A kebaya[n 1] is an upper garment traditionally worn by women in Southeast Asia, notably in Brunei,[9] Indonesia,[10] Malaysia,[8] Singapore,[11] and Southern Thailand.

[12] Kebaya is an upper garment opened at the front that is traditionally made from lightweight fabrics such as brocade, cotton, gauze, lace, or voile and sometimes adorned with embroidery.

The lower garment for the outfit is known as sarong, kemben or kain, a long piece of cloth wrapped and tucked around the waist or under the armpits, either made out of batik, ikat, songket or tenun.

[n 2] Kebaya is officially recognised as the national attire and the fashion icon of Indonesia,[10][13][14] although it is more popularly worn by Javanese, Sundanese, and Balinese people.

The Arabic clothing was known since the seventh century, with historical records even mentioned that the Islamic Prophet Muhammad received gifts of aqbiya (plural of qaba) on several occasions.

[5][8] Before Islam, local women dressed with fewer layers because of the hot and humid climate and the pre-Islamic religion of the Malays did not impose such restrictions.

[21] The Anglo-Indian dictionary describes cabaya as a word of Asian origin, referring to a surcoat or a long tunic of muslin worn by the Indian upper classes.

[18] Several Portuguese records published in the 16th and 17th century also noted caba, cabaya and cabaia as a Muslim long robe worn by the ruling class of India as well as the Middle East.

[27] Later, King Vimaladharmasuriya of Kandy established it as the upper garment for Sri Lankan royalty signifying the changing of attitudes and loyalty to the Portuguese.

[18] Some resources also claimed that kebaya originated from Majapahit or Java, as a mean to blend the existing kemben, women torso wrap, to be more modest and acceptable as Islamic influence began to grow in coastal Javanese towns.

[3] Concurrently, the emergence of kebaya as the traditional attire of the Javanese and Malays originated from the integration of the style of Chinese Ming, the Arab merchants and the Portuguese settlers.

[37] By the mid-19th century, wearing an outfit consisting of a white lace ornamented kebaya and a lavish batik sarong was regarded as a privilege of the European and Eurasian women in the Dutch East Indies[n 5].

[25] By the 1910s, the base materials for kebaya began to change from fine white cotton to bright and transparent fabrics such as voile and organdie imported from France and Switzerland.

This style of kebaya stands out for its exquisite stencil that highlighted the beautiful colours of the blouse,[40][38] with famous designs include floral, figural and geometric motifs.

[9] Short kebaya generally consists of a figure-hugging blouse and is made to emphasize the shape of the body that is popular among young women, especially in major cities like Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Penang.

[8] By the late 1990s, during the era where Muslim women began to dress conservatively, kebarung, a new style of clothing that combined the elements of baju kurung and kebaya emerged as its modest look was preferred by the Malays.

[47] On the other hand, among the Peranakan communities, the ideal kebaya sulam also includes decorative accessories such as a hairpin (cucuk sanggul), a silver belt for securing the sarong (pending), as well as a pair of beaded slippers (kasut manik).

White kebaya combined with kain batik sarong imported from Java used to be wore everyday in the past, but now usually confined for special occasion such as church or weddings.

Nevertheless, there are some slight differences, European women wore shorter sleeves and total length cotton in prints, adorned with laces often imported from Europe.

The day kebaya of the Indo people was of white cotton trimmed with oriental motif handmade lace, either locally made in East Indies, or imported from Bruges or the Netherlands.

The light and vibrant coloured encim kebaya has become the traditional dress of overseas Chinese ladies in the archipelago, from coastal Java to Sumatran port cities such as Medan, also Singapore, Malacca and Penang, and considered suitable for tropical climate of Southeast Asia.

[83] Apart from being famous as Cik Siti Wan Kembang's style of clothing, Kelantan also has another popular traditional attire, namely kebaya Kota Bharu.

Saloma can be considered as the main trigger of the fashion and style trends of Malayan women in the 1950s and 1960s since appearing as a singer and actress of many adored Malay films.

[84] Details such as a front open slit on the sarong or a low-back tight-fitting kebaya were also popular even though would probably have not passed the Malay modesty standard these days.

[25] The Nyonya kebaya is very unique as it is famous for the use of lace and elaborate embroidery techniques[25] that is traditionally worn with matching jewelleries and a pair of hand-beaded shoes.

The traditional Nyonya kebaya outfit is completed with decorative accessories such as a cucuk sanggul hairpin, a silver pending belt for securing the sarong, as well as a pair of kasut manik beaded slippers.

When attending weddings, ceremonies or performing traditional dances, Cocos Malay females are often dressed in kebayak, a type of kebaya with a frill collar influenced by the European style of clothing in the 1600s.

[77] In WWII internment camps of the Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies, Indonesian female prisoners refused to wear the Western dress allocated to them and instead wore kebaya as a display of nationalist and racial solidarity to separate them from fellow Chinese, Europeans and Eurasian inmates.

[93] In fact, the only woman present during Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, Dutch-educated activist S. K. Trimurti wore kebaya, cementing it as the female dress of nationalism.

Kebaya is starting to appear again in government and private offices, at bus stops, commuter train stations, Transjakarta shelters, in cafes, and malls in Jakarta and other areas.