Tibetan Dress

There are a variety of distinctive and characteristic styles of Tibetan clothing as below:

*In Lhasa & Shannan
The weather in Lhasa and Shannan Prefecture is warmer and damper still. Here men mainly wear double-layered robes, and women dress up in close-fitting robes and long-sleeved shirts, with brightly decorated aprons at the waist.

The apron is one of the favorite items of clothing for Tibetan women. According to Tibetan custom, they are the privileged garments for married women only, single girls do not generally wear them.

*In Northern Tibet
The weather in northern Tibet is bitterly cold. Since there is a huge temperature disparity between day and night time, local herdsmen wear a furred robe all year round, which doubles as a quilt at night. At daytime, people wear their left sleeve only, or sometimes wear neither with the two sleeves tying to the waiste. The Tibetan furred robe is very bulky and has no pockets, but being fastened at the waist there is plenty of room around the ribcage to carry daily necessities.

*In Southern Tibet
Tibetan farmers, who live in the warm and damp climate of southern Tibet, make their clothes from tweed, a kind of handwoven woolen cloth. Both men and women wear their clothes buttoned to the right. Men's clothes are hemmed in colorful cloth or with silk at the collar, cuffs, front, and lower edges. Other than during the cold winter, women's outerwear is sleeveless. The length of a Tibetan robe generally exceeds the wearer's height, and when worn, the waist is lifted and fastened with a belt.