THE KEBAYA: The Indonesian ladies traditional and national dress.
By: Neneng Tarigan, BSD City, Indonesia.
Kebaya is a traditional dress most likely a traditional blouse worn by Indonesian women which is usually combined with a sarong or wrapper cloth as a substitute of skirt in western country.
It is hard to say where the sarong or the wrapper cloth type of wearing, originally come from, because we can see that type of wrapper cloth in Japan, in Nepal, in Egypt, in Malaysia, in Samoa in Indonesia, or in almost every country in the world! The same goes with Kebaya, to my very personal point of view, Kebaya is like a typical blouse in Spain, especially the one with embroidery or laces, or it looks also like a similar blouse type of Kebaya in Burma/Myanmar and Thailand, or if the Kebaya is a bit longer or up to knee length, it looks like Baju Kurung in Malaysia, Brunei or Vietnamese women traditional dress. Frankly speaking, it is not easy to trace back the origin of Kebaya. Anyhow, Kebaya has been taken as the Indonesian traditional and national dress, that every Indonesian lady from cities to sub urban ones, enjoyed wearing it.
It is hard to say where the sarong or the wrapper cloth type of wearing, originally come from, because we can see that type of wrapper cloth in Japan, in Nepal, in Egypt, in Malaysia, in Samoa in Indonesia, or in almost every country in the world! The same goes with Kebaya, to my very personal point of view, Kebaya is like a typical blouse in Spain, especially the one with embroidery or laces, or it looks also like a similar blouse type of Kebaya in Burma/Myanmar and Thailand, or if the Kebaya is a bit longer or up to knee length, it looks like Baju Kurung in Malaysia, Brunei or Vietnamese women traditional dress. Frankly speaking, it is not easy to trace back the origin of Kebaya. Anyhow, Kebaya has been taken as the Indonesian traditional and national dress, that every Indonesian lady from cities to sub urban ones, enjoyed wearing it.
Here are some examples why Indonesian ladies are very fond of wearing the Kebaya either to a big reception, to special occasions or even wearing it in their daily live. The reason is simple, to me, wearing the Kebaya, does not only gives women comfortability but also self confidence because they may look a bit slimmer and elegant.
Now, the choice is yours! Wherever you from, it is nice trying to wear the Kebaya, it is easy to modify and adjust it. You can feel the joy of wearing the Kebaya! Happy trying!
