USAGE - TRADITIONAL
 


BATIK CLOTH (KAIN BATIK)
 
Batik cloth is not always used as clothing. In ancient times, for example, besides as clothing and auxiliary adornment, batik cloth often served as an accessory in various rites and ceremonies. This is apparent in the Chinese communities along Java's north coast, among others, who use batiked cloth as an altar cloth. It is known that batik flags, umbel-umbel, were used for state ceremonial purposes. In line with the developments of time, batik cloth then moved into the household furnishing sector, where it was used as tablecloths, wall-hangings, luncheon napkins, bedcovers, exotic curtains, and in doll-making, among other things.

As clothing, batik cloths initially encompassed the jarit, a rectangular wraparound skirt cloth, sarong, a tubular wraparound skirt cloth, and the kemben or breastcloth. There were also such accessories as shouldercloths, headcloths, and carrying-cloths. Furthermore, in court circles batiked cloth was used as ceremonial (state) attire, the dodot.
 
  1. Jarit: Rectangular skirtcloth

    2. The batik jarit is a rectangular cloth of about 110 cm. in width and 260 cm. in length. It is worn by men and women who wind it around the waist with one end falling downwards from there to between the legs; men wrap from right to left and women from left to right. At diverse formal events, the outer end of the cloth hanging downwards in center front is accordion-pleated – called wiron – to give a neater, more harmonious, and more beautiful effect.
    The two ends of the batik jarit are often decorated with the untu walang (Fig. 1) , 'locust's teeth', or perhaps a kepala tumpal, each end in the format known as 'half kepala'. Such a textile is referred to as kain panjang kepala, 'long cloth with kepala', and is found in plenty among cloths produced on Java's north coast. Furthermore, the top and bottom edges of the jarit are frequently decorated with tiny untu walang. With particular respect to the royal courts, the two ends are left white and undecorated. In pleating a jarit in the Surakarta style, the white end is never exposed; conversely in Yogyakarta, the white end is always exposed.
  2. Sarong: Tubular skirtcloth

    3. The sarong, which represents Malay influence, is mostly worn as clothing in coastal communities in Indonesia, including those on Java's north coast. The batik sarong is sold in rectangular form, like the jarit, with a length of about 220 cm. and a width of about 110 cm. Before wearing it, the two ends are brought together and seamed.
    The sarong's components consist of a badan or body and kepala or head. The badan takes up about three-quarters of the cloth, while the kepala, at one end of the rectangular cloth, occupies the other quarter. The sarong's kepala may be a kepala tumpal or decorated with a floral arrangement, buketan. If the latter, the colors in this section differ from those in the badan which carries the same design. The bouquet-filled kepala is often met with on sarongs of the Dutch batik genre. At the beginning of the 19th century, the appearance of the sarong underwent modification with the kepala placed in the middle of the rectangle (Fig. 2).
  3. Kemben: Breastcloth

    4. The kemben is worn to cover a woman's torso. The batik kemben is a rectangular cloth about 50 cm. wide and 250 cm. long. It is wrapped around the upper part of the body from the armpits to just below the top of the jarit.
    There are several types of kemben, among others the kemben byur (Fig. 3) and the kemben with tengahan. The kemben byur is totally filled with ornamentation. The kemben with tengahan has an undecorated centerfield that is diamond (lozenge) or rectangular in shape. Frequently, this is concealed by a piece of silk cloth sewn over it, or combined with a tritik design through another dye-resist process in which tightly pulled stitching serves as the resist medium during the dyeing process.

    The tengahan for a fine kemben, especially in court circles, is usually covered with a piece of delicate silk. The color of the silk is eye-catching and attached with very fine stitching following the edges of the batik design. Once upon a time, silk-centered kemben could only be worn by the royal consort, the permaisuri.
  4. Selendang: Shouldercloth

    5. The shouldercloth has the same dimensions as the kemben, but it has several functions: as a dress accessory in village and trading communities, as a baby-carrier, and as a cloth for carrying burdens. The overall layout is identical to that on the jarit. The two ends are often decorated in the same way as the kepala on a jarit (Fig. 4).
    The carrying-cloth used in the palaces is as large as the long rectangular kain panjang (jarit), that is about 260 cm. long and 110 cm. wide. The two ends are provided with black and white stripes, each having the width of two fingers. This striped design is called slarak kandhang, 'bolted door'. The most common designs found on palace carriers are Parang Barong and Kawung Raja.
  5. Iket: Headcloth

    6. The iket or headcloth – also called udheng and destar – is a dress accessory exclusively for men. It is square in shape, measuring about 100 cm. x 100 cm., enabling a multitude of wearing styles. With precise and accurate arrangement and sewn up, a single iket of the standard size can be made into two headcloths that are permanently shaped and ready for use at any time (Fig. 5).
    Based on organization of ornamentation, the iket is grouped into iket byur and iket tengahan. In the former. the entire field is filled with ornamentation; in the latter, there is a centerfield that is not decorated but may be colored or covered with silk like the kemben
  6. Dodot: Court dress

    7. The dodot is a batik cloth of a very particular size, because it is only worn in court circles or at events connected to court ritual. There are two types according to size: the dodot ageng (Fig. 6) and the dodot alit. The dodot measures 105-250 cm. in width and 250-400 cm. in length. Typically, the dodot ageng measures about 250 cm. x 400 cm., which is obtained by sewing together two pieces of mori. The dodot alit, which is worn at circumcision rites, measures about 105 cm. x 250 cm., and so can be made out of a single piece of cloth.
    The layout of the dodot varies. In some, ornamentation is applied solely to the edges while the centerfield is left empty, except for a border or pinggiran. Others are provided with a blumbangan, that is an undecorated diamond-shaped centerfield; between the decorated periphery and the blumbangan is a border design, pinggiran, known as modang. Blumbangan are also often covered with plangi-decorated (tie-dyed) silk, which is a traditional textile decorated through the dye-resisting jumputan (pinch-dye) process. The two ends of the dodot are commonly finished with the slarak kandhang, like the carrying-cloths, and a fringe.

     The dodot is worn as a hipcloth by men in combination with cindai trousers, and by women with a cindai skirtcloth worn in the usual manner of a jarit.
 
 
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