You know, there is still a great number of norms and customs that I observe when I go back to my ancestral home in Melaka, one of which includes making sure that I dress up appropriately when visiting my elders. That would mean a modest baju kurung with headscarves and strictly no pants.
I learned that the Malays have this romance with the kain after having graduated from loincloths and/or whatever the people from the early age wore that is before the discovery of woven fabric. For the women, it was the kemban that was synonymous with the image of a Malay girl living on treehouses as recorded in post-colonial history books. Kemban is actually a Balinese traditional attire before kebaya came about. People from various parts of the archipelago were also big on this strapless, shoulder-baring sensual concept of beauty. In fact before the internet age, before anything electronic came into being, kemban-clad girls were the subject of interest for raging testesterone.
With the influx traders coming from all ends of the world, the Malays began to conceal most of their bodyparts with different fabrics and styles. Islamic traders who spread the word of Islam further encouraged people to cover up. The adaptation from jelabiyya and whatever the far east and west brought upon our shores was localised and soon became part and parcel with adat istiadat. After years of wearing kain batik, pelikat, dewangga or what have you, somebody adapted the style of salwar kameez and made pants out of the sarongs by cutting and sewing the middle part of the sarong creating what we know today as seluar. Of course by this time the Malays have seen the practicality of wearing pants. However it was never questioned why women at that time could not wear pants. These pants are then paired with slip on blouses that probably have Gujerati and Chinese influence. We girls got stuck with the airy and sometime clumsy kain worn with whatever that can kurung and ikat our body.
Baju kurung have many names based on its specific style namely cekak musang, teluk belanga, empat saku, pesak sebelah, gunting jubah, kancing tujuh, and belah bentan. Depending on one's social strata, during the days of our forefathers, the penghulu adat will make sure one observes adat pakai Melayu, which simply means that there is a certain way one should dress according to one's social protocol. In other cultures, dressing up a lady in the past has always been a tad bit tedious. In adat pakai melayu, dressing up a man is taxing nonetheless. Imagine, upon discovering that the seluar, before the invention of thongs and CK briefs, orang kebanyakan were only allowed to put on thin and cottony fabric, so in the hot sun, what's beneath the seluar leaves very little to the imagination. So it was ruled that the baju and seluar has to be worn with a samping. The anak raja, pembesar and orang patut-patut could wear their samping kneelength while the orang kebanyakan must wear theirs labuh. In fact, kita-kita dan awak-awak (people like you and me) were not allowed to dress flamboyantly while the upper class had to observe different ways of wearing the destar, tanjak, keris among other ceremonial gears. There were issues of color, material and susun letak to be considered when dressing up.
Another well known baju is the kebaya. Even the kebaya has an interesting history. Said to have been inspired by the abaya, or long overcoat normally worn by Arab women. The shorter and thinner version was made popular in Singalaga, Bali where the kemban girls were advised to slip on a badju and secure the front opening with pins to avoid the roving eyes of expatriate Dutch officers. Soon it became a way to identify who's who. The upper crust and Dutch officials could wear fine fabrics like silk, rich muslin, velvet and brocade, the Eurasians were only allowed to wear white kebaya trimmed with European lace, while the working class and the poor could only wear cotton. Soon the kebaya was made a national symbol for Indonesia, popularized by Ibu Kartini. So much for covering up, the traditional kebaya is worn form-fitting over somekind of body binding or corset, together with a wraparound figure hugging sarong, major hindrance for movement and breathing. One would think, hey, sensual beauty through restrictive clothing has become a thing of pride. Clothes for menfolks continued to be breathier and lighter and more comfortable(thanks to the Ozzies and other beach culture, Malay men nowadays wear bermuda shorts more often than pulicat).
There are many types of kebaya too date, for example, the kebaya pendek nyonya-style that Kak Endon is actively bringing back to life, and then there is the kebaya labuh, also a Nyonya style, where an anak baju is worn under long loose fitting blouse, with kerongsang and cucuk sanggul. In Indonesia, there are a great variety of kebaya for various occassions. The Sundanese version is the most popular, while the Kebaya Kota Baru is often associated with old peasant village women, The Javanese potongan lurus is appropriate for the more ample bodied. Remember when Megawati Sukarnoputri was sworn in, she wore the tight fitting Sundanese version which was considered a major fashion and istiadat faux pas. Rules, oh , rules....pening!
Nowadays, the possibility of improvising traditional kurung and and kebaya is endless. They have been improvised and metamorphasized to myriads of fashionable extravaganza. Some designs even goes back to zaman tak cukup kain and zaman orang tak pakai baju.
Both kebaya and baju kurung are often associated with propriety and manners. While the former became highly controversial because of its form-fitting nature, the latter is often associated with religious festivities.
Ramadhan is just around the corner, my baju kurungs are ready for Hari Raya.
Leher bertebuk bulan-bulan,bersulam insang pari,yang ada tulang belud,yang itu jari lipan,disemat kancing sebutir,buah baju tunggal-tunggalan,yang ada bulat menelur burung,bertangkai menudung petai,serba molek dibawa majlis dipakai santaipotong pesak gantungparas lutut kelam bayang melintas anjungkain bersusun ombak mengaluntertib langkah sopan santuncantik berseri baju kurungtatarias adat pakai Melayupantas anggun buang yang canggungMaka berkata orang tua-tua....Kain Melaka dua hastaBaju raja ke InderagiriBukannya malu dipandang mukamalu hamba diri sendiri
P.S : Kak Tenah, a peek into my shiok sendiri activities.
