If you've been to Bali or anywhere in Indonesia, most likely you have come across Batik. It's sort of our national pride, so much so that UNESCO recognised it as Indonesia's masterpiece of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity list in 2009. If you visit the country, you'll see it everywhere, sold from markets to malls with many people wearing it, you may have one in your closet as a memento of the trip but still finding the occasion to wear it!
I get it, some pieces lose their meanings and special feelings when brought home or the rich pattern might make you think twice to wear for daily life but no fret! If us Indonesians, have been wearing it for centuries, then you'll find joy in dressing up top-to-toe in batik in no time!
4 ways to incorporate Batik into your everyday dressing
1. Start small with accessorizing with batik
With modernisation setting in and in the effort to sustain this ancient art of Batik making process, many artisans and designers are branching out to transform Batik from a piece of fabric to more than sarong (the pure traditional way to wear it). Batik now comes in various items; modern bags, trendy tops, loose/formal dress, earrings, even scrunchies.
Adding a piece of colourful Batik will give your daily wear an instant uplift burst!
2. Wear with with something neutral
Batik by its nature demands attention. Combining it with muted colours of white, black or beige will give a neutral background for the batik to shine whilst still being cohesive.
3. Bright colours work wonderfully too
Whilst most batik is rich and has colourful patterns, they usually run with one or two main hues. Wearing bold contrasting colours outfit to the batik theme will make you the queen (or king) of mix and match. We love indigo/blue batik with dark green or brown classic batik with red.
4. And when you're ready, batik on batik for the ultimate dressing!
The trick here is to choose clashing pattern and colours. Like this bright colours on white kimono with brown-blue clutch!
Note to self: will take batik top to toe on the weekend.
I guess now you know the underlying rule when wearing batik, which basically there's none and anything goes =D!
Extraordinary Indonesian Batik
