Li Clothes

In the past, men of the Li ethnic minority usually wore simple clothes: just covering their body with a piece of cloth on the front and the back and surrounding the waist with another piece of cloth.

Traditional clothes of the Li women included a shot jacket buttoned down the front or on one side of the front, and a pailform skirt, which vary with different clans. Native-born Li women wore a short jacket buttoned down the front, and the collar, lower part of the sleeves and the jacket as well were inlaid with red cloth stripes or colorful laces. Their pailform skirts were short and did not go beyond the knees, just like today's miniskirts. They wore black kerchiefs and leggings. Women of the Meifu clan wore a black jacket with its cuffs inlaid with a wide lace in red or other colors. Clothes for women of the Qi clan were the most flowery with a circle of cloth strips around the sleeves and a wide lace along the cuffs. Their clothes were decorated with a large piece of embroidered or woven square pattern mainly in red. Their pailform skirts reaching the knees were woven with various patterns with an emphasis on red.

Women of the Li ethnic minority used to go barefoot because they did not have the habit nor master the skills of making shoes. When in attire, the Li women wore silver necklaces, bracelets, ankle rings and earrings, etc.

Nowadays, clothes of the Li people are nearly the same as that of the Han people, but in festivals middle-aged and old women still wear traditional-style costume. At present, the majority of women wear shoes that are generally bought and not made by themselves.