"They do not carve on wood, on stone, on ceramics, on metal, do not carve wooden or stone statues, do not mold clay statues, do not cast bronze statues, but they weave their aesthetic concept into the waistband of women's skirts! The skirt here is like a statue, like a painting!" This is the opinion of folk culture researcher Tu Chi when wrote about the art of creating patterns on skirt waistbands - a unique intangible cultural heritage of the Muong people in Hoa Binh.

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Dragon pattern on the middle of the Muong skirt

Like other ethnic groups, the Muong ethnic culture has its own unique characteristics expressed through customs, through language, living and eating habits, and especially expressed through costumes. To have a beautiful outfit, Muong ethnic women have gone through a process of research, study and long-term accumulation to find colors and create clever patterns to match. With the aesthetic customs and traditions of the nation, each woman is always proud of her outfit because it contains cultural beauty and the lasting power of preserved cultural values. preserve and express on costume patterns. Although simple and rustic, without bright colors, it has a unique elegance and sophistication expressed through the patterns on the waistband of the skirt: "As a Muong girl, I'm not brilliant, the pattern is hidden in my blouse. If I put on the dress, the pattern appears, and my chest keeps the pattern of the Muong land" ( The words of a Muong song)

The art of decorating skirt waistbands in the traditional costumes of Muong women belongs to the Dong Son art line, expressed through layout, stylized geometric and animal motifs on skirt waistbands, typical images such as the Sun in the center of the bronze drum is transformed into 8-pointed stars standing close together, forming a horizontal strip on the waistband of the skirt, or animal motifs such as: deer, chicken, peacock, phoenix, heart, snake, dragons, etc. often seen on bronze drums are also reproduced on the waistband of skirts. Colors are also carefully selected for decoration, ensuring they are both vibrant but still in harmony with the overall outfit.

Costumes of Muong ethnic women

used in everyday life

The art of decorating the waistband of Muong women's skirts reflects, on the one hand, the human values and cosmology of the ancient Vietnamese people, and at the same time speaks to the aesthetics, creativity and skillful hands of the weavers. The technique of weaving skirt waistbands is very difficult, including many steps and operations that are more complicated than regular weaving, so it requires high dexterity. Muong boys who are picky about their wives also rely partly on embroidered products such as skirt waistbands made by young women to be selective. Looking at the skirt waistband, you can guess the ingenuity and sophistication of a girl.

The raw materials for making fabrics and dyes for costumes are all selected by the skillful hands of Muong women from nature, from plants and flowers close to their daily lives. Regarding color, Muong women do not like colors that are too bright or harsh; There are parts of the outfit that are uniform in color.

The technique of weaving skirt waistbands is very difficult, including many steps and operations that are more complicated than regular weaving, so it requires high dexterity. Muong boys who are picky about their wives also rely partly on embroidered products such as skirt waistbands made by young women to be selective. Looking at the skirt waistband, you can guess the ingenuity and sophistication of a girl

When Muong women wear traditional costumes associated with a gentle, graceful demeanor, they feel more confident, softer and more flexible. Each detail on the outfit not only shows cultural values but also shows the ingenuity of the girls. Muong girls wear bright costumes, like colorful flowers in the nature. Perhaps these things make Muong women always feel proud when wearing their ethnic traditional costumes.

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Traditional costumes are created by these unique patterns

 through the skillful hands of Muong ethnic women

The waistband of the skirt is not just a part of the costume, it has the most important position in the traditional decorative art of the Muong ethnic group. Looking at the waistband of Muong people's skirts, we see similarities in the art of sculpture on Dong Son bronze drums. Those are the shapes of birds, images of spiders, grasshoppers, etc.

Wherever we go in Hoa Binh, we can easily see Muong "grandmothers" in traditional clothes. When at home, receiving guests or even when going to the fields, Muong women are still graceful in black dresses and short shirts. This is a beautiful cultural feature of the Muong people that shows national pride and needs to be promoted so that cultural values are preserved in daily life.