rectangular cloth, about 2 metres long with a band of design panel on one end of the cloth , this is refered to as the “kepala” , meaning “head of the sarong “ and the remaining, larger portion is the “badan” ( the body)  This is where the main feature of the design is placed, so when wearing the sarong, the kepala must be positioned at the front of the body.

How to Tie the Sarong! Watch this space for the video!

The kain lepas or  kain panjang is longer than the kain sarong . It is about 2 ½ meters  long. In this type of sarong, the motifs are usually repeated throughout and there is no “kepala”.

Batik are made of fine cotton. Nowadays, they are also made of various types of fabrics like , cotton voile, silk or polyester.

Tips on how to wear / tie the sarong.

• Position the “kepala sarong on the front of the body.

• Fold in the extra cloth , secure with a silver belt.  

Baju Panjang

The earliest nonya costumes worn with batik was a long sleeved, knee-length blouse, called the baju panjang”. The baju panjang has a full length opening with  a collar and is worn with an inner white cotton blouse with a high collar. Fabric used was a checked cotton of muted organic dye colours, mainly red , brown and dark indigo tones. It was known as kain chaylay and was sometimes used as a sarong fabric too.

Around 1890, the European traders introduced new luxurious fabrics. Hence the baju panjang took on a new look, with the use of transparent fabrics like organdie, voiles, silk and brocades. As the baju panjang has no buttons or zips, it was fastened with three brooches ( kerosang serong ) , it consists of a large paisley shaped brooch, called the kerosang ibu ( mother brooch) and 2 anak.  ( smaller brooches. ) A red or dark toned “ bimpo” or handkerchief was draped over a shoulder. This served the purpose of wiping the juice emitted from the chewing of “sireh” ( betel nuts)

Sarong & Kebaya ( Early Examples)                                      
Another version of Peranakan costume developed soon in the late 1900s. This could have been the adaptation of the Batavian fashion influence. The blouse became shorter and more figure hugging and were decorated with lace, thus it became known as the “kebaya rendah” . The nonyas preferred pastel colours. An all white kebaya was usually reserved for mourning periods.

Kerosang: to match the lighter and lacier kebayas, the kerosang ibu was found unsuitable. A single chain of three identical leaf-shaped brooches called the “kerosang rantay” was created. Designs on the kerosangs resulted in filigree lace-like setting. This became popular and is still the style most associated with Peranakan jewellery today.

Sarong & Kebaya  

By 1900s, there emerged the creation of “ sulam “ or embroidery on kebayas. Embroidery is done on a manual foot-operated sewing machine and the “SINGER” sewing machine was a popular household name then. A fine sheer cotton fabric called “ kasar rubia” or voile was widely used.
Simple embroidery on the edges of the kebaya were popularly refered to as “biku-biku” .

A STYLE OF BATIK DESIGN WITH Chinese elements became associated with the Peranakans of Singapore, Penang and Malacca. This is known as the “encim style batik and is characterized by  fine designs of bouquets of flowers, birds and butterflies. The colours used were vibrant and colourful.The Kedungwuni district of Pekalongan is still the heart of the encim style batik.

Figure – hugging and transparent with peek-a-boo cutwork, the nonyas in the past wore the kebayas with camisoles that would be embroidered or crotcheted along the edges and at the back. The kebayas  worn by Karen & Eva   features the use of modern fabrics like the organza- silk. Motifs of the legendary phoenix  is used on the orange kebaya , matched with a similar colour tone of orange silk sarong. The silk sarong is hand-beaded with sequins & beads.

Eva wears a green kebaya with a peacock motif , teamed with a contrasting purple beaded silk silk sarong.

Rumah Bebe’s contemporary styles of tailoring the the traditional embroidered cloth into a new east –to-wear style. The fabric used are silk and it can be worn like a coatee style with matching camisole.
There is no hard & fast rules on how to match your kebaya tops & sarongs . You may just like to match in the same co-ordinating tones, or sharp contrasting colours. Peranakan style are often a vibrant, colourful mix of colours.

Original Text & Clothing by Bebe Seet, Rumah Bebe  

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Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved.