Lahu Shi Women's Dress

It was on a long trek down a dusty jungle path on Three Hilltribes Mountain that we met these delightful Lahu Shi tribespeople. The fascinating trek began on the upper part of the mountain with the Akha tribe at the top, the Lahu tribe in the middle and the Karen village in the valley. Lahu are often called "Long-ears" because of the large silver tubes that the women wear in stretched earlobes. We found that even though they are 'on display' a great deal of time in this popular tourist destination, the Lahu were incredibly friendly and more ready to sit and chat and make music than they were to sell their wares.
These particular Lahu were of the Lahu Shi subgroup which has it's own style of traiditonal clothing very different from that of the other Lahu subgroups. Most noticeable is the predominance of red stripes in their adornment and the large number of small silver 'buttons' sewn to the jackets.

In the picture below are two Lahu women. The one to the left is dressed in unmarried woman's fashion while the one on the right is attired in a married woman's costume. While not profound, the differences are easily identifiable.

Traditional unmarried women's clothing consists of a loose, long sleeved jacket adorned with appliqued strips of cloth and silver, a woven tube-like sarong and a turban. The jacket is black with many stripes of colored fabric appliqued onto it at the hems. In between the stripes are sometimes rows of small silver 'buttons' which are generally applied in triangular designs. Larger silver bells can be seen on either side of the front of the jacket and it is closed with very large silver disc-buttons at center front. Notice the small row of adornment at the shoulder seam. The sarong is also mostly black with areas of brightly colored stripes woven in at the hips and a smaller section at the hem. It is simply a tube which is folded over itself to make a wide pleat in front, then tucked into a string or other belt at the waist which holds it in place. An unmarried woman's turban is elaborately decorated with silver button designs in vertical stripes, seperated by rows of applique. The turban's decoration is only for the last few feet which is all that shows after it has been wrapped around the head.

Above is a close-up of a section of silver-decorated turban. The lines of color that alternate with the rows of silver appear to be woven into the main cloth of the turban rather than embroidered. The long ends of the turban fringe have been left to drape down over the side after being tucked in the top. The older Lahu woman in the picture below has chosen to wear a modern scunci rather than a traditional turban. As always the interesting mix of traditional alongside the whimsical modern is rather delightful! Though she does not wear the turban, her jewelry is the epitome of tradition. Long silver tubes through stretched ear lobes, a hollow silver torc and long strands of beads are all considered necessary.

Married women's dress consists of the jacket, sarong and turban but the adornment of the jacket and turban are a little different. There is less color showing in general, particularly absent are the strips of ornamentation at the shoulder seams. Over top of the rows of colorful stripes, the married woman's jacket has an incredible amount of silver coins and bells sewn to it in rows and triangles. Cowrie shells are also sometimes used as decoration as the picture above shows. It is also easy to see the use of the silver sequin rather than 'buttons'. The turban, in stark conrast, has barely any silver on it at all and is a much plainer version of the unmarried woman's turban. However, the sarong seems to be no different between the married and unmarried women. Unlike the jacket, the stripes of color in the sarong are woven into the fabric and not added on with applique.

It is important to note that although in the past the use of silver was ubiquitous, it is just as often likely to be aluminum these days.