Clothing, Traditional—Indonesia

Indonesia has three hundred ethnic groups, each with their own costume variations. The majority of the population, the Javanese, wear Indonesian national dress. Western dress arrived in Indonesia in the sixteenth century and has been one of many sources oftension between indigenous groups and colonizers. Dress is an indicator of cultural change in Indonesia; indeed, history can be divided into three eras categorized by dress terms: sarong (local dress), jubbah (Islamic influences), and trousers (Western influences).

Performers in traditional costume performing the Batak dance at Lake Toba, Sumatra, Indonesia, in 1996. (STEPHEN G. DONLADSON PHOTOGRAPHY)

The function of dress in Indonesia, with a population that is primarily Muslim, is complex. Although Islam had an impact on Indonesia prior to that of the Europeans, after centuries of Dutch domination, dress in Indonesia has become a way to express attitudes toward foreign, cultural, political, and religious influences. Although Western dress is most commonly worn today, traditional dress continues to be important in Indonesia, where varied forms of traditional dress testify to the wide variety of cultural subgroups in the nation.

Indonesia has a long history of fine textile production; this traditional art is still considered important, despite Westernization. Indonesia is particularly noted for its textiles made with complex resist-dyed techniques. Batik is a patterned fabric produced by using wax as a resist agent. Where the wax has been applied, it prevents the dye from penetrating.

Another resist-dyed technique is ikat, in which the dye is applied to the warp yarns prior to weaving. The design is seen in the finished yarn goods, and is a result of the dyed warp yarns being woven with plain weft yarns, a process known as single ikat. When the warp and weft yarns are both resist dyed, an extremely complex form of double ikat results; these geringsing cloths are rare and are made only in Tenganan on Bali. These cloths are the most highly prized Indonesian textiles.

Other fine textiles produced in Indonesia include songket, a heavy silk handwoven fabric with gold- or silver-wire-wrapped thread used as a supplementary weft to form the pattern. Pelangi is a tie-dyed fabric, common in Bali. Prada cloth is a fine cotton fabric in vivid colors with floral motifs printed in gold dust or applied with gold foil and is often worn by Balinese dancers.

Traditional dress is still commonly seen in rural areas and is especially important throughout Indonesia for national ceremonial occasions. For both men and women, traditional dress in Indonesia includes a wrap-around lower-body cover—a kain (a rectangular length of fabric, generally in batik) or a sarong (a length of fabric with ends sewn together, more often in ikat). Women in Java and Bali wear sarongs and kain, held in place with a stagen, a narrow sash. The kebaya is a tight, often sheer, long-sleeved blouse worn on the upper body. It is often made of lace, but can also be made of lightweight, sheer, elaborately embroidered cottons. In addition, women generally have a large rectangle of cloth called a selendang (ikat or batik) draped over the shoulder (on less formal occasions a large selendang is used to carry babies or objects); on Bali the pelangi (a sash) is worn over the kebaya around the waist when going to temple.

Indonesian men generally wear kain or sarongs only in the home or on informal occasions. A black felt cap, or peci, is occasionally worn; although it was once associated with Islam, it has acquired a more secular, national meaning since Indonesia's independence. These ensembles have become national dress in Indonesia because the vast majority of the population lives on Java and Bali. Kebaya and batik kain are considered Indonesia's national dress for women, and teluk beskap, a combination of the Javanese jacket and kain, are national dress for Indonesian men.

Acjhadi, Judy. (1976) "Traditional Costumes of Indonesia." Arts of Asia 6, 5: 74–79.

Arthur, Linda. (2000) "School Uniforms as Symbolic Metaphor for Competing Ideologies in Indonesia." In Undressing Religion: Commitment and Conversion from a Cross-cultural Perspective, edited by L. B. Arthur. Oxford: Berg Publishers, 201–16.

Van Dijk, K. (1997) "Sarong, Jubbah, and Trousers: Appearance as a means of distinction and discrimination." In Outward Appearances: Dressing, State, and Society in Indonesia, edited by H. S. Nordholt. Leiden, Netherlands: KITLV (Royal Institute of Linguistics and Anthropology) Press, 39–83.