What Sarong?
A life in draped fabric.
Being that I am feeling less deep and existential dread than I did just three short (but very, very long) weeks ago, I’m taking up a subject inspired by the truly excellent Substacker Judith Aubergonois. Judith’s Diary of Olding is a deeply moving reflection on a dramatically well-lived life by a writer who is disarmingly introspective, unfailingly human, and often very funny. Just last week, she regaled us with a brief treatise on sarongs.
Those who have read my recent memoir Rottenkid: A Succulent Story of Survival will know that I spent six months in Malaysia and Indonesia as a college sophomore, but that was not the venue in which to explore my deep devotion to this item of “clothing” which can also be used in home decor, as a tablecloth, a wall-hanging, pillow-cover—and as a hat-band too—you name it and I’ve done it all.
It was early 1974 when 21 exceedingly callow youths from Lewis & Clark college washed up in Bangkok, ready to train down the Malay peninsula to our month-long local-family home-stays in Penang—aka the Pearl of the Orient. This was the first time I witnessed men and women dressed in sarongs.
Men in skirts? Hahaha. Not. So practical, so cool, so, well, comfortable.
(While in Scotland it’s traditional to “go commando” beneath a kilt, I never asked a Southeast Asian man what he wore under his sarong. Missed opportunity.)
In Indonesia, older women go bare-breasted above their sarongs, as Judith notes here, but the youngest ones usually wear a variation of a “kebaya” on top. (I once owned many of these lacy confection garments, but these days usually opt for a cropped tee.) On the mainland of Indonesia, sarongs are generally made of batik fabric in a ziggy-zaggy pattern known as ikat, and one can visit many fabric-dying centers in the once-pristine community of Jogjakarta, as I did back when it was pristine. But on Bali, the designs are radically different, especially for wedding sarongs. I became entranced, seduced; this was the beginning of a life-long love affair.
It was very hot in Malaysia and Indonesia, but in our starving-student digs there was no air-conditioning, simply a ceiling fan above the bed. I discovered that wearing an untied tubular sarong for sleep allowed the gentle breeze of the fan to caress my legs and arms, but not the more-sensitive middle bits. Now I was wearing a sarong both night and day.
But this was only the beginning. Certainly I brought back many sarongs, as gifts and selfishly, for myself. I found sarongs in the USA, too, but they were large rectangles, not sewn into a wide tube, as in Malaysia. (Securing this style the traditional way, by triple-folding and then rolling down the top, never felt secure to me, so when sewing one into a tube, I left a slit at the top and bottom of the tube: at the top, for tying, and at the bottom as a vent. This left me with extra rectangles of fabric which I re-purposed in various ways; some successful and some best forgotten.
On a trip to Bali in 2012 I loaded up on more sarongs than anyone could ever possibly wear; I gave many of them to friends, but yes my collection grew. Then I discovered Greek beach sarongs. These are so beautiful that I couldn’t bear to cut them for tubular wear. What this means is that if a stiff breeze disturbs the draped front opening, your lower body will be fully exposed. Luckily my days of going commando are long past, and usually it’s a bathing suit that’s underneath anyway.
In my household, it is a harbinger of summer when I break out the first sarong. My husband always says “Ah, sarong season is here. I’m for that.”
Will I ever be too old to wear a sarong? I can’t even imagine such a thing!
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Tidbits For The Week of August 5, 2024
Brigit’s What I’m
CURRENTLY LOVING ➡️ Kamala and Tim. THINKING ABOUT ➡️ How much better I feel today than I did three weeks ago! LISTENING TO ➡️ Leon Russell: Tight Rope ("I'm up on the tightrope; one side's hate and one is hope...")
Brigit, your article about sarongs resonates with me. When I lived in Guadeloupe for a few years, sarongs were my favorite pieces of clothing—they made me feel like an island girl. Sarongs truly are versatile and evoke that tropical vibe! 🌴🌺
I've never worn one, but after your explanation, I feel I must...