Tibetan Clothing: Warm and Beautiful Dress

Tibetan clothing is warm and beautiful clothing worn by the Tibetan people with a wide range of accessories, which reflect the unique culture and history. It is an important part of Tibetan culture. Traditional Tibetan clothing has many styles and a long history. Its styles are highly diverse across different regions and groups. It is decided by the special environment and climate conditions in which they live. Unlike today's fashion, Tibetan clothing features unique designs and styles. It reflects local characters and conveys cultural differences. In addition, Tibetan clothing also shows the personal beliefs and the personality of the individuals wearing them.

Tibetan clothing mainly consists of a robe and shirt. The traditional Tibetan robe is called a chuba. It is the most common clothing for Tibetan people. The robe is fastened with a sash made of nylon or woven wool. A sash is worn around the waist and helps to secure Tibetan robes. Within the robe people usually wear shirts. Men typically wear white shirts with high collars, while women wear brightly colored with turn-down collars. In addition, Tibetan people enhance their clothing by wearing various kinds of ornaments. Tibetan jewelry is rich and diverse, such as men's hats and women's headdresses, belts, and boots. On the other hand, Tibetan people also wear necklaces, earrings, bracelets, etc.

Nowadays, Tibetan clothing is gradually influenced by external factors. many Tibetan families have added modern clothes, such as suits and jackets, to their wardrobes. In addition, young Tibetans also wear jeans, t-shirts, sportswear, down dresses, sports, and gym shoes. However, many people still wear traditional clothing during ceremonies, festivals, or major events.

Features of Tibetan Clothing

Tibetan clothing culture is rich in connotation, diverse in layers, and regional differences. The most basic features of Tibetan clothing are a fat waist, long sleeves, large placket, right side, long skirt, long boots, braided hair, gold, silver, pearls, and jade ornaments. Tibetan robe is the most common clothing for Tibetan people. In addition, Tibetan women's clothing is much more complex than men's, and one of the main manifestations of the characteristics and differences of ethnic costumes is women's clothing. The basic features of the structure of Tibetan clothing determine its additional costumes, such as belts, boots, various ornaments, etc.

Tibetan Robe

The Tibetan robe is the most common type of traditional Tibetan clothing. It is called a chuba. It is the most common clothing for Tibetan people. A Tibetan robe is very recognizable with its loose flowing silhouette, long sleeves, and wide ankle-length hem. Made from durable materials such as wool or silk, they protect against cold while being loose enough. The Tibetan robe style varies between men and women. The men are seen wearing a high-collared shirt and robe which is fastened with a cloth belt under the right arm, while the women's robe bears a narrower cut with or without the sleeves. 

Various Accessories

Tibetan people enhance their clothing by wearing various kinds of accessories. These accessories showcase their rich culture. Tibetan jewelry is rich and diverse, such as men's hats and women's headdresses, belts, and boots. They are usually golden and silver wares as well as jewelry made of amber, agate, jadeite, pearl, and ivory. On the other hand, Tibetan jewelry is also worn as an important expression of the culture. Tibetan people often wear necklaces, earrings, bracelets, rings, etc. They are made of silver and turquoise.

History of Tibetan Clothing

At present, the oldest and existing material material about Tibetan costumes is a small number of ornaments unearthed from the Karuo site in Qamdo, including hairpins, huang, beads, necklaces, plaques, shell ornaments, etc., reflecting that the indigenous people of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau four or five thousand years ago have a high aesthetic taste, not only have the bone needles for sewing clothes, but also have the huang, beads and so on that can be created with a certain aesthetic awareness.

Tibetan period

Tibetan costume culture has developed greatly. During the time of the "Zhonger Ding Wang" (equivalent to the middle of the Western Han Dynasty in the Central Plains), Tubo in the Yalong River Valley in the south began to smelt iron, copper, silver and other minerals, creating conditions for the emergence of metal jewelry. Tibetan history records that in the third century A.D., when the Lattotori was praised, the costumes of the Tibetan Zampu were different, and there were differences in the level of clothing.

Yuan Dynasty

Tibet was subordinate to the Central Dynasty, so it had close contacts with the Yuan Dynasty in all aspects of culture, and its clothing was also more influenced than the previous dynasty. The Yuan Dynasty divided officials at all levels in Tibet, such as pacification envoys, envoys, and ten thousand households, and different grades wore Tibetan robes with different ornaments and crowns, so that the name of the official uniform of the four officials of the Kashag government before the democratic reform still retains the name of the Yuan Dynasty "Cunzha Huaer Baima" (Tibetan means Mongolian robe with lotus pattern).

Ming Dynasty

The Ming Dynasty set up Wusi Tibetan Xingdu to command the envoys and Duogan Xingdu to command the envoys, which governed the Tibetan areas of present-day Tibet, Gansu, Qinghai and western Sichuan, and often rewarded the upper nobles in the Tibetan areas with a large number of brocade silks and mattresses. Judging from the tribute items in Tibetan areas, textile items such as Xuan, Maoying, Zuli hemp, and Tieli hemp accounted for most of the tribute.

Qing Dynasty

The Qing Dynasty was a unified multi-ethnic state unprecedented in Chinese history. During this period, the cultures of most of China's various ethnic groups have been greatly developed and increasingly stereotyped. The most closely associated with today. The Tibetan costume culture is no exception, so we will focus on the Tibetan costume culture of the Qing Dynasty, and further explore the structure, artistic characteristics, aesthetic characteristics and production technology of the Tibetan costume culture, so as to deepen the characteristics of the Tibetan costume culture.

Tibetan Clothing in Different Regions

Lhasa and Surrounding Areas

Lhasa, Shigatse, and the middle reaches of the Brahmaputra River in Shannan. Civilian men's clothing is a large-collared Tibetan robe, a flat hat, a belt around the waist, and a knife and other accessories. There was a slight difference between the nobles and the commoners. The robes of the noblemen fell to the instep and were tight-fitting. The robe of ordinary civilians is raised to the knees. Women usually wear small red and green velvet peaked hats, and black and red cross-patterned wool skirts. The jacket is a waist-length short-sleeved shirt and is draped with a square velvet shawl. Hand strap silver coral ring. The earrings are mostly gold and silver inlaid with turquoise, and the earrings have hooks, with pearl coral strings hanging from the hair and pearl coral strings hanging from the shoulders. The aristocratic women were more gorgeously dressed, especially in jewelry, such as silk sash, bracelets, rings, and necklaces. In addition, it has a triangular bazhu headdress and a large pine earstone on the top bun.

Northern Tibetan Clothing

In the cold climate of northern Tibet, herders usually wear faceless leather robes. During the festival season, they change into exquisite lambskin robes made of wool or satin and inlaid with otter or leopard skin on the collar, sleeves, and hem. The women's leather robe is trimmed with black velveteen and decorated with red, blue, green, and other stripes. Men often wear knives, needles, awls, and fire sickles on their belts, while women often hang milk bucket hooks, knives, sewing boxes, whips, etc. In addition, men wear long hair mixed with red silk braids on the top of their heads and wear red tasseled felt hats in summer and plush or fox fur hats in winter. Married women comb their long hair into small braids and drape them, weave black threads down the shoulders to their waists, and wear a long woolen or long shawl decorated with turquoise, shells, silver coins, etc. The girl combs the single braid at the back.

Ngari Clothing

Lambskin robes are prevalent in the Ngari region, mostly with woolen as the face, and the collar, sleeves, and placket are inlaid with otter skin. Among the Ngari costumes, the Pulan women's costumes are the most unique, finely made, and elegantly decorated, especially the "peacock" costumes made of imitation peacocks. Women wear brown and blue cylindrical hats, earrings of coral, pearls, and other strings about 10 centimeters long, with hats and earrings symbolizing the peacock's crown. The back is draped with a white goatskin drape, inlaid with a rough strip with a circular pattern, and the perimeter of the drape is inlaid with a brown and blue color with a circular pattern, and the bottom is three-pronged, like a peacock's tail feathers. Ngaripuran costumes are more distinctive than the whole Tibetan costume.

Clothing of Tibetan lamas and monks

In line with Buddhist rules, the lamas and monks of Tibet wear differently from the laymen. Tibetan lamas wear special boots, some also being barefoot. Tibetan monks generally wear sleeveless shoulders and purple-red skirts underneath. The nuns' costumes are generally the same as those of the monks, and their main clothing is mostly made of 氇. 

In Tibet, Different sects of lamas wear different colors of clothing. The monks who believe in the Gelugpa sect wear red clothing, with yellow hats. While for the Nyingmapa sect, whose believers wear red hats. In addition, the monks should wear the hat in the chanting of the sutra. While they generally get rid of the hats while out of the temple. The types of monk's hats include white hats, disc hats, and tasseled cockscomb hats. 

Can I Dress Tibetan Clothing While Touring Tibet?

While traveling in Tibet, you'll certainly meet lots of Tibetans dressed in their traditional costumes. Unlike today's world of fashion, Tibetan clothing features unique design and styles, bearing silent witness to their rich culture and history. It shows the personal beliefs and the personality of the individuals wearing them.

When you visit the city of Lhasa, you can stroll in the broad streets with the Tibetan clothing. You can also take some best shots outside the magnificent monasteries like Drepung and Sera. Norbulinka Palace and Yamdrok Lake are also good places to visit while wearing Tibetan dress.

For tourists who book your tour with us, we can help to offer the one-stop service of Tibetan clothing rental, photography etc., as per your needs. With professional local Tibetan guide, you will get the real and first-hand tips on how to wear the Tibetan dress, and where to take gorgeous photos with these clothing.

Where to Buy Tibetan Clothing?

If you are going to buy the Tibetan clothing as souvenirs or gifts for your Tibet tour, you can go to Barkhor Street and its surrounding areas. There are many fashion boutiques and clothing shops selling the authentic Tibetan dress. The price for Tibetan clothing will tend to be very high, so remember to make more comparisons among different shops. Also try to bargain, or ask your local guide for suggestions.