Traditional clothes

The Indian lungi or longyi, a sarong worn by both men and women, is the traditional Myanmar garment. By the twentieth century, this had supplanted the traditional paso for men and tamein for women. Bamar men wear a Manchu Chinese jacket over an English collar shirt (sometimes with a turban called gaung baung) for business and formal occasions, while Bamar women wear a blouse buttoned at the front, called yinzi, or to the side, called yinbon, and a shawl. Skirts and pants are becoming more popular in cities, particularly among young people.

Because of a clampdown on increasing dissent in the 1920s, Burmese nationalists associated traditional clothing, particularly Yaw longyi, a type of longyi from the Yaw region, and pinni taikpon, a fawn-colored collarless jacket, with anti-colonialism and nationalist sentiment during the British colonial era. Wearing "traditional" clothing was viewed by the Myanmar as a form of passive resistance. Despite this, British rule had an impact on hairstyles and clothing. Short hair, known as bo ke, has replaced long hair as the norm among Burmese men.

Similarly, women began to wear hairstyles such as amauk, which consists of crested bangs curled at the top and a traditional hair bun. The female sarong became shorter, extending to the ankles rather than the feet, and the length of the sarong's top was reduced to reveal more waistline. During this time, women's sheer muslin blouses were introduced, revealing a corset-like lace bodice known as za bawli.