Hi, everyone! It’s been a while since my last post.  This outfit always brings back fond memories especially the phuam. Hmong Sayaboury wear this distinctive headwrap. Below is an old photo of my cousins and I wearing the traditional head wrap.  The process frustrated my mom and aunts. We were young and they wanted a nice picture but I think they quickly realized that it was going to be more difficult than they thought. By the time they fixed it on one of us, another one would already unravel.

:: White Hmong Sayaboury ::

This post highlights the outfit that some White Hmong wear in  Sayaboury province in Laos.  The outfit is similar to the outfit that some White Hmong in Luang Prabang wear however the sleeves are longer and slimmer and they wear a different headwrap.

Despite the difficulty in arranging it, I love the headwrap. Nowadays, the headwrap is made into a hat and not an actual wrap. I might post a video of how to wear it traditionally. The base of the hat is either purple or black fabric with colorful large yarn.   Wrap siv ceeb on top to hold everything together. For decoration, place a little coin belt on top. Hmong Leng from this region also wear a similar headwrap paired with a different outfit.

Above is a picture of the traditional head wrap. My maternal grandmother made this piece. I was told that when you are married you either wear one siv ceeb or none at all.

This traditional xauv consist of 3 separate silver rings.

I love the reverse applique and I rarely find paj ntaub mos like this anymore. Now it’s cut a lot larger and in my opinion not as pretty but to each their own. I never advanced to reverse applique so I can’t really complain.

When wearing pants, two aprons are worn with a shorter one in the back. Siv paj co, hlab nxtoo, and lastly tw siv with paj ntaub goes on top. I was always taught to wrap it so the paj ntaub peeks through.

When the outfit is worn with a skirt only one apron is worn, the one in the back is omitted. In Laos, skirts were usually reserved for special occasions and for burial. Pants allowed the women to work in the fields and they didn’t have to worry about their skirts getting dirty.

: Outfit Details :

Phuam

Xauv

Hmong Sev Plooj Outfit with Pants

Siv paj co

Hlab nxtoo

Tw siv

Hlab nyiaj

Hnab paj ntaub

 

:: Photography ::

Victoria Chang Photography

Thank you for reading! I need to be more consistent with updating. I have a couple of more outfits to showcase. Let me know in the comments if you want to see a Hmong Vietnamese outfit or a Miao outfit next.