Ewer traditional clothes have unique and charming characteristics. Sadly, unlike other traditional clothes that may be familiar to the ears, Ewer traditional clothes are still not discussed by people. The following article is a complete discussion of Ewer traditional clothes.
The Papua region has a lot of cultural uniqueness that distinguishes it from the other areas of Indonesia. Besides the traditional weapon, one of the unique cultural products of Papua is its Papua traditional clothes.
Papua has a variety of traditional clothes, some of which people may already acknowledge, such as Koteka or Holim. However, there is one more Papua traditional dress that is no less interesting than Koteka or Holim, that is the traditional ewer clothing.
Materials for Making Baju Ewer
Baju Ewer or Ewer traditional clothes are one of the traditional clothes originating from West Papua. As a part of West Papua’s traditional clothes, Baju Ewer is quite unique in terms of the materials it creates.
If you look at the raw materials for other traditional attire, the other traditional clothes usually use fabric as the primary material. In contrast, it is a different case in the manufacturing process of Baju Ewer. How come?
In contrast to other traditional clothes that use fabrics, the manufacture of baju Ewer uses natural resources as the main material. In the process of making it, people from West Papua utilize raw materials such as dried sago leaves, dry hay, rice straw, or dry fiber.
Later, the material that they have collected turns into the desired size in the production process. If the existing materials are not in a dry state, then these materials must go through a drying process foremost.
After dehydrating the material and it is completely dry, the next step is stitching and weaving the leaves or the rice straw until it turns into the shape of a tassel skirt. Many West Papuan people still wear this tassel skirt that is put together from dry leaves.
Several ethnic groups, such as Yapen, Sentani, Biak Numfor, Tobati, and Nafri, still wear this tassel skirt. The people of West Papua use this tassel skirt with other traditional accessories, such as a headdress from cassowary feathers or a crown made of woven sago leaves.
How to Wear Ewer Traditional Clothes?
In its use, this traditional ewer dress has two types, for women and men. For women, the ewer skirt has a two-layer skirt design, straw or rice straw woven into a two-layer skirt. The outer layer of the dress is shorter than the inside of the skirt, which is knee-length.
For women’s tops, women will wear a velvet blouse with tassels on the edges of the sleeves, neck, or waist. People usually wear this traditional dress with additional accessories.
Typically, women wear accessories such as necklaces, bracelets, and head covers. These clothes are generally used for special occasions.
While for men classically, for Ewer Traditional Clothes, men only wore the bottom part of the costume, or in other words, they usually wore only the tassel skirts and shirtless. However, now men’s Ewer clothes have more close models. Now, a cloth covers the top parts of men’s bodies.
The men can wear additional accessories, such as necklaces, bracelets, or headgear, to maximize their appearance. In addition, they can also use other accessories such as war equipment such as shields, spears, or arrows.
West Papua residents often wear these Ewer traditional clothes to attend special events. Some events such as official ceremonies, traditional ceremonies, or regional events. Sometimes they also wear Ewer traditional clothes when they want to display their Papua traditional costumes at specific events.
