Sinh Skirt

Yesterday, Christina, Emily and I went Lao skirt shopping. This skirts are called sinhs, and the women here wear them in every day life. The Lao women I work with at the Embassy wear them to work, for example. Christina is my young co-worker, and she offered to take Emily and I to Talat Sao to go shopping for the skirts.

Talat Sao is also known as the Morning Market. There is a more modern mall, and other older buildings that house stalls filled with all kinds of items, including fabric for sinhs. You pick out the fabric and then take it to a tailor, who makes it into a sinh for you. The fabrics include some kind of embroidery, either at the bottom edge or all over the skirt, and are generally made from different kinds of silk. The prices can range up to hundreds of dollars or more, depending on where the fabric is from and how intricate the embroidery is.

I decided on a fabric and then Christina took me to a tailor to get measured. I will have my sinh by Monday. Of course, I will post pictures as soon as I get it. I will be able to wear it to work or around every day here, so I am pretty excited.

Overall, textiles here are gorgeous. I do want to visit some of the shops, but they are closed on Sundays so I need to wait until another weekend.

There is a night market in Vientiane along the Mekong riverfront. I went last night, and they have some very cheap items. I got a purse with embroidered flowers for less than $2. A lot of the items are the same type of trinkets that you see everywhere, but I really like the souvenir items here. Textiles, handmade paper with dried flowers, carved wooden items, light and floaty dresses, and cloth purses and cases are all popular. I will continue to do some shopping while I am here, but my sinh will be my best souvenir, I think.