By the early 20th century, the long kebaya has evolved and the new "short kebaya", shaped and length above the hip emerged in various colonial centres, mainly in Java and the Straits Settlements. During this time, long kebaya was seen as conservative and staid, worn only by the elderly women of the Peranakan community. As an option, the young Peranakans began to modify the form of a long kebaya and turned it into a short kebaya that the Europeans and Eurasians had adopted earlier. The Peranakans would often recycle the fabrics of their long kebayas (plural of kebaya) into short kebayas.