page_title: Longyi
section_title: Design and style
hierarchical_section_title: Longyi / Design and style
caption_attribution_description: English: Burmese State Peace and Development Council members greet Abhisit Vejjajiva in October 2010 visit
context_page_description: A longyi is a sheet of cloth widely worn in Burma. It is approximately 2 metres long and 80 centimetres wide. The cloth is often sewn into a cylindrical shape. It is worn around the waist, running to the feet. It is held in place by folding fabric over without a knot. It is sometimes folded up to the knee for comfort. Similar garments are found in India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and the Malay Archipelago. In the Indian subcontinent it is known variously as a lungi, longi, kaili or saaram.
  Men who cannot read are like the blind; women who cannot weave are like the cripple.
  — an old Burmese saying at a time when every household had a handloom and the women wove all the longyis for the family
context_section_description: In Burma, longyis worn by males are called paso (ပုဆိုး), while those worn by females are called htamein (ထဘီ, or htamain). Strictly speaking, they are not unisex attire, as the way they are worn as well as the patterns and makeup are different between the sexes.
  Men wear the modern paso by making a fold on either side in front and tied by tucking them together at the waist just below the navel. Women, on the other hand, always have a three cubit one finger span length but again unsewn in the old days like men's. They are worn wrapped around with a single broad fold in front and the end tucked in on one side or folding back at the hip and tucking into the opposite side of the waist, usually topped with a fitted blouse worn just to the waistband.
  Hemlines rise and fall as the fashion of the day dictates although they are unlikely to go up above the knee. Longyis are generally sold unsewn but nowadays they are available ready to wear; htameins may even be sewn like Western skirts. Untying and re-tying a longyi is often seen in public with both sexes, women much more discreetly than men.
caption: In an October 2010 state visit, Burmese State Peace and Development Council members greeted Thai PM Abhisit Vejjajiva in acheik patterned longyi typically worn by women. Various sources attributed this to yadaya practices.[9][10]
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