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Luoba Sea Shell Belt

This is an accessory worn on the waist by the Luoba people. The belt typically uses leather as its material and has 108 pieces of shell for decoration. Each end is linked with a square piece of thick shell on which sits a turquoise. The Luoba people love the complexity of the decoration on their belts, thus they add various ornaments to the belt and have many decorative patterns.

Luoba Silver Waist Chain

This is a piece of jewelry worn on the waist by the Luoba people. The silver waist chain consists of a line of tiny silver bells and several other linear silver decorations.

Luoba Bear-fur Hat

This is a piece of garment worn by Luoba men. The hat has a ring made of cane as its bone frame and bear fur with bear hair circling around its hem. With a piece of bear-fur cloth hanging at the rear, the hat looks like thick hair when seen from a distance. Some sub-groups attach two pig fangs to the forepart of a hat, while others may prefer having feathers on top of their hats for decoration. The hat keeps the head warm and helps lure the prey, but more importantly, it protects the head from animal or human attacks.

Luoba Weaving

The Luoba people use a variety of patterns for decoration such as crossings and nettings. Generally speaking, the Luoba community applies many colors when they make weaving, but blue is their favorite. Therefore, they have a natural inclination toward turquoise and sea shells. When it comes to apparel, however, they often choose to wear black, red, white and yellow. Based on these ethnic preferences, there will be more of a combination of patterns for the Luoba weaving in the future.

Origin of Luoba Clothing:

The style of Luoba’s clothing is closely associated with the living style of the Luoba people. Their way of dressing coordinates with a life dominated by food-gathering and hunting.

Through their history of food-gathering, the Luoba people have learned to produce fiber from several kinds of natural plants. They are able to produce the material for weaving from extracting those fibers.