Singapore, Sarong Kebaya and Style: Peranakan Fashion

The exhibition

A showcase of 136 items including various sarong, kebaya, Indian chintz robes, jewellery, and beaded sandals.

The baju and kebaya

Among the Peranakan garments presented in this exhibition, the upper garments are known as baju and kebaya.

The sarong, kain panjang and ebaya panjang

The lower garments for half of the body are called sarong (a long tubular skirt) and kain panjang (meaning "long upper garment") or, kebaya panjang. These were made by cutting pieces of batik fabric in straight lines and sewing them together.

The kebaya and sarong

Kebaya
A nyonya kebaya is typically identified as a sheer blouse, made using lightweight fabric.

Sarong
It is a large length of fabric sewn together to form a wide tube. The sarong is worn by both men and women in many parts of Southeast Asia.

The collar

The collar extends from the back of the neck down to the hems on either side of the front body. The sleeves are narrow and tubular, and gussets are added under the arms.

Garments in this style are worn extensively across the Indian Ocean region, and there are many surviving examples made with Indian sarasa (calico).

Craftsmanship

The preference for this pattern continued until the 19th century, and its legacy persisted afterwards through the patterns of Indonesian batik. During this era, batik artisans used natural dyes, with a limited number of colours.

19th century: Daily fashion of Peranakan women

The batik baju panjang was widely worn by Peranakan women in the late 19th century. The fabric often came in subdued shades with checkered patterns, or coloured with natural dyes.

The mid-19th century ones in particular featured a loose-fitting body and gussets under the arms, like the baju panjang. Afterwards, the kebaya gradually became a tighter, more form-fitting garment.

Kebaya and sarong
(1880s - 1910s / 1880s.)

Child's kebaya and sarong
(1890s - 1910s.)

The craft of lacework came to Asia by way of Goa, India in the 16th and 17th century, and became popular among the local people of southern India, Sri Lanka, and Malacca.

Accompanying the development of more luxurious kebaya decorated with lace, around this time a new style of batik known as batik Belanda ("Dutch batik") was created, featuring ornate patterns such as bouquets of flowers.

European, Eurasian, Javanese and Peranakan batik artists took part in the creation of batik Belanda designs, where batik artisans drew in wax on cloth.

Kebaya and Sarong
(1890s - 1910s / 1890s.)
by Eliza van Zuylen.

Nyonya is a term commonly used today to describe a Peranakan Chinese woman. Derived from the Portuguese word "nonha", the Malay term nyonya originally described women of European or mixed blood.

Baju
It is short tunic with a v-shaped opening for the head. Islamic in origin, the baju was worn throughout Southeast Asia.

Baju panjang is a longer version of the Baju, favoured by Peranakan women in the 19th century.

Kebaya and sarong
(1910s /1920-1925)
by Njonja Tang Sing Ing

The final innovation in the technologically-driven evolution of the sarong kebaya was the introduction of machine embroidery. Previously, hand-sewn cutwork was carried out to create the patterns of hand-made lace attached to kebaya, but after World War II, a rise in the price of lace led to the adoption of machine embroidery that mimicked lace.

With the introduction of the sewing machine, cutwork did not require as much time as with hand sewing, and it became possible to produce beautiful kebaya completely covered with lace in a manner that could not have been hoped for during the hand-sewing era.

Seeking to produce more striking patterns and more intense colours, manufacturers increased the size of decorative motifs, and more colourful embroidery threads were used. The sarong overflowed with vivid colours as well.

Meanwhile, the development of chemical dyes gave the sarong spectacular colors that would have been inconceivable in the past.

However, just when the sarong kebaya reached a new pinnacle of beauty, the abrupt adoption of Western-style clothing brought an end to the evolution of this distinctive style of dressing.

The women are all dressed in fashionable kebayas with tapered ends. The men, typically, are in Western suits and ties.

A beauty pageant queen dressed in sarong kebaya

Kebaya and sarong
(1950s)

Modernity is expressed at different levels by the short bob and clutch, and also by the latest sewing-machine-embroidered kebayas, that pinned lower at the collar – which would also suggest a Western-style camisole was worn. The jewelled kerosangs have become so light that they almost cannot be seen.