Clothing in Myanmar varies depending on the ethnicity, geography, climate and cultural traditions of the people of each region of Myanmar (Burma). The most widely recognized Burmese national costume is the longyi, which is worn by both males and females nationwide. Burmese clothing also features great diversity in terms of textiles, weaves, fibers, colours and materials, including velvet, silk, lace, muslin, and cotton.
History
Pre-colonial era
Pyu city-states era Hanlin At the ancient city of Hanlin, the discovered Pyu sculptures depict Pyu men wearing headwarps and crown-like headdresses, while Pyu women are shown with head ornaments similar to the golden headdresses later seen in the Bagan period.ရွှေကိုင်းသား၊ ဆင်ယင်ထုံးဖွဲ့မှု (in Burmese)၊ တတိယအကြိမ်၊ မန္တလေး၊ ကြီးပွားရေးစာအုပ်တိုက်၊ ၂၀၀၅။ Although images of ear ornaments and Pyu figures are relatively rare on these stone carvings, the wide, drooping earlobes suggest that wearing ear plugs or earrings was likely a common practice. Jewelry and accessories were not as abundant as in the later Bagan period, but large bead necklaces were found adorning the necks of both Pyu men and women. Clear representations of shirts and waist-wrapped skirts are not distinctly visible. The fabric appears so thin that it seems to cling closely to the body.
Sri Ksetra Sri Ksetra or Thaye Khittaya (Burmese: သရေခေတ္တရာ; lit., "Field of Fortune" or "Field of Glory"), located 8 km (5.0 mi) southeast of Prome (Pyay) at present-day Hmawza village, was the last and southernmost Pyu capital.
Sarong-like skirts are depicted more clearly in the Sri Ksetra's Pyu sculptures. Some images of Pyu women show them wearing extremely thin, form-fitting skirts that highlight their figures, while others display thicker, more structured skirts. For Pyu men, their attire also resembles the baggy trousers seen in the later Bagan period, tied at the waist with a belt, often knotted in a style similar to that of the Bagan people. Additionally, some male figures appear to wear a draped cloth resembling a shirt, though faint and subtle. Pyu men are also shown adorned with bracelets and large ear ornaments. Hairstyles for both men and women appear quite similar, with their hair gathered at the crown and secured by some kind of hairpiece, often styled into prominent topknots or buns.
Notably, the hairstyles of Pyu women align with descriptions found in Chinese historical records. These records mention that "after marriage, Pyu women would wrap their hair into a bun on top of their heads, adorned with silver or pearl ornaments." According to Chinese record, the Pyu primarily wore cotton garments. They refrained from wearing silk, as harvesting silk required killing silkworms, which they believed contradicted their value of non-violence. The records also describe Pyu women wearing crown decorated with golden floral patterns and pearl-inlaid designs.
In terms of clothing, Pyu women dressed in vibrantly colored warped skirts, often layering a delicate silk shawl over their shoulders. When venturing outside, they commonly carried hand fans. It is even noted that high-ranking women were often accompanied by four or five attendants carrying fans as part of their entourage.
Pagan era
During the Pagan dynasty, while cotton was the most commonly used textile material, other imported textiles such as silk, satin, and velvet, were also used in Burmese clothing. Trade with neighboring societies has been dated to the Pyu era, and certainly enriched the material culture, with imported textiles used for ritual and costume. For instance, the Mingalazedi Pagoda, built during the reign of Narathihapate, contains enshrined articles of satin and velvet clothing, which were not locally produced.
Pagan-era kings and princes wore robes called wutlon (ဝတ်လုံ), duyin (ဒုယင်), and thoyin (သိုရင်း) as upper garments, while wearing dhoti-like loinclothes as lower garments. Meanwhile, aristocratic women wore strapless bodices called yinsi (ရင်စီး) over a chemise, before adopting looser jackets and body garments, including longer sari-like garments and baggy trousers, that gained currency in the later Pagan period. Relative social rank was distinguished by the use of gold and silver embroidery patterns; high quality attire and floral designs were worn by the upper class and ruling class.
First Inwa era The traditional attire of the Inwa period is more frequently referenced in literary works such as poems and classical writings than in paintings or sculptures. According to a Chinese record dated 1396 AD, the people of Inwa (Ava) wore white bell-sleeved long shirts. Their waistcloths were wrapped from the front to the back and tied securely around the waist. It was noted that the paso (sarong) worn by noblemen was about 20 feet long, while those of commoners measured around 10 feet.
Men adorned themselves with patterned cloths wrapped around their heads, with the remaining part of the cloth trailing down the back. They wore one side of their shirt draped over a shoulder, leaving part of their upper body exposed. Women, on the other hand, covered themselves with a white shawl draped over their bodies and used patterned cloths to wrap around their necks, akin to a scarf. These records reflect the clothing styles of the people of Inwa during the reign of King Swa Saw Ke. Based on these accounts, it can be said that men in the Inwa period typically wore white bell-sleeved long shirts, taungshay paso, and head wraps (gaung baung).
According to Shin Maha Ratthathara's Pu-ray-ni-tin Yadu (ပုရေနိသင်ရတု), it is noted that Hsin-Swel-Wun-Syet (ဆင်စွယ်ဝန်းယှက်) textile patterns existed in the waving world at the time. However, these wave-like patterns were not yet referred to as "Acheik (အချိတ်)."စောမုံညင်း၊ မြန်မာအမျိုးသမီး ဆင်ယင်ထုံးဖွဲ့မှု (in Burmese)၊ ပထမအကြိမ်၊ ရန်ကုန်၊ စာပေဗိမာန်ပုံနှိပ်တိုက်၊ ၁၉၈၉။ Furthermore, in his Taung-te-tount Yadu (တောင့်တဲတွန့်ရတု), Shin Maha Ratthathara described the traditional attire and styles for women of the era, highlighting the preservation of ancient fashion. He mentioned the Myeik Phyu (မြိတ်ဖြူ), Myeik Soh (မြိတ်စို့), and Myeik Lok (မြိတ်လွတ်) hairstyles. Women were adorned in fragrant gold blouses and gold htameins (sarongs), accessorized with intricately crafted golden earrings. Their fingertips were dyed red with henna, their natural long eyelashes enhanced, and their eyebrows meticulously drawn with a brush. Their faces were delicately layered with fragrant traditional makeup (Kato Thaw Maw), creating an appearance so elegant and divine that they were compared to celestial maidens from the six abodes of the heavenly realm. Additionally, the Kyet-Taung-Zi (ကြက်တောင်စည်း) hairstyle — where the hair was gathered at the top of head and secured — was also described.
When portraying the beauty of an Inwa maiden, Shin Maha Ratthathara’s depiction was strikingly tender and graceful, offering a perspective unlike that of others. He captured a particular moment — the twilight hour — when her beauty became even more enchanting. His verses did not merely highlight her golden bun, blouse (eingyi), sarong (htamain), and belt but also subtly hinted at the delicate way her clothing seemed to reveal and conceal her chest, adding a bold yet artistic flair to his poetry.
Konbaung era
Dress was a major cultural aspect of life in pre-colonial Burmese kingdoms. Foreign travelers reported the presence of a loom in every household, enabling every women to weave their family's everyday clothing. Vincenzo Sangermano, an Italian priest who was posted in the Konbaung kingdom at the turn of the 19th century, observed that locals were "splendid and extravagant in their dress." Ear-boring ceremonies for girls was a major rite of passage. Locals adorned themselves with gold and silver, including rings set with precious stones, necklaces, bracelets, and anklets. These accessories accompanied traditional attire, consisting of a sarong-like wrap – paso for men or a htamein for women – both of which were made of cotton or silk. Wooden or leather sandals were worn as footwear. Men and women alike dressed in their finest attire, including ornamented jackets, for visits to pagodas and other important events.
Sumptuary laws called yazagaing dictated material consumption for Burmese subjects in the Konbaung kingdom, everything from the style of one's house to clothing appropriate for one's social standing, from regulations concerning funerary ceremonies and the coffin to be used to usage of various speech forms based on rank and social status. In particular, sumptuary laws in the royal capital were exceedingly strict and the most elaborate in character. Sumptuary regulations governing dress and ornamentation were carefully observed as a means of reinforcing social hierarchy.
Designs with the peacock insignia were strictly reserved for the royal family and long-tailed hip-length htaingmathein jackets and surcoats were reserved for officials. Fabrics with metallic threads, sequins and embroidery were limited to royals, high-ranking officials, and tributary princes (sawbwa). Velvet sandals were only permitted to be worn by members of the royal family and ministers’ wives. Adornment with jewels and precious stones was similarly regulated. Usage of hinthapada (), a vermilion dye made from cinnabar, was also regulated.
Colonial era
The dawn of colonial rule led to the demise of sumptuary laws. Unlike in neighboring French Indochina, the Burmese monarchy was completely dismantled, creating an immediate vacuum for state sponsorship of material culture, institutions, and traditions. The colonial era ushered in a wave of non-aristocratic nouveau riche Burmese who sought to adopt the styles and costumes of the aristocrats of pre-colonial times.
During the British colonial era, clothing gained new meaning in Burmese life, as an expression of anti-colonial sentiment. Burmese nationalists associated traditional clothing, in particular Yaw longyi (), a type of longyi from the Yaw region, and pinni taikpon (), a fawn-coloured collarless jacket, with anti-colonialism and nationalist sentiment; Burmese who wore this characteristic outfit were arrested by British police. The wearing of "traditional" clothing was now seen as a mode of passive anti-colonial resistance among the Burmese. Inspired by Gandhi's Swadeshi movement, Burmese nationalists also waged campaigns boycotting imported goods, including clothing, to promote the consumption of locally produced garments.
Clothing styles also evolved during the colonial era; the voluminous taungshay paso and htamein with its train, were abandoned in favor of a simpler longyi that was more convenient to wear. The female sarong (htamein) became shorter, no longer extending to the feet, but to the ankles, and the length of the sarong's topband decreased to reveal more waistline. This period also saw the introduction of a sheer muslin blouse for women, revealing a corset-like lace bodice called za bawli (). British rule also influenced hair fashion and clothing. Western accessories such as belts and leather shoes were commonly worn with "traditional" attire. Cropped short hair, called bo ke () replaced long hair as the norm among Burmese men. Similarly, women began wearing hairstyles like amauk (), consisting of crested bangs curled at the top, with the traditional hair bun (). The practice of traditional Burmese tattooing similarly declined in popularity.
Modern era