Two Black Mong women in their traditional clothes. (Photo: VOV)

The typical Black Mong costume includes a headscarf, a shirt, a bra, a skirt, a waist belt, and a pair of leggings. The clothes are made from indigo fabric. The shirthas slits opening on both sides anda circular collar. The shirt doesn’t have buttons. The front flaps overlap and are tied by a cloth belt. The hem of the shirt, the sleeves, and the leggings are decorated with colorful fabric or embroidered images.

Black Mong women wear a bra inside a low-cut shirt. The collar of the bra is beautifully embroidered.

The leggings are long pieces of black cloth wrapped around the calves. The two ends of the cloth have embroidered laces to tie it with. They wear black, pleated, knee-length skirts similar to those of the White Mong.

Duong Thi Noong of Ka Lieng hamlet said that in the past it took 3 to 4 months to make a set a clothes by hand – spinning thread and weaving fabric, dyeing the fabric with indigo, and embroidering it.

“It’s difficult to make a set of clothes. In the past we had to weave the fabric. Now we buy the fabric at the market and use sewing machines to make a set of clothes in about 10 days. We use thin fabric to make clothes for summer and thicker fabric for winter clothes,” Noong said.

A Black Mong woman wears an indigo shirt and a pleated, black skirt. (Photo: VOV)

The patterns on Black Mong women's costumes are mainly spirals, squares, rectangles, diamonds, and triangles interwoven with cross stitch and floral stripes. Black Mong women adorn their costumes with necklaces, silver brooches, and other accessories.

For daily activities, the Mong in Thach An district wear plain clothing which is relaxed and comfortable. For important community and family events, they dress up in their traditional costumes.

“In the past, before getting married, a Mong girl had to make three sets of clothes for herself. Now Mong people wear traditional clothes only on special occasions such as weddings, meetings, and National Great Unity Day. Children wear traditional clothes to attend celebrations at schools. They often buy clothes at my shop,” said Duong Thi Noong.

Ha Van Thien, head of Ka Lieng hamlet, said that in recent years, people have been more aware of preserving their ethnic culture and they wear traditional clothes on special occasions.

Thach An district has implemented programs to develop the local economy while preserving ethnic culture.

“I hope authorities at all levels will adopt policies and invest resources to preserve the Mong culture,” Dinh Van Huu, Chairman of the Thuy Hung commune People’s Committee, said.