Nyonya Kebaya: A Century Of Straits Chinese Costume

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Summary: beautiful machine embroidery from Malaysia
Review: This is a beautiful book. Informative text and excellent photos educate as well as inspire. Anyone who appreciates embroidery will be impressed by the traditional Malaysian machine embroidery used on these lovely and striking blouses. Designers and embroiderers would find this book a wonderful addition to their reference libraries: colorful embroidery and delicate cutwork are combined in a way that most non-Asian readers would probably find delightfully novel. The history and social context of the kebaya are interesting and are clearly described, but for me the best part of the book is the photographs of vintage kebayas. In many cases, close-ups are provided so that details of the embroidery can be seen clearly. This is not a how-to book, but some technical information is provided. However, it is a delightful design reference for any embroiderer or digitizer.