Traditional Costume

Famale - Lự ethnic group

Ethnic costumes: LỰ ETHNIC GROUP

CHARACTERISTIC DESCRIPTION

The traditional costume of Lự ethnic women includes a headscarf, blouse, skirt, and some pieces of jewelry. The Lự women’s traditional headscarf (khát hô) is typically of indigo color, primarily black, and made from a type of fabric they weave and dye themselves. The scarf is woven into two layers and sewn into a tubular shape with a length of 1.5–2 m and a width of approximately 12–15 cm. Both ends of the scarf are decorated with white embroidered patterns along the length. When worn, the woman's hair is tightly wrapped inside the scarf, and the scarf is draped diagonally to the left. Young girls wear smaller-sized scarves.
The traditional blouse (áo sự) of Lự women has two colors: indigo and black. The fabric used for making the blouse is primarily indigo fabric, woven and dyed by their community. The everyday blouse (made of coarse fabric) and the festival blouse (made of silk) are usually hand-sewn. It is short, reaching the waist, with small sleeves. When worn, the right side of the blouse is tucked inside, and the left side is crossed over to the right and tied with multicolored woven fabric strips (sái sự). The outer edge of the blouse is decorated with embroidered patterns in multiple colors. Small silver coins are attached to the blouse in two rows, vertically from the neck down to the waist (rao tủng). The sleeves are also adorned with small floral patterns, one at the cuff and one near the armpit.
The Lự women’s traditional skirts (sìn) had two types in the past: a skirt worn indoors and one worn during labor, with the lower half in black and the upper part woven with small, multicolored horizontal stripes. Nowadays, they typically wear a single type of skirt for general use, reserving special, new skirts for festivals.
They often wear a necklace with two ends connected by a silver chain called "xà tích." Sometimes, jewelry is also attached to the blouse or skirt. They particularly enjoy wearing bracelets crafted from brass and often use multiple bracelets. They also wear flower-shaped earrings (nị tạng) made from colorful threads.

Electronic information page for ethnic minorities in Lai Chau Province

Line agency: People's Committee of Lai Chau

Responsible for implementation: Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Lai Chau province

  • 5th floor, building D, Provincial HC_CT Center area, Tan Phong Ward, Lai Chau city
  • 02133.798.992
  • [email protected]

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