Back To Batik

Back To Batik

Words: By Yours Truly, Adam Jeffery.

Photos: Directed by Me and assisted by my brother, Imran Jeffery.

All the packing, moving, and flying - essentially, traveling - has made me rather lethargic and my overall health is not reacting well to the sudden change in environment, lifestyle, and food. Nonetheless, I am now physically well enough to get in front of the camera. It's only been a week or so since my departure from Boston, MA (USA) and I do miss it and my friends there. In an attempt to re-root myself back to my country of origin, Malaysia, I decided to wear one of our "traditional" clothing: Baju Batik, which literally translates to a Batik Shirt.

What Is Batik?

Well, to put it simply, it's both an art form and a craft in which a cloth is decorated using dyes and wax where parts of the cloth would be covered in wax and then dyed, causing the uncovered areas to be stained with the selected dye. The process is then re-iterated with various parts covered and using various colors to achieve a masterpiece of complicated patterns and color palette. I am, of course, oversimplifying the art form but you get the picture. Either way, the end result is a fashionisto (me) clothed in the finest silk decorated in shades of blue. To give the traditional Asian look a slight modern edge I paired it with a blue skinny jeans by Uniqlo, my Cole Haan shoes, and my go-to accessories (Breitling watch, my family ring, and favourite pair of sunnies by SEE).

In Celebration of Hari Raya Haji

Hari Raya Haji or Eid Al-Adha is a day in commemoration of Prophet Abraham's devotion to God when he was willing to sacrifice his son, Ishmael, as per God's decree. However, as we all know, when Abraham was about to go though with the sacrifice God had taken his actions thus far as representative of his loyalty and devotion to God thereby stopping the sacrifice. The reason why I'm telling you all this is because on this day, traditionally, people would don on nice (or new) clothes in celebration... which was the case for my going "back to batik." It's nice, it's fancy, and it's perfect as my first fashion post to mark my return to Malaysia.

Shirt: Baju Batik by Zurfauzie; Jeans: Skinny Fit Tapered (AIR) Jeans by Uniqlo; Shoes: ZeroGrand Chukka by Cole Haan