Lisu Clothes

The Lisu people used to wear clothes of handmade cloth.

The women living in the valleys of the Nujiang River wear short close-fitting jackets generally in light blue, light green or white; lined jackets in dark blue, crimson or black; caps stringed with shells and beads; plastrons consisting of shells, beads, silver coins and agates; and long pleated skirts made of flax reaching the ankles. In Lushui and Lanping areas, women wear short jackets buttoned on the right side, long trousers, a small apron around the waist, and no caps but blue or black kerchiefs. In Yongsheng and Dehong areas, the costume is very bright, called "Flowery Lisu". Women there inlay many flowery laces on their jackets and long skirts that reach the ground, wrap their head with colorful kerchiefs and adorn their ears with big bronze earrings or earbobs.

Lisu men like to wear a long gown or a short jacket made of flax and wide trousers that go beyond the knees. Some men wrap their head with a blue kerchief; some plait their hair and arrange the hair on the back of the head. Wealthy men wear a string of scarlet corals or agates as the earbob through the left earlap. Male adults usually wear a knife on the left of waist and carry a bag made of bearskin or monkey-skin, filled with bow and arrows, or a thick bamboo tube on the right.