The Chinese Peranakans Continues

Peranakan Cina, are known, among other things, for their penchant for beautiful things.

Examine a piece of antique Nyonya jewellery up close, and you will first notice a proliferation of detail - every space on the jewel will be filled with designs and motifs, sometimes almost to the point of chaos. Great skill in craftsmanship is necessary to achieve the intricacy required to fulfil this Baba ideal of halus or fineness, and to the Straits Chinese, the best objects were those displaying the craftsman's talent in miniaturisation and detail. What it boils down to is that their brand of aesthetics can be described as the direct opposite of that of the minimalist school of thought.

This love for detail also applies to traditional Nyonya attire - particularly the kebaya. Nyonya dress evolved over time from its early days as the long, loose fitting and rather staid baju panjang, worn with a kain chaylay sarong, to the elegant, form-fitting baju kebaya and its batik sarong.

Most Nyonya kebayas seen today feature a delicate needlework technique called cutwork or tebuk lubang, which is customarily applied to the collar, lapels, cuffs and hem of the blouse, as well as the two triangular front panels known as the lapik, which fall over the hips. In cutwork, the outlines of a pattern are sewn in satin stitch on cloth, and the cloth enclosed by the outlines is cut away and discarded, leaving a rich, lace-like embroidery.

The design of the embroidery on a Nyonya kebaya is limited only by the imagination of the tailor. While flowers - in a bewildering range of colours and varieties - remain the most popular motifs, creative tailors have incorporated insects, animals, birds, musical instruments, spider's webs and even people into the needlework of this very feminine blouse.

Baju kebaya is usually made of European voile or kasar rubia -- a sheer, lightweight cotton fabric -- although some of the more modern kebayas are made of organdie, organza or sheer polyester to keep costs down, as voile is an expensive textile. Many Nyonyas wear a cotton inner garment called the baju dalam under their kebayas. The baju dalam is often white (though the colour may be chosen to match the kebaya) and sometimes just as richly embroidered as the kebaya, reflecting the Peranakan predilection for layered textures - the superimposition of one design over another.

Completing the Look

The Nyonyas have been wearing the batik sarong since the birth of their culture, and the print most often associated with them is batik Pekalongan. Also called batik Cina or Chinese batik, this print incorporates flowing floral, animal and geometric patterns in bright hues reminiscent of the sophisticated colour combinations favoured by the Chinese during the Qing dynasty: peach pink, royal blue, saffron yellow, lush purple, crimson, viridian and leek green.

As the kebaya blouse opens in front and doesn't have any fastenings, kerongsang or brooches are used for that purpose. These brooches usually come in a set of three, and are sometimes connected to each other by fine links of chains: these are called kerongsang rantai or chain brooches. Nyonyas also wore silver belts with large, oval buckles called pending to keep their batik sarongs from unravelling.

Besides the essential kerongsang and silver belt, a Nyonya in the old days would never appear in public without her jewellery: necklace, earrings, bracelets, bangles, rings, anklets and a few cucuk sanggul (or hairpins) in her chignon! The final touch to this elaborate ensemble would be to slip dainty feet into a pair of kasut manik or beaded slippers, of whose creation is an art in itself.

The Nyonya kebaya is not only a fashion icon that to this day remains popular with Malaysian women and designers from around the world. It is part of the legacy of the Straits Chinese -- their contribution to Malaysia's rich cultural heritage.