Singpho: Encyclopedia II - Singpho - Dress

Singpho - Dress

The Singpho made shields from buffalo hide, many of them can be as long as four feet. They also have helmets are made from either buffalo hide or rattan-work, and vanished black and decorated with the boar's tusks.

Most men tie their hair in a large knot on the crown of the head. The women dress their hair gathered into a broad knot on the crown of the head, fastening it by silver bodkins, chains and tassels, which is similar to the architecture of the modern skyscraper. The maidens tie their tresses into a roll and keep it tied just above the nape.

The Singpho uses the Burmese pasto as an undergarment, which is woven from coloured cloth or silk in check pattern. A coloured cotton jacket is worn over the upper portion. The Chiefs tend to wear Shan or Burmese dresses. The Singpho women wear a cloth similar to the Assamese mekhela that is tied at the breast, which reaches to little below the knee. The men occasionally wear small earrings, although the women wear large pieces of amber earstuds on their ears. The men lightly tattooed their limbs, arm and shoulders. At the same time, the married women also tattooed their legs from the ankle to the knee in broad parallel bands which consist of eight bars in alternate black and white. However, the unmarried women are not permitted to tattoo at all.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Dress", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki