Woman's ceremonial jacket

Short, elaborately ornamented jackets like this were once woven by young Kauer women in southern Sumatra. Along with matching skirts, these jackets formed the ceremonial dress of unmarried women. The skirts commonly were decorated with hundreds of tiny pieces of reflective mica; such a garment would have been draped high on the chest, leaving the short jacket to cover the collarbone.

In a display of economy and ingenuity, the Kauer weavers constructed each garment from one length of cloth. After the cloth had been woven, the areas that would become the two front panels of the jacket were embroidered and mica pieces attached. The cloth was then cut in half, and the top half folded to form the body of the jacket. After the neck and front opening were cut, shells were added to the neckline. The bottom half of the cloth was cut into two pieces, which were tapered to form the sleeves. In this way, not an inch of the cloth was wasted.