The baju lamina is a chain armor that is worked in the form of a vest. The back portion consist of small rectangular brass plates, the front of brass rings. Several rectangular brass plates are attached to the brass rings, which extend from the height of the collarbone to about the lower edge of the last costal arch. The brass plates serve to reinforce the chain armor at the level of the more vulnerable chest and pelvis. The baju lamina has neither sleeves nor a collar.Albert G. van Zonneveld: Traditional weapons of the Indonesian archipelago. C. Zwartenkot Art Books, Leiden 2001, , p. 28. One of the earliest references to this armor is after the conquest of Malacca by Portuguese (1511). The son of Afonso de Albuquerque mentioned the armament of Malacca:
