Eleanor Gaudoin, a descendant of the royal family of the Shan State of Hsenwi, on a visit to the V&A Indian Study Rooms in 1995, made the following comments:
"The roots of shan silk or silk/cotton weft-ikat cloths are to be found in the Lanna/Lao Thai territory of northern Thailand. Lana was a tribute nation to Burma for several centuries until its liberation in c.1780. There could have been a migration of weavers during that period. Otherwise weavers may have been brought back with the 90,000 Thai captives after the sack of Ayuthia in 1767.
The most well know of the weft-ikat patterns are:
<font -i>zin-me</font> (Chiangmai) and <font -i>Bangkok</font> (a chevron design).
Weaving was done by women within specialist weaving families in the Inle Lake regiion. The skill and patterns, carefully guarded, passed on from mother to daughter.
An agent or `travelling salesman' would then take the finished cloth from court to court or wealthy homes. The silk weft-ikat would not be sold directly at the bazaars.
The cloths would be fashioned into <font -i>longyi</font> (tubular skirts). A black cotton waistband would be attached to the top. The <font -i>longyi</font> would be worn with white cotton cross-over jackets fastened with jewelled buttons.