Preserving the traditional beauty of Bo Y ethnic costumes

In the highland commune of Quan Ba, home to the Bo Y ethnic community for generations, traditional costumes have been preserved almost intact through the years. No longer worn only during festivals, Tet celebrations, or important community events, Bo Y costumes have now become a distinctive cultural product, contributing to the development of community-based tourism and promoting the ethnic group’s cultural identity to visitors.

Bo Y women in traditional costumes.

To create a complete traditional outfit, Bo Y women spend months working painstakingly through every stage, from weaving and indigo dyeing to cutting, sewing, and embroidering each stitch by hand. Every pattern and color carries a cultural imprint, reflecting the skill, diligence, and love that women devote to their traditional heritage.

The Bo Y Community Cultural House is a place where generations of women gather to pass down embroidery and sewing skills while working together to preserve and promote the value of traditional costumes.

Bo Y women teach others how to put on traditional garments, arrange headscarves, and adjust their outfits before taking part in community cultural activities.

Men’s Bo Y traditional costumes are simple and rustic, featuring trimmed-collar shirts, four-panel button-front tunics, and wide-legged indigo trousers. Women’s costumes, meanwhile, are more elaborate and vibrant, comprising an inner blouse, outer jacket, skirt, apron, headscarf, and hand-embroidered shoes. The outer jacket stands out with intricate decorative bands around the collar and sleeves, particularly floral motifs and pairs of symmetrical butterflies embroidered entirely by hand. The apron, adorned with striking pink peony motifs, and the pleated skirt made from indigo-dyed fabric using the traditional beeswax-resist technique create the distinctive beauty of Bo Y women. These garments are more than everyday clothing; they embody patience, meticulous craftsmanship, and pride in the ethnic group’s cultural identity.

To complete a piece of traditionally patterned fabric, Bo Y women must go through numerous stages requiring meticulousness, dexterity, and experience accumulated over generations.

The rhythmic sound of traditional looms continues to echo, helping preserve the cultural identity of the Bo Y community.

Each stage of weaving requires patience and skill to create fabrics used to make traditional costumes.

Phan Thi Minh (left), from Nam Luong Village, passes down traditional weaving skills to younger generations, contributing to the preservation and promotion of Bo Y cultural identity.

Intricately hand-embroidered motifs and carefully coordinated colors create the distinctive character of Bo Y traditional costumes.

Bo Y artisans guide younger generations through each stage of embroidery and fabric appliqué.

From tying headscarves to arranging and adjusting traditional garments, Bo Y artisans pass down cultural values preserved through generations to younger people.

The smiles, diligent hands, and continuity between generations are helping preserve and spread the traditional values of the Bo Y ethnic community.

Khanh Huyen