Traditional Uses

Royal Patronage
Songket’s rich and luxurious fabric demonstrated the social structure of the Malay elite. The symbolism of thread colors to signify the status and title of the Court has been in use since the period of the Melaka Sultanate during the reign of Sultan Muhammad Shah (1426 – 1446, Sejarah Melayu). White gold thread was the colour of the ruler, yellow for the crown prince, blue or violet for the prime minister and so on. Sultan Muhammad Shah himself preferred to be dressed in ‘Malay Attire’ as he refused to
emulate foreign clothing.

The royal court weavers would produce individualized motifs often created by the royalties themselves. This rich textile was transformed from a mere form of attire into a canvas for individuality, personal triumphant, and was regarded as a symbol of prestige not only within the court arena but on an international stage. In the past two decades, kain songket has been introduced into a wider audience of culturally conscious wearers.

Ceremonial Textile
Songket has never been famous for tailored clothing due to its limited width and its owner’s sentimental value in his precious songket. Songket remained limited in use under these circumstances alone.

Songket wearer master the skill of warping, folding, pleating or draping around the waist, shoulder or head in order to achieve the desired part of a ceremonial costume. The songket must also be folded properly so that certain part of the structure is placed properly on the body.

Songket is traditionally used by the Malays as a ceremonial garment in untailored style of clothing called sarong or the shorter knee-length sarong, commonly called sampin worn around the waist over the traditional malay attire, baju melayu. For a complete wear, the sampin is accompanied by sashes (to secure the clothing around the waist) called bengkung and a horned head-dress or destar (tanjak or tengkolok).

Muslim women wear their songket sarong with either a kurung or a kebaya, two garments possibly from Arab source. Their sarong are seldom sewn but professionally folded and pleated and then sealed by sashes around the waist. Songket are also worn as shawls. It is draped around the shoulder and worn together with the sarong. It is often used in ceremonial occasions such as to welcome a new daughter in-law to her husband’s house (sambut menantu) .