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We didn’t wear any kebayas , to start with,” said Asmoro Damais, an avid collector and researcher of Indonesian traditional textiles and costumes. Outlining the background of this special traditional Indonesian blouse, she made her comments shortly after a lecture at an exhibition highlighting clothes worn by women in cities along the northern coast of Java during the 19th and 20th centuries.

Asmoro’s lecture “Traditional Costumes of the Coastal Areas,” was part of a three-day exhibition at Rumah Rakuji in South Jakarta last month that sought to explain the roots and traditions of the kebaya as we know them today.

“Traditionally, we only wore a piece of long cloth wrapped around the body, a girdle and a stole. That’s it,” Asmoro said.

The blouses were later introduced by traders and religious leaders from China and the Middle East who came to Java between the 13th and 19th centuries.

“But most people today are not aware that kebaya, as a fashion item, also followed certain trends and styles,” Asmoro said.

She said that when the kebaya was adopted by Chinese-Indonesian and Dutch women, the garment’s variations in color, cut and style grew as women introduced influences from their own cultural backgrounds and preferences.

“Starting from the mid-19th century, Dutch women living in Java started to wear kebaya and batik sarongs as home dresses,” she said. The women’s loose-fitting kebaya was usually enhanced with soft and intricate lace or embroidery around the edges. A plain cotton chemise was usually worn underneath the kebaya.

“Their kebayas were usually white and stiffly starched to perfection,” Asmoro said. “They would change several times during the day to ensure it remained crisp and immaculate.”

Dutch women also preferred brightly colored batik patterns of spring flowers and tulips, which only grew in Europe.

“They asked the batik painters to copy those flowers from postcards or magazine cuttings,” she said.

The kebaya came into fashion for Chinese-Indonesian women during the beginning of the 20th century. Before that time, first generation Chinese immigrants wore cheongsams (long gowns with Mandarin collars), while local women preferred loose, long tunics or coat-like blouses over batik sarongs.

“The Chinese-Indonesian ladies were very fashionable,” she said. “Their kebaya was always tight fitting and very colorful.”

Underneath the kebaya, women also wore a chemise, a cotton sash to hold the sarong, as well as a gilded gold or silver belt. At their feet were embroidered or beaded slippers.

“In Chinese-Indonesian communities, especially in coastal areas, all daughters had to be able to embroider or bead their own slippers, handbags and various other accessories,” Asmoro said. “A prospective mother-in-law would check; sloppy work would mean a sloppy housewife.”

The exhibition also featured a collection of mourning dresses.

“Chinese-Indonesian women observed several stages of mourning, which was reflected in the dresses,” Asmoro said.

After a funeral, women from the deceased’s immediate family would don a plain white voile kebaya and a plain indigo-dyed sarong made of handspun cotton. For the second period of mourning, they would wear white kebayas with simple lace or embroidered edgings and blue-and-white colored batik sarongs. More colors would be added to the kebayas and sarongs as the mourning progressed. After a period of two years, the women might return to their normal wear.

The exhibition also highlighted the importance of the chemise, which was displayed at Rumah Rakuji in various colors and styles.

“The Chinese-Indonesian kutang [chemises] were different from the pristine white European chemises,” Asmoro said. They became fancier and fancier as their kebaya fabrics became more sheer.”

The intimate clothing items, with vibrantly colored patterns featuring birds, dragons, ducks and flowers, were displayed along the walls of the exhibition.

Each beautifully embroidered piece is buttoned down at the front and equipped with one or two little pockets for small change or keys.

In the 20th century, kebaya edgings also became more developed. Machine embroidery increasingly replaced hand-sewn items.

“For house wear, the edgings were simple, perhaps patterns of clouds or vines,” Asmoro said. The embroidered edges of pieces worn outside the house had larger and more attractive patterns of chrysanthemums, orchids or bluebells.

“For the young and those with a sense of humor, there were also patterns of ducks, spiders, cats and deer. All of which were symbols of happiness, wealth and longevity in Chinese traditions,” Asmoro said. Asmoro’s infatuation with the kebaya and other traditional costumes and textiles started at an early age.

Growing up in Jakarta, as the daughter of a French historian and a Javanese mother, the household was a continuous whirlwind of culture. But Asmoro fully realized her true love for Indonesian clothing and culture while living abroad.

“In Europe, I started to realize that Indonesia has a beautiful culture and I began to really appreciate it,” she said.

Nevertheless, when she returned to her hometown in 1970, a new fashion revolution had started.

“In those days women wore hot pants or bell-bottom trousers and high platform shoes,” she said. “Only housemaids and grandmas wore batik.”

But Asmoro, her husband and her children made it a habit to wear batik and kebaya. “People thought we were strange,” she said with a chuckle.

Her extensive traditional textiles and costumes collection started in 1972 when a friend’s aunt asked her to buy her family’s old clothes to help lift a financial burden. “She came with three suitcases full of old clothes,” she said.

When Asmoro heard the stories and history that came along with the pieces, she was smitten.

Her extensive collection of kebaya and batik is now on display at her residence in South Jakarta.

“We Indonesian people seldom learn about our heritage,” she said. “We just get mad when a neighboring country claims what’s ours. We never really appreciate it until it’s too late.”

In 2009, Asmoro worked as part of a team spearheaded by Iman Sucipto Umar, the chairman of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin). The foundation proposed that Unesco to recognize batik as part of the world’s Intangible Cultural Heritage.

“Cultural heritage is part of our national identity,” she said. “Unless we learn to respect and preserve our culture, we could lose our identity as a nation.”