RESEARCH DATA:

This blouse or jacket-like garment, called the lamma, is the upper garment worn by Bontoc female kachangyan (upper class). Only members of the upper class are permitted to wear this type of lamma, characterized by its tightly and thickly woven ground weave, in contrast to the loose and thin weaves of lower classes (Respicio, 2000). This type of weave is called the sinigwid, made using two strands of warp and weft to form the garment's white base (Respicio, 2000). The blouse has no collar, and the opening extends to the neckline, lined with indigo and red stripes with tiny diamond-like shapes woven in between. The sleeve hems are similarly lined with stripe designs, but in white and indigo, using a warp float supplementary weft.

At the bottom edge, a thick assemblage of brocade designs can be seen, including the double-lined matmata (eye-like) and sinullaman/pagpag (honeycomb or rattan fruit-like) patterns. The former represents an eye but signifies rice grains, as rice is regarded as an omniscient (all-seeing), omnipotent (all-knowing), and omnipresent (everywhere) being or god (Respicio, 2000). The latter refers to an actual rattan fruit found in the community, which resembles honeycomb-like (pukyutan) patterns. It is slightly embossed against the background and is placed on the outer sides of the matmata pattern, woven in discontinuous supplementary weft.

REFERENCES:

Respicio, N. (2000). The Dynamics of Textiles Across Cultures in Northern Luzon, Philippines. Unpublished PhD Dissertation. University of the Philippines Diliman.