The history of the existence of the Chinese community in Jayakarta also influenced Betawi social life, such as Kebaya Encim which appeared with a folded collar without a bef.
Looking back the Sultanate of Banten in the 16th century AD, gave birth to cultural acculturation, especially in women’s clothing, known as Kebaya Encim. The word encim is absorbed from the Mandarin language 编曲 a greeting for married Chinese women. The hallmark of Kebaya Encim is not equipped with a bef, the right side and the left side of the kebaya are directly linked to meet in the middle of the front of the kebaya so that the neck of the kebaya forms a letter V. The shape of this kebaya model is simpler. Women in Javanese society in particular wear this type of kebaya in carrying out daily activities.
Due to the flow of trade and the movement of people, until the kebaya dress spread to various areas, especially port cities that were started by merchant routes, including Jayakarta (now Jakarta) where the Betawi people live, this is estimated to have occurred in the early period of the Sultanate of Banten around the 16th century.
Due to the flow of trade and the movement of people, until the kebaya dress spread to various areas, especially port cities that were started by merchant routes, including Jayakarta (now Jakarta). The Betawi people was estimated to have occurred in the early period of the Sultanate of Banten around the 16th century. In the 16th century was previously known as Sunda Kelapa. There were already Chinese settlements which began to enter and settle in Jayakata there is no definite record, but the Chinese had already inhabited several areas in Jakarta before the arrival of Europeans in Java.
Because of the long-standing social relationship between the Chinese and the local community (Betawi), it is not surprising that Betawi social life is heavily influenced by Chinese culture, including the kebaya. The influence of acculturation on Chinese culture gave birth to variants of the Kebaya Encim or Kebaya Betawi types. This was revealed in the book History of Jakarta written by Uka Tjandrasasmita.
The hallmark of Kebaya Encim is a folding collar, continuous folds pointing downwards and stopping at the front three quarters. The back of the Kebaya Encim reaches below the pelvis but does not cover the buttocks completely, while the front is lower with the meeting of the two sides slightly tapered. Most of the Kebaya encim have a border decoration on the front left and right sides, and a border decoration at the end of the forearm. However, there are also Kebayas without border decorations, so the kebaya is left plain. The preferred fabrics for making Kebaya Encim are cotton and chiffon fabrics.
One more kebaya model cut is Kutubaru, the distinctive feature of this kebaya is that on the front it is equipped with a bef (a piece of cloth) which is sewn on the left side of the front edge of the kebaya. The function of this bef is to cover the chest by linking the other side of the bef to the right edge of the kebaya using a safety pin. This type of kebaya is more formal, only worn at certain moments. At first, this kebaya model was only worn by the nobility.
