Every country is gifted with a signature costume that embodies the nation’s identity.

When one thinks of Indonesia, one imagines an Indonesian woman wrapped in the country’s iconic kebaya blouse and a piece of intricate batik or tenun (woven cloth) as her kain (long skirt).

But in most parts of Indonesia, kebaya are suffering from waning appeal and are mostly worn during official functions and special events.

Some women have taken it upon themselves to bring the classic and elegant attire back to its glory days.

Without much fanfare, these women wear their kebaya blouses with matching batik or tenun every day.

Just recently, a dozen of them strolled around the Cilandak Town Square shopping complex in South Jakarta, fully aware that people were noticeably staring at them.

“When wearing kebaya, we’re frequently asked: ‘Did you just attend a special event?’” said one of the women, Taty Apriliyana.

“And most of the time, I answer: ‘No, I just came from home’,” she said.


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Taty, a businesswoman and mother of six, is one of 41 active members of Perempuan Berkebaya (Women in Kebaya) — a movement to wear the traditional blouse and skirt sets during their work and leisure time.

They come from various occupations, from homemakers, lecturers and journalists to government officials. Their commitment to wearing kebaya extends to overseas travel, trekking mountains, cycling and even paragliding.

Perempuan Berkebaya was started by Kristin Samah, an author and former journalist, who started wearing kebaya as her daily attire two years ago.

“At first, I just wanted to look different,” she laughed.

“But then, I had many experiences that prompted me to wear kebaya every day. One of them was when I wore kebaya in my hometown of Yogyakarta but people there thought that I was Balinese.”

Kebaya remain part of daily life in Bali, where women wear the attire regularly including for religious and traditional ceremonies. But in most parts of the country, kebaya are usually reserved for official functions and special events.

Kristin and her friends founded Perempuan Berkebaya in December last year to express their love for the heritage clothing.

“We want to say that kebaya are daily attire,” Taty said.

“Kebaya were worn by my grandmother every day and are still worn by my sister’s mother-in-law in Bantul [Yogyakarta], including when she climbs a melinjo tree.”

Wearing kebaya regularly is not as hard as it looks, Perempuan Berkebaya members said.

One of them, freelance journalist Lia Nathalia, said she wore such outfits when covering news around the city, when she needs to take at least five ojek (motorcycle taxi) rides a day.

When trekking and exploring, Lia and her friends simply put on pants underneath their wraparound kain and outdoor footwear.

“Basically, it is a usual thing to do. Back then, women used kebaya to go in and out of the forest,” Lia said.

Lia’s favorite is a floral print kebaya in the conventional kutubaru style, which had a surge in popularity after First Lady Iriana Widodo attended the presidential inauguration last year wearing a soft orange kutubaru kebaya with a matching dark batik kain.

“I stay in line with pakem [established models] by wearing those with three-quarter or seven-eighth long sleeves,” she said, adding that she found it more comfortable to use the three-quarter sleeves for work.

Despite needing to buy fabrics when custom-making a kebaya, the cost of personalized kebaya is surprisingly lower than buying ready-to-wear clothes at shopping malls.

Before adapting to the kebaya lifestyle, Kristin said she spent around Rp 500,000 (US$36.5) for a blouse purchased from a popular clothing chain. Now, Kristin pays her tailor Rp 125,000 to sew a Rp 50,000 piece of chiffon fabric into a kebaya.

Most of the group’s members also prefer lightweight fabric for their kebaya blouses and embellish them with simple embroidery and sequins. The batik or tenun is wrapped or tied around their hips in a practical fashion.

“The process of making batik is a great art,” Lia said, “So, don’t ruin it by cutting and sewing it. We are willing to teach those who still don’t know how to wrap [a kain skirt],” Lia said.

Kristin and her friends usually use simple and less expensive batik for their daily routines and keep their precious and expensive handmade batik for special occasions.

They also learn the characteristics of real batik to avoid buying imported textiles with batik prints.

“We can contribute to people’s employment by hiring local tailors and buying from batik artisans. We also see and explore various kinds of fabrics and motifs,” Kristin said.

Another member, Tri Utami, has even started learning how to draw batik designs. She proudly showed off a batik scarf that took her three months to make.

Lia said some members of Perempuan Berkebaya were mocked when they first started wearing kebaya to work. But with time, their kebaya and coworkers stated to appreciate it and were even inspired to hold kebaya days at their offices.

The community members are currently aged between 30 and 70, but may soon welcome younger members into the group.

Taty, for one, said her two young daughters had started wearing kebaya to school once a week.

“Every Friday, the school obliges them to wear batik shirts. One time, they didn’t want to wear batik shirts and ask me to make kebaya. Now, they use kebaya with batik patterns every Friday.”

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