PETALING JAYA, June 24 — A UK-based online seller has invited mockery on Twitter for listing the Singapore Airlines (SIA) uniform as a "vintage African Ankara dress”.

Posting on the online clothing platform Depop, the seller priced the uniform at £49 (approximately RM264), and described it as a "co-ord two piece set” with the tags "funky” and "indie”.

The listing went viral after it was posted to Twitter by user Leyla Rose on Wednesday night, and has reached over 14,000 likes so far,

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Ankara, or African wax prints, usually refers to cotton fabric with bold and bright prints that is commonly found in West and Central Africa.

The SIA uniform, meanwhile, is a sarong kebaya made out of traditional Asian batik, with its iconic motif being synonymous with the airline’s branding.

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The technique used in making Ankara, introduced to the continent by Dutch colonisers, is similar to the wax-resist dyeing used in batik-making

The post drew the attention of not just Singaporeans but Southeast Asians as a whole.

"(T)hey think anything that looks mildly ‘eThNiC’ is african traditional clothes unless it has a dragon on it,” scoffed one user.

"They would think I bought a wonderful vintage piece. Nah girl, you bought the Singapore Air dresscode!” said another.

Others went deeper into the history of the SIA uniform itself, which was designer by French designer Pierre Balmain.

[LINK: SIA FB post on Pierre Balmain: https://www.facebook.com/singaporeair/photos/a.10151644964573679/10159838881218679 ]

Many users were also struck by the model’s pose in the listing - draped across a chair on her back - with a few wondering if she was "possessed”.

The listing itself has since been changed to say "Vintage Singapore Sarong Kebaya”.