Silk and cotton weaving by hand is an age-old tradition in Laos. Intricate and beautiful designs are produced mainly by Lao village women on simple wooden framed hand and foot operated looms. These are usually located in the coolest part of the house which is beneath the floor. Houses were traditionally built on wooden posts, now replaced by concrete pillars. They are high enough to provide headroom and a relatively cool, shaded area for outdoor living and storage.

Although in the cities, some Lao women wear Western style clothing, most (including teen-aged school girls) still wear traditional full-length wraparound skirts. Some occasions, such as those of national significance, requires this traditional dress for women in public places. Lao men usually wear only a silk sash at family ceremonies, presentations and weddings – often over a western style white cotton suit.

Silk thread is still hand-spun and dyed too in the outer villages, but due to the lack of availability of enough raw silk, Chinese and Japanese thread is being used increasingly, including silver and gold thread, adding a further dimension and texture to some of the pieces.

Hand embroidery using silver or gold thread and even beads may be incorporated into the design by adding it to the woven cloth, giving it added weight.

Thread now comes in a wide variety of both earthy natural shades and bright, dazzling 'new' colours. With fashion influences from different countries, scarves and hangings can be a blend of modern design and colours, but still made with traditional craftsmanship. It can take days, weeks or sometimes a month to create a single piece of hand-woven silk. Older and genuinely antique pieces are becoming scarce. There are also 'fake' antique fabrics which are processed to make them look old or worn. Nevertheless they too are hand-woven and, at a realistic price, still have a place adorning walls in homes and even some museums around the world.

A selection of modern 'ikat' design Lao silk scarves

Silk quality varies and fabrics are produced to suit different purposes or budgets. However, not all the hand-woven items seen in the markets are pure silk. Other threads such as cotton, rayon or other polyester can be used exclusively or mixed with silk thread. There are ways to tell if silk is pure, mixed or 'fake'.

Pulling the cloth: if the threads stay tight, it is authentic silk. If not, loosely woven fabric may be due to the imbalance between warp (the 'base' threads on the loom) and weft (the threads woven across them). This indicates the number of threads has been reduced or there was too much dyeing.
Elasticity (the cloth can be stretched) indicates chemical thread has been used.
Burning a little of the cloth: the ash should be loose and smell like burnt hair. If it forms lumps, then it is not silk.
When creasing or crumpling the silk it should not recover 'spring out' too quickly or slowly. Either indicates different thread has been used.
Soaking silk in warm water should not release the dye in good quality fabric which should be 'colour-fast'.

Traditional designs and patterns include symbols like diamonds, birds, snakes, elephants and other animals and flowers. These are not merely ornamental. They have significance offering both status and protection to the wearer. Here is an example of traditional design. The photo shows only half the piece which in total is about 6 feet long by 2 feet wide (approximately 2 meters x 80 cm).

In the past, Lao women wove only for themselves and their family, breeding the silk worms feeding on mulberry trees, extracting the silk and colouring it with natural dyes. Designs were handed down and copied by younger generations, some pieces becoming family heirlooms.

The many ethnic groups in Lao, especially in the north of the country, provide a vast variety of patterns, colour schemes and designs. Garments like skirts will portray the wearer’s identity as well as their social and marital status.