Lisu Women's Style: Embracing the Modern

I don't know much about the Lisu. They are the tribe that we spent the least amount of time visiting during our short time in Thailand. They are also the tribe that my books have the least information about. Yet their elaborately colored garb calls to me, a vibrant mixture of old world tradition and new world materials.


A Lisu girl standing outside a bank in Doi Mae Salong, Northern Thailand. She is dressed in modern Lisu style.


Traditional clothing for Lisu women consists of a blue or green 'apron' dress which falls to the knees in the front and the calves in back. It is split up the sides to the waist, allowing a great freedom of movement. The dress always has a black yoke tight around the neck which is decorated with rows of bright strips of fabric appliqued in a circular pattern at the seam. Matching rows of applique define the shoulder seams.

This style of applique can be seen in this wonderful picture of a Lisu weaver by Peter Bongers.

The sleeves of the dress are always red in color, a deliberate contrast to the color of the rest of the dress. The front apron which folds left to right and fastens at the neck and armpit is of contrasting cloth as well, but usually just a lighter color than that of the dress. Over the dress goes a black sash to gather in the waist. Under the dress loose black pants are worn, sometimes with red leggings that cover just from knee to ankle and match the sleeves. This older style of dress is much more rarely seen in recent times.

Young women traditionally wear an incredible round headdress from which multicolored strands of yarn hang in a seemingly chaotic fashion at sides and back. The base of the headdress is a circular wrap of black cloth sewn into shape and the decorative accents deliberately draped to cross over the head and hang down to cover the back of the neck. Beads and pompoms are strung on the yarn that goes across the front of the headdress and form bright patterns against the black fabric.

Older women's garments are a bit less colorful with fewer rows of tiny applique, instead the areas of the yoke and shoulders have wider bands that take much less time to sew. The headress is more likely to be seen on the younger women.

Holiday dress means Silver, lots and lots of beautiful silver. A black velvet vest is worn over the apron dress and it positively drips with silver buttons, beads and plaques. Ornate silver necklaces are added, along with other bits of silver jewelry. Large collections of multicolored strings that end in bright pompoms are hung from the back of the belt for festive occassions. The entire effect is overwhelmingly impressive.

These pictures of young women in festival attire were taken during the Chiang Mai Flower Festival Parade. The silver vests are particularly striking in a group.



The Lisu near Chiang Mai have adapted modern materials to their traditional costume, embracing these often bright and flashy fabrics with great fervor. Their use is fascinating but at the same time saddening as the older mode of dress is morphing out of recognition. Spandex swimsuit fabric makes the festival garb above especially bright. The modern way of decorating the headdress is quite different from the older, the upstanding rows of pompoms along the back are modern as is the controlled interweaving of the strands going across the top of the head.


The dresses are generally still of the traditional colors, but the sleeves are fashionably pink. Here you can also see the tassles hanging down from the belt in the back. Below is a picture where the back of a vest can be seen to have even more silver sewn to it.




Modern bands of orange fabric have been applied at the yoke and shoulder seams on the apron dresses below, instead of the older method of multicolored applique that used to signify the Lisu. This is also the case in the festival garments seen at the Parade.


Lisu women playing with my daughter who was 14 months old at the time of our trip. I don't know who enjoyed it more, A-chan or the Lisu! The baby is wearing a traditional Lisu baby cap that I will explore more in a later post.



Purple fabric is popular in this group of Lisu women which is a vast change from the traditional blues and greens. The black yokes and pants are of the older style and the sleeves carry through the traditional look. It is easy to see how the apron dress is constructed since the apron flaps on the chest are of strongly contrasting fabrics.


These women wear modern belts rather than black sashes. Notice where the shoulder bands end - just at the seam where the sleeves are attached to the main body of the dress, they do not carry around under the arm. This is also a good look at the pants and how much extra fabric is incorporated into their design. It is very similar to middle eastern styles of pants with a large triangular gusset between the legs.

Trim is again applied to the back hem along the open side of the dress from waist to calf, but not on the front side or bottom hems. The lady on the left is wearing the traditional leggings underneath her pants. Another note of modern change is her purse which is western!


Young girls laughing at a magic trick and puzzling out how it was done.



The most colorful yet are the young girls who also have the orange bands at yoke and shoulders, but where the older women's dress fabric is a muted velveteen-type theirs is the sparkling spandex. Again tradition remains in the cut and style of their garments, including the black pants and round headdresses.

The same style is seen in the far north of thailand as in the photo at the top of this post from Doi Mae Salong. There the orange bands and pink sleeves were repeated, but in this girl's outfit the dress is a sparkling green which is a little more traditional. Gold accents can be seen in the orange bands in the close-up below. A blue end has been applied to the orange band where it stops just above the underarm seam.

It is interesting that the applique work that the Lisu are so famous for is still being practiced. Rather than decorating personal items and garments, these skills are put to use making objects for the tourists. Bags, pillows, hats and more show off the narrow rainbow applique and flower petal designs in beautiful array.

Here is another great picture by 'Wolfies', showing the old style applique. Also shown are some of the various handicrafts that the Lisu make for tourists, decorated with the rows of color that is their hallmark.