Indonesia has a diverse population of tribes and civilizations, which contributes to its beautiful and rich culture. The variety of regional traditional clothes that each tribe or region in Indonesia owns is unquestionably evidence of this. In accordance with their culture and customs, regional traditional attire undoubtedly conveys ideals. Each regional traditional dress undoubtedly has a distinct individuality of its own. This distinctiveness may be from the design or pattern of the clothes, its style or motif, or the accessories that must be worn with it. Likewise, in Java, there are a lot of equipment that need to be worn when wearing traditional clothing such as the kebaya suit for women.
The use of regional traditional clothes, especially in Java, has certain periods where in the past the kebaya was a luxury. Therefore, the kebaya is usually only used by the royals and the royal family who can afford the cloth, while other people are shirtless, especially women. This does not mean that there was no value of decency at that time, but indeed customs and traditions as well as the need for cloth or clothes were still very expensive for ordinary people.
One of the traditional female garments of Central Java is kemben. Women wear traditional Kemben clothing to partially conceal their hips and their chest. Typically, after wearing a kemben, the women are no longer required to wear clothing. However, some people choose to dress up even though they already wear a thong. These women utilize a rectangular jarik cloth (kemben), but the jarik they use for tapih has a narrower width. This kemben features a variety of batik themes.
Kemben measures 250 cm in length and 50 cm in width. The kemben has three names or names depending on the ornamentation style: sindangan, blumbangan, and byur. 1) A kemben with ornamental motifs and a diamond pattern in the center is called Sindangan; 2) A kemben with a rectangular design in the center is called Blumbangan; and 3) A kemben with a thorough pattern of decoration is called Byur. The woven cotton yarn textiles used to create this kemben fabric. The raw materials for weaving the kemben include: Khambak/cotton is used to make yarn, pantis/beehive wax to stretch the yarn, citronella root for yarn preservative, betel leaf to make the skin color not fade, other natural dyes to make the color of the kemben.
Even now, kemben is frequently utilized in dance costumes and apparel. Particularly traditional artwork and classical dance. Right now, underwear or ways to enhance the appearance and clothing look more put together are the main uses of kemben. Kemben can also be used to mold women’s bodies so they remain thin and attractive.
Writer: Pradita Dwi Ayu Wulansari
Source:
https://www.pinhome.id/blog/kelengkapan-pakaian-adat-jawa-tengah/
