After a short walk around Nam Phu area I was picked up by my aunt for some shopping at the Morning Market.
My mother wanted to buy a set of Lao sinh with prabeang for my youngest sister and needed a second opinion. I selected a set of pink for my sister and a blue one for myself. There were so many beautiful Lao sinh to choose from.
I got the first blue set on the left and asked my aunt to sew it for me. I hope to wear the sinh to a special event later this year.
If you like Lao silk, you can spend all day shopping at the Morning Market and would want to buy everything in sight.
Howdy Darly, how are you doing? I enjoy looking at these pictures you posted. Thank you. Question,what is that “That”(monument)on top of the page called. I don’t recall. Is it That dum? I think the Lao sin is so pretty. I wish I can have some for my girls. A collection of them would be lovely. It seems like there are lots of nice cars on the street of Vieng Jun. This is a good sign, economic and social. I wish to see some pretty smiling faces though.
I love the architecture of the market roof tops, they look beautiful. I was told that the Thai architecture has a pointier roof than the Lao. They both are upside down V shapes, but the Lao architecture is not as pointy. I’ve noticed this at Wat Lao and Wat Thai, somewhat similar but have somewhat different feel to them. I think the roof tops are a work of art.
I like the Lao Sinh, especially the gold one next to yours. How expensive are they in Laos? 🙂
Sao Lao seems to be busy Ginger. I think sinh in Laos cost a lot too. I think we pay around two hundred dollars here in the US. I see a lot of Laotian women here wear them to the temple. It shows so much. I hope the trend will continue for generation to come.
Hi Amphone, I think you’re right, Sao Lao might be busy…lol. I’ve never bought my sinh before, my mom would give them to me, I have 2 of hers’ just for a reminder, but they are not as pretty as the one in the photos. I think if I ever get to visit Laos, I’d definitely buy some. I think they look beautiful on Lao girls.
Sabaidee Ai Amphone,
I’m doing fine, thanks for asking. Hope you are doing well these days.
That is Tad Dam you are looking at. It doesn’t look dam to me though.
I think little Lao girls look so adorable in Lao sinh. There is a new trend with the pattern of the sinh this year and I bought four sinh for myself and my baby sister. I don’t know how to pick them out but I like the silk kind because it is light. I can put like four of them in my carry on easily.
The kind of sinh that are being sold in the US, some of them are not real silk and color fade away when you wash. If not then the sinh will shrink. Some of these people would spend $5.00 buying a sinh and would sell for $30 to $40 in the US. My mother bought a few for me from my friend. What a waste of money.
I have a cousin in Pakse that sew Lao sinh and ships them to New Mexico. Her husband’s relative is the one selling them. She doesn’t make much profit though but I bet the person that bought the sinh to resell them is making lots of profit.
Hi Ginger,
The one next to the blue one is $60.00. If you buy more than one maybe you can get it cheaper. But this is the price in Pakse since they ship the sinh from Vientiane to sell them there. My mother bought two, one for me and one for my baby’s sister but she also bought a few more and perhaps got some discount since my aunt is a regular customer of the shop.
My aunt Kian sew it for me. She makes a living by sewing and taught Bay’s sister how to sew as well.
I still have a sinh that I wore in Laos. My mother had a new sinh made for me for the start of the school year. It was the only one I got before we left Laos. I also have my mother’s silk sinh from when she was a teenager. She allowed me for wear it a few times for special event in Laos. I’m keeping these two sinh as souvenir as well.
I’ll post some pics of my sinh later. One was weaved especially for me. There is a town in the south that the whole villagers would weave for extra income. Even the men would weave after work. It’s a different style and a sinh cost about $25.00 a piece. I wore that sinh to the National Library of Laos.
When we go to Laos, we can order some for you if you like the style and pattern. 🙂
i love the Sinh.
they are comfortable.
they are colorful, fun to wear (expescailly at weddings.)
they are very vibrant and i love them .
i love these Sinh
Hi Taylor,
Yes, they are beautiful indeed and so comfortable to move around in them.
what is the difference between sinh and silk? and the cost?
is there anyone i can contact about ordering overseas?
Hi Kathy,
Sinh in English is Lao skirt. Mai is silk in English. So Sinh Mai means Lao silk skirt. There are several types of Lao silk skirt and the price depends on what type it is. Prices can start at $35 a piece or cheaper to a few hundred dollars depending on what you want and willing to spend.
Please contact the following people for your order.
Noi (Ethnic Market)
Tel: (856) 21 219-176
Mobile: (856) 20 52243-363
Champa.
Tel: (856) 21 215-157
Mobile: (856) 20 55522-002
Hello Amphone,
The sinh that you have posted up are beautiful. Do you have pictures of the sinh Champa and Noi have to offer? My neices actually perform for the Lao New Year, do they have large quantities of the same fabric as well? Please let me know. My brother is also getting married and will need sinh and pa beang for the whole family. I’m glad I found this website. Very informative. Thank you so much.
Â
Sherry
Hi Sherry,
Please check out Vang Vieng Organic Farm post, the owner of the shop is Chama. I’ll post more photos for you later today. They have a large amount of fabric as well and also people that will make clothes for you if you give them your measurement and will be able to ship world wide.
https://saodarly.com/2010/05/19/vang-vieng-organic-farm-shop/
Those sinh are really beautiful.They are reminded me of the times when I was there shopping with my wife. I never seen so many so shopping was time consuming because there is too many choices. Your eyes is like rolling from one and then the others and on and on. My wife bough two from Vientiene morning market 3 years ago in the end and they cost like a $100 per piece. I though that was over charge because the price here is musch cheaper.Â
Hi Terry,
Yes, I totally agreed with you on that and I can’t choose the right ones and usually have relatives helping me pick. But when I get home it’s like there are better ones from looking at the photos. The ones posted above were about $50-$60 a set after some bargaining.
I usually buy sinh between $45-$100 after some bargaining. Price of a sinh depends on the material, whether or not it’s natural dyes or chemically dyes and the pattern as well. The more difficult the pattern (taking longer to weave) the more expensive it is.
Please be aware of the prices of sinh being sold in the US by those that went to Laos and brought them back to sell in the US. I have a friend who went to Laos that bought two suitcases full of sinh for $5.00 a piece and then she was selling to my mother for $40 to $50 a piece. I took them back to Laos and gave to my relatives since I didn’t like the quality but for the average people in Laos they don’t mind wearing the lower quality, lower price sinh in Laos.
There are some sinh that cost more than $500 a piece in Laos that are worn to wedding by the wealthy people.
Your wife must have gotten a real pretty good  quality sinh for $100 a piece, unless the seller was taken advantage of tourists.