Clothes of Chinese ethnic minorities are flowery and colorful, extremely exquisite, and highly distinctive. They constitute an important part of the rich history and culture of the ethnic groups.

A pleated skirt

Every aspect of their garments, such as raw materials, textile technology, fashion and decoration, retains a distinct characteristic of the ethnic group and the locality. The Hezhen ethnic minority people, who mainly make a living on fishing, used to make clothes with fishskin. The hunting ethnic groups, such as Oroqen and Ewenki, used roe skin and animal tendon to stitch up their clothes. The Mongolians, Tibetans, Kazakstans, Khalkhases, Yugurs, etc., who are mainly engaged in stockbreeding, make their apparel mostly from animal skin and hair. And, farming ethnic minorities usually take the locally produced cotton or hemp thread as raw materials to spin cloth and silk and make clothes.

Ethnic minorities' spinning and weaving, tanning and felting techniques boast a long history. For example, bombax cloth of the Li ethnic minority, woolen fabric of the Tibetan, Adelis silk of the Uygur, fur products of the Oroqen have enjoyed a worldwide reputation all along.

There are numerous clothing designs and forms in Chinese ethnic minorities. Generally speaking, they can be classified into two types: long gowns and short clothes. People usually wear a hat and boots to match long gowns, and headcloth and shoes to match short clothes. The gowns take various forms: the high-collar and big-front type worn by the Mongolian, the Manchu, the Tu and so on; the collarless tilted-front type worn by the Tibetan, the Moinba and so on; the tilted-front type worn by the Uygur and other ethnic minorities; and so on. As for short clothes, they fall into two types: trousers and skirts.

In terms of fashion of skirts, there are pleated skirts, tube skirts, short skirts, one-piece dress and so on. In any kind of clothes, no matter it is the gown, the coat, the skirt, or the trousers, different ethnic minority groups employ different structures, techniques and styles. Take high-collared big gowns for example. Some of them have kick pleat, some don't have any kick pleat, some have kick pleat both in front and on the back, and some have front and back kick pleat and edging all around. Women of the Li, the Dai, the Jingpo, the De'ang ethnic minorities and so on all wear tube skirts, but those tube skirts worn by the Li are brocade skirts made of cotton, those worn by the Jingpo are woolen multicolored skirts, those worn by the De'ang are skirts with horizontal stripes, and those worn by the Dai are usually skirts made of common cloth.

Costumes of ethnic minorities vary greatly not only with different nationalities, but also with different branches and different regions within the same ethnic group. Difference can be seen from province to province, from county to county, and even from village to village. Costume is the most obvious symbol of an ethnic group, and in the history, many ethnic groups were named just according to their garments.

In a vast country like China, with so many ethnic groups and an unbalanced social development, styles of clothes vary a lot due to different economic lives, cultural levels, natural environments and geographical conditions and climatic conditions. This is one of the characteristics of folk garments.

Some techniques of Chinese ethnic minorities such as embroidery and batik are much developed, and are widely used in making clothing adornments. This is another feature of their costumes.

Embroidery is a technique generally favored by all ethnic groups, and it is usually used in the headband, the waistband, the apron, and some rapid-wearing parts such as the border of the front, the round shoulder, the lower hem, the wristband, the bottom of trouser legs, the edge of the skirt, etc., being both decorative and practical. Embroidery techniques include cross-stitch work, applique, embroidering and so on; methods include surface, twine, chain, net, stab and stack embroidery, etc; patterns include natural scenes, auspicious patterns and geometric patterns and so on.

Costume in the Han Dynasty:

中国少数民族服饰绚丽多彩，精美绝伦,各具特色。它是各民族优秀历史文化的重要组成部分。

服饰制作从原料、纺织工艺,以至样式、装饰都保持着鲜明的民族和地区特色。以捕角为主要经济生活的赫哲族早年曾以鱼皮为衣,曾长期从事狩猎的鄂伦春、鄂温克等族狍皮兽筋缝制衣服。经营畜牧业的蒙古族、藏族、哈萨克族、柯尔克孜族、裕固族等，穿戴多取诸牲畜皮毛。从事农业的少数民族则以当地出产的棉麻丝为原料，纺织布帛丝绸，缝制衣服。

少数民族的纺织、鞣皮、擀毡等工艺，有着悠久的历史。如黎族的木棉布、藏族的氆氇、维吾尔族的爱得丽丝绸、鄂伦春的皮毛制品等素负盛名。

中国少数民族服饰款式纷繁，各自有异。大体上有长袍和短衣两类。穿袍子的民族一般戴帽蹬靴，穿短衣的民族多缠帕着履。袍子形式也多种多样，有蒙古、满、土等民族的高领大襟式，有藏、门巴等族的无领斜襟式，有维吾尔等族的右　斜襟式等，还有坎肩式长袍。短衣有裤和裙之别。

裙子款式有百褶裙、筒裙、短裙、连衣裙等。无论是袍、衣、裙、裤，不同的民族在结构、工艺、风格等方面都有差别，同是高领大襟袍，有开叉和不开叉的，有前后开叉的，有前后开叉和周围镶边的、黎、傣、景颇、德昂等民族妇女都穿筒裙，但黎族为棉制锦裙、景颇族为毛织花裙、德昂族为横条纹裙，而傣族多为市购布料裙。

民族服饰不仅民族与民族之间存在着明显的区别，就是在民族内部，不同支系、不同地区也都有明显的差异。省与省之间，县与县之间，以至寨与寨之间都有差别，如百花齐放，千姿百态。服饰是民族最显而易见的标志，历史上曾因服饰不同赋予乎很多民族各种地方性的名称。

在中国这样一个地域辽阔，民族众多，社会发展不平衡的国家里，由于经济生活、文化素养和自然环境，地理气候的差异，从而导致民族服饰的多种多样，应该说这是民俗服饰的特点之一。 中国少数民族的刺绣、蜡染等工艺相当发达，并广泛用于服饰装饰上，是民族服饰的又一特点。 刺绣是各民族普遍喜爱的工艺，一般运用在头巾、腰带、围裙以及衣襟、环肩、下摆、袖口、裤脚、裙边等易损部位，既起装饰作用，又有实用价值。刺绣包括桃花、补花、绣花等多种工艺，绣花的手法有平绣、o绣、编绣、结绣、盘绣等，花纹图案有自然景物，吉祥图案和几何纹样等。