Behind the Waitress Work Clothes in the House of Raminten Restaurant Indonesia

Abstract

Traditional cloth is one of the cultural products. Normally, it is worn by people for a certain traditional event. However, it is worn by the waitress in a restaurant, namely the House of Raminten restaurant. Therefore, this research aims to reveal the intent and purpose behind the use of traditional clothes as work clothes for waitresses at the House of Raminten Restaurant. Qualitative approach is employed as a research methodology in this research. The result shows that there is a symbolic meaning of Javanese culture represented by such a use of traditional clothes, namely glorifying guests or consumers. In another word, the use of kemben and jarik is a way for Raminten Restaurant to glorify their consumers. This is then being seen as a strategy for creating profit for the restaurant since it can represent the concern of the restaurant in preserving Javanese culture. The restaurant owner always does such a way to bring in customers since he has a sensitivity to market demand, even though he himself is actually of Chinese descent.