What Not to Wear

Teresa Tippens

In America, fashion is a personality statement. If you want to look cool, you wear Burberry or Prada or something else equally chic. If you want to look hipster, break out the glasses, converse, and skinny jeans. If you want to look like an Obie, raid the nearest thrift store, grab some stuff at random, and make it work.

In Indonesia, clothing is not only a marker of personality; it identifies your religion. For the most part. Let me explain.

Beach in Banda Aceh

Banda Aceh is known as the most hardcore Muslim place in Indonesia. And as many people know, Islam involves a dress code. For girls--at least in Aceh--it means that you're covered in loose-fitting clothing from the neck down, with the possibility of 3/4 length sleeves and maybe a mid-calf length skirt. You also need to wear a headscarf. And a little side note: I was expecting to see people in burkas as well, but it turns out that's mostly an Arabic thing. I only saw them on the planes in and out of Dubai. But anywho, In Aceh, I saw only one woman who did not adhere to this dress code, and I'm almost positive she was Chinese. I expected it to be the same for the rest of the country. I was wrong.

Ceremony in West Sumatra

A great deal of the women in West Sumatra stuck to the aforementioned dress code, but it was common to see those without headscarves as well. I'd say maybe one out of every fifteen women I saw wasn't wearing one, although for the most part they still wore longer sleeves and pants/skirts. It was a little weird in contrast to Aceh. I remember seeing a Westerner wearing a tank top, who I stared at for probably too long in my shock. I can't imagine how she would have been received in Aceh.

Now we're Yogyakarta for the last leg of the trip. Yogyakarta is the cultural heart of Java, and as such attracts a lot of tourists, so there a lot of foreigners wearing whatever they want. I've seen camis and shorts and completely sheer tops. Of the Indonesian women there are still a lot of headscarves, but the way they are worn varies from total hair coverage to more of a kind of bandana, with most of the front of the head showing. I assume the women with headscarves are Muslim,Professor Fraser has told us that, much like any other religion, there are less observant participants so many of the non-scarf wearers might also be Muslim. Also, non-Islam religions are also more common outside of Aceh, so I'd expect to see less headscarves.

What I've found true in all of the places that we've visited is that the Indonesian women typically dress in more conservative clothing regardless of their religion. It seems to me that if you wear anything less that short sleeves and a knee length skirt you'll be stared at and maybe called out in some fashion. For foreigners the "limits" are much less strict, but people tend to treat you differently (read: with more respect) if you dress more conservatively. It's the same as in anywhere else in the world; people really appreciate it when you try to respect their culture.

 

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