Singpho: Textile

Key Takeaways

• The traditional dresses of Singphos are made with backstrap looms.
• The dresses are multicoloured and have geometrical and floral patterns
• Singphos classify their dress according to their age.

The Singpho women are expert weavers and use simple back strap looms to make their own clothes and accessories such as bags. Women outfits have wide multicoloured motifs which consist of various floral and geometric patterns.
The wrap-around skirts are known as “Bathang '' mostly worn by older women, but during festivals it is worn by all age groups. “Sinket” is the stole that they wrap around their waist and is worn with bathang by older women on a daily basis. The younger ones wear similar wrap-around skirts called “babu”. The wrap around the upper body is known as “Sinwat” which is worn by women regularly.

Cotton wool

Preparation of thread

Weaving using their traditional motifs

Weaving on a back strap loom

Weaving using their traditional motifs

The motifs are inspired by the nature