Stylin' Lanten

The most stylish villagers I came across in my tour of northern Laos, even more than the hipster Tai Dam and the amusing Yao women with their pink yarn boas, were the Lanten. They wore very understated, dark indigo-dyed clothes. Women wore shirts that reminded me of flapper dresses, reaching down past the waist and buttoned up the side. Every woman we saw also wore a necklace that looks like it was made of a group of thin yarn bound together. The men seem to also wear a simple shirt, buttoned up the sides with silver buttons. Interestingly, the villagers' demeanors also matched their elegant dress; welcoming, but also calm and quiet.