I believe this costume is an exaggerated imitation of that of the "merchant's" wife of a little more than a century ago, and that it was adopted by the Malays when the Dutch sumptuary laws were repealed.
"Reminiscences of a South African Pioneer"
W. C. Scully
But the influence of satire could reach further than that of censors or sumptuary laws.
"The Roman Poets of the Republic"
W. Y. Sellar
She believed in strict adherence to such self-imposed sumptuary regulations, whether they applied to the body or to the pleasures of the mind.
"Lady-John-Russell"
MacCarthy, Desmond