Thai ethnic women's costumes

The Thai ethnic group has two branches: the Black Thai and the White Thai, distinguished by the costumes and hair styles of married Thai women.

Black Thai women, when married, must "tang cau" (put their hair in a bun on top of their head), while White Thai women do not have this custom.

The white Thai ethnic woman's shirt has a V-shaped neck, the black Thai ethnic woman's shirt has a round, upright neck that hugs the neck.

The full costume of Thai ethnic women includes a short shirt (xua com), a long dress (xua luong), a skirt (xin), a belt (xa yeu), a scarf (pieu), a hat (cup), a necklace and jewelry such as earrings, necklaces, bracelets... The short shirt is sewn tightly to the body, the hem of the shirt just reaches the waistband of the skirt, with a row of silver butterfly-shaped buttons as an accent, showing the uniqueness of Thai ethnic women's costumes.

According to Thai folk beliefs, the two rows of silver buttons on the two flaps of the "xua com" shirt symbolize the union between male and female, between male and female to maintain the species.

The left row of buttons (on the male side) is called “to po” (male), the right row of buttons (on the female side) is called “to me” (female). Thai people believe that the number of butterfly buttons should be odd to symbolize life and fertility.

Ao xua com is commonly worn in daily life with many different colors such as: white, indigo, blue, purple, yellow...

Heritage Magazine