Silk baju panjang with peony motifs

Title
Silk baju panjang with peony motifs
Year/Period
Early 20th century
Region
Penang
Object Type
Material
Dimension
Object size: 110.0 x 141.2 cm
Accession No.
2016-00639
Collection of

This pink baju panjang is embellished with large peony motifs. Baju panjangs are hip or knee length long tunics with v-shaped openings. Silk baju panjangs were worn by Peranakan brides on the twelfth day of the traditional Peranakan wedding ceremony. In the late nineteenth century, Peranakan women wore batik baju panjang in subdued shades. In the 1920s, chemical dyes introduced a range of colours, producing colourful baju panjangs. The baju panjang remained fashionable for young girls in Penang and Malacca up until the first decade of the twentieth century, when the far more form-fitting kebaya overtook it in popularity.