Although simplistic in design, the traditional Rawan dress is very pretty to look at.

The Rawan nationals reside in the northernmost part of Myanmar.

The Rawans who inhabit the high mountain ranges are of Tibet-Myanmar race.

Their professions mainly depend on agriculture, livestock breeding and trading. They are also skilful in handicraft works.

Rawan ladies play an important role in taking responsibility of their family duties.

As the weather is very cold in their region, weaving thick and warm clothes is the traditional art of the Rawan people.

Rawan ladies spend most of their daily life, weaving cloth from cotton yarns.

In weaving their clothes, they use cotton yarns, wool and fibre threads.

To make cotton yarn, firstly you have to remove the cottonseeds, and then, spin the cotton.

After that, dip the cotton skeins into the congee in order to make them more taut.
Congee is used as paste due to its easy availability.
The Rawans use their traditional backstrap looms to weave their cloth.
The backstrap loom is built of bamboo and wood, and the drive-belt is made of leather.
To weave the long thick feather coat cherishly worn by the Rawans called a “Singpon”, you need patience and skillfulness, as you have to weave by putting the colourful wood threads one by one into the loom, cut it with a dagger, and repeat the procedure again and again.
Even if you weave all day long, you will only get about one foot of cloth. So, you have to weave well over a month to finish a very beautiful and sturdy “Singpon” dress.
We would like to introduce you to the Rawan blanket called “Ma Taw Sham”, which is a well-known Rawan traditional blanket, and it is made of 4 pieces of weaving clothes.
Rawan nationals mostly use the colour, white, as the white colour conveys sincerity and honesty.

The second most used colour is the colour, red. Red colour represents braveness, decisiveness and courage.

The costumes of the Rawan race are distinctive and differ from the costumes of our other national races.

The Rawan men-folks wear thick feather garments known as “Singpon”, “Shang Zu” and the white logyis or trousers, called “Dha zann”.

Elderly Rawan men wear crown pattern hats made of rattan and decorated with tusks of wild boars.

The insignia of the Rawan man-folks are swards, which they carry with them, whenever they wear their traditional costumes.

The Rawan traditional sword is painted with red lacquer and decorated with tusks of tigers and wild boars.

The Rawan women-folks wear white or colourful blouses together with the white longyis, which have diagonal red and black stripes.

They also wear precious beads, such as oyster shells and coral beads on their necks. And they adorn themselves with girdles made with oyster shells and rattans on their waists.

In weaving their traditional Rawan costumes, the Rawans use threads from the fibre plants, which are called Ragyit or Phali.

In making threads for weaving their traditional costumes, the Rawans peel fibres from fibre plants and cut them. Then, they patiently join the fibre threads to obtain fibre skeins.

Next, rough fibre yarns are wound to make spindles.

And then, they make rough fibre skeins, and these rough fibre skeins are boiled in water, washed and cleaned systematically.

After that, we are ready to be woven into cloth.

Rawan nationals believed that persons, who wear costumes woven with threads from fibre plants, would obtain good health and good luck. So, they cherishly wear these costumes made from fibre plants.

That’s why, the Rawan traditional hand-made costumes, which are patiently woven will no doubt as long the Rawans maintain their Traditional Culture with them.