Lisu hill tribe traditional dress

Lisu traditional dress is very colorful, especially the clothing of the women. The Lisu hill tribe women are distinguished by their brightly colored tunics, worn over long pants; some of the older generations continue to wear tasseled turbans on their heads.

The Lisu man’s dress is quite sober. It consists of a black jacket, blue or green pants, and black leggings. Lisu women’s dress is a blue or green tunic, split up at the sides to the waist. It goes down to the knee in front and hangs to mid-calf at the back. It crosses over the chest and fastens under the right arm. The piece across the chest is often a different color from the rest of the dress.

Women wear knee-length black Chinese-style pants and red leggings trimmed with blue cloth, embroidered with other colors.  Young girls and women wear black turban during festivals. On New Year, they wear lots of silver jewelry. In Chiang Mai, the small Lisu Cultural Heritage Center exhibits traditional Lisu dress. It is worth visiting.

We successfully organized several textile tours for Haute Culture Tours to a Lisu village. If you are interested in such a tour, please contact us. We also offer a photography tour that features the traditional dress of the Lisu people.