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One can easily identify a Lhop in a crowd by his or her unique clothing. They have a distinct clothing culture that marks the physical identity of their ethnic group community. The origin or tradition of the clothing is still unknown, but the elders of the Lhop community believe that it has been passed down from generation to generation. In the past, the Lhop wore clothing made from the fibers of the nettle plant, which grows on the foothills of mountains 500 to 1000 meters above sea level and is called Yadzin. With the planting of cotton in the Lhop community, the nettle fiber was abandoned. Nowadays, the traditional clothing of the Lhops is quickly being replaced by the national clothing Gho and Kira.
The Lhops have their own traditional dress called Gaada. It is a simple, without pattern, white, coarse cotton cloth about 3 x 2 meters in size. Both men and women wear simple, without pattern, white cotton clothing.
Lhop dress
Gaada is a white piece of coarse cloth about 3 x 2 meters in size. Lhop men and women wear Ra-hem and Gui-hem, respectively, which are made of Pas-jin (cotton).
Ra-hem
Ra-hem is a simple, plain white garment that is folded over from the back, crossed over the chest, and knotted at the neck. The cloth is tied around the waist with a belt called Pa-dzin. The edges are tied together at the center fold point using a bamboo spindle called a rim. The cloth is pulled up above knee length and tied tightly. The loose cloth forms a large pouch in the front part of the body, which can hold many things.
Gui-hem
Women put on their clothes in the same way, but the cloth covers their body from the shoulder to mid-calf, leaving a smaller pouch on the front along the torso. In their traditional dress, they do not need carrying bags. Gui-hem was always like any other Kira worn by most Bhutanese women, except that it was made of cotton. They tie the edge of their cloth over their shoulder with a brooch made of bamboo called a lung. On important occasions, women wear jewelry.
Both men and women wear Pun-gop (tego or shirt) over their shoulders.
The Lhops use very few garments at home. Currently, they do not weave or knit their own clothes. Wear and tear on their clothes are crudely repaired or sewn with the help of native bamboo needles, selvages, and threads (Jin) made from plant fibers. Steel needles and mill threads from commerce are rapidly displacing selvages and Jin. Lhops no longer wear their traditional clothing regularly, but they still wear it at Lhop dances.
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