Ethnic Clothes

Miao women usually wear buns on the top of their heads by mingling wigs or black flax with their hair. Their clothes are mainly made of cotton, flax or silk. The Miao clothes reflect the long history, scattered dwelling habits, and varied customs of the Miao people. The Miao people are very different from branches to branches, counties to counties, and villages to villages. There is also a great variety in the Miao clothes. Their skirts include such forms as long skirts, short skirts, colorful skirts, dark green skirts, blue skirts, black skirts, tube skirts, and pleated skirts. The coats take such styles as kimono-style, flag-shaped, Southeastern Guizhou style, and geometric style, etc. Most of the skirts have stripes in red, blue and yellow, which are said to symbolize the Jinhejiang River, Changjiang River, and the Yellow River. The embroidery painting is patterned after flowers, birds, fishes, insects and abstract geometric shapes. The attires are the most magnificent Miao clothes, which are only worn twice in Miao women’s lives, one at their weddings and the other at their funerals, The patterns on the attires are said to represent the mountains, plains, flowers, birds, fishes, and insects of the Miao ancestors. Another saying is that they are the ancient symbols of the Miao people and served as records of their history. Hence people also call the Miao clothes their historical books. Miao women often wear wooden or bamboo combs on their head in the shape of ox horns, which symbolizes that they are the offspring of Chiyou and a tribe of farmers. They often wear silver earrings and chaplets (mostly with locks), bracelets (which used to be made of bronze in ancient times), and belts around their waists woven with cotton or solid flax. These white, dark green, black or blue belts are mostly adorned with silver chains or beads, which create a pleasant sound when the women walk around.

Almost all Buyi women are experts in weaving and embroidery. Adult Buyi girls acquire such skills as cotton growing (in some places flax growing), spinning, cloth weaving, cloth dying, as well as clothes mending pretty soon under their mothers’ instruction. Embroidery is a traditional technique that Buyi women are very good at, too. Buyi women often present their exquisite embroidery works (including the margins, cuffs, laces, embroidered shoes, curtain margins, pillowslips, aprons, and straps, etc) as precious gifts or symbols of friendship. Among the embroidery works, women attach the greatest value to embroidered straps (used for carrying babies), as the embroidery here requires especially refined needlework and the symmetry of patterns. Such a piece of work usually takes repeated practices under the instructions of experienced embroiders. Women often embroider into the exquisite patterns their good wishes and true feelings when they are in love. Buyi people like dark green, blue and white clothes. Young Buyi men like to wear blue striped headbands, short coats with buttons down the front, and long pants (tube pants), whereas Buyi women still retain the dressing style of big-sleeved short coats with long skirts. The necklines and sleeves of the coats are embedded with brocades and various wax printed patterns, and the skirts are made of white cloth with blue wax printed patterns. The women’s long pants are usually adorned with wax printed or embroidered laces. Some girls wear their hair in buns and attach to the buns the homemade long handkerchief with fake plaits in the margin, and others cover their buns in square brocade handkerchiefs embroidered with flower, bird fish and insect patterns. Women’s dresses are usually painted with geometric or wax printed patterns of flowers, birds, fishes, and insects, and their aprons are embroidered with simple, classic flowers and grass patterns. They wear silver or bronze earrings, silver hairpins, bronze bracelets, and silver chaplets. The cloth material is mostly weaved and dyed by the households and has various colors.