"Sindhi Dress: Ajrak, Topi and Women's Traditional Embroidery"

Traditional Sindhi dress for men is a loose collarless shirt over a Sindhi suthan, with an ajrak across the shoulders and a mirrored Sindhi topi on the head. For women it is the cholo, a long tunic whose front is covered in dense embroidery and mirror work called gaj, worn over a suthan or a full skirt with a long veil. The ajrak and topi are what most people picture, but the full Sindhi dress is wider than that, and the embroidery on women's clothes is its most skilled part.

This guide goes through the outfit piece by piece, explains mirror work, covers what people wear on Sindhi Culture Day, and suggests where to see and buy the real thing.

What do Sindhi men wear?

The everyday base is the same shalwar kameez worn across Pakistan, but the traditional Sindhi version has its own names and cuts.

• Pehran. A collarless, kurta-like shirt with a short opening at the front or side, tied with two strings. It replaced the older angrakho and jamo, long robes that you now see only in old photographs and on stage.
• Suthan. The Sindhi shalwar, with fewer pleats than a Punjabi one and narrower below the knee. The kancha is a wide-cuffed version, and the chareno suthan is full at the thigh and gathered at the instep.
• Godd or lungi. A wrapped lower garment still worn in rural Sindh, especially in the heat.
• Ajrak. The block-printed shawl in crimson and indigo, worn over one shoulder, as a turban or simply carried. Presenting an ajrak to a guest is the standard Sindhi mark of respect.
• Sindhi topi. A round cap with an arch cut out at the front, covered in geometric embroidery and small mirrors.
• Pagg, patko or phento. Turbans for formal occasions and for elders, sometimes tied from ajrak or lungi cloth.
• Jutti. Leather shoes, traditionally in red or yellow.

For winter, villages in Sindh weave khatha, heavy handloom blankets and wraps in black, white and striped patterns.

The ajrak and topi each have their own story and buying tips; our guides to Sindhi ajrak block printing and the Sindhi topi cover them in detail, so this guide spends its words on the rest of the outfit.

What do Sindhi women wear?

Women's dress is where Sindhi clothing is most varied, because each community and region embroiders in its own way.

• Cholo. The main shirt or tunic. Most reach the knee; an older, looser style falls to the ankle, open at the front to the waist with wide sleeves.
• Gaj. The embroidered panel on the front of the cholo, running from the neckline to the stomach. It is worked so densely that the base cloth hardly shows, with mirrors, sequins, beads, buttons, cowries and pompoms worked in.
• Ghagho or fairaq. A frock-like dress, also embroidered with gaj.
• Jubo, fargal or pharko. A long dress, closer to a thobe, worn by Jat and Memon women.
• Suthan and paro. Trousers, sometimes worn under a wide wrap or petticoat when going out.
• Rao, gandhi or poti. The long veil worn over the outfit.

Fabrics matter as much as cut. Sussi is a striped woven cloth, bandhani is tie-dyed and common for veils and skirts, and malir is a block-printed shawl, often finished with mirror work.

In the Thar, women's dress is closer to that of neighbouring Rajasthan: wide skirts, heavily embroidered bodices and veils in strong reds and oranges. Our guide to Thar handicrafts covers the embroidery styles of the desert.

What is gaj and Sindhi mirror work?

Mirror work is called shishe jo kam in Sindhi. Tiny pieces of mirror are held in place by a ring of stitching, most often a buttonhole stitch, which is the technique most associated with Sindhi embroidery. Around them, embroiderers use a long list of named stitches; pakko, kacho and soof are the ones you are most likely to hear in Thar and lower Sindh.

The style, colours and shape of mirror embroidery change from region to region and community to community. Well-known centres include Tharparkar and Nagarparkar, Hala, Hyderabad and Thano Bula Khan, and the Mahar, Jat and Lohana communities, among others, are known for their own patterns.

Embroidery was never limited to the cholo. The same work appears on:

• Bridal pieces, such as the akhiyo veil and abochhini wedding shawls.
• Men's items, including the topi, bokhano scarves and embroidered vests.
• Household textiles, from rilli quilts to the covers laid over food.
• Animal trappings for camels, horses and oxen, still seen at melas.

A full gaj takes many weeks of hand work, which is why genuine pieces cost far more than machine-made copies, and why old ones are kept in families.

What jewellery goes with Sindhi dress?

Jewellery completes the outfit, particularly in rural Sindh and the Thar.

• Churiyun. Wide bangles worn in stacks covering the forearm or the whole arm. They were traditionally made of ivory, and in the Thar they are still worn every day by married women in many communities.
• Nath or bullo. A nose ring which, among many Muslim women, marks marriage.
• Kangar or kara. Gold or silver bracelets, now the more common choice in towns.
• Anklets and toe rings, often silver.

What to wear on Sindhi Culture Day

On the first Sunday of December, Sindhi Culture Day, the ajrak and topi come out across the province and among Sindhis abroad. Men wear the topi with an ajrak over a plain shalwar kameez; women wear ajrak as a dupatta, ajrak-print shirts or embroidered cholo. Schools, universities and press clubs hold gatherings, and you will see families who never wear traditional dress on any other day turned out in it.

If you are a non-Sindhi visitor joining in, an ajrak over your own clothes is enough, and it is welcomed rather than seen as dressing up. Our Sindhi Culture Day guide explains how the day began in 2009 and where the celebrations are.

Modern Sindhi fashion borrows heavily from the old pieces: ajrak prints on lawn, mirror-work yokes on kurtas, and bandhani dupattas. These are what you will mostly find in city shops, and they are fine to wear, but they are not the same thing as hand-embroidered gaj.

Where can you see and buy Sindhi dress?

The best places to look are the craft towns and bazaars of central and lower Sindh:

• Hala, on the National Highway north of Hyderabad, for ajrak and hand-woven sussi cloth, alongside its tiles and lacquerwork. Our guide to Hala handicrafts covers the town.
• Hyderabad's Shahi Bazaar, for topis, ajrak, bangles and ready-made embroidered shirts.
• Mithi's bazaar in Tharparkar, for Thari embroidery and rilli.

Buy hand embroidery from the makers or from a shop that can tell you who made it, check the back of the work (hand stitching is slightly irregular), and expect to pay for the hours involved. Prices vary too much to quote, so compare two or three shops before you buy. For shopping alongside other things to do in the province, our experiences page has ideas for building a trip.

Is Sindhi dress worth buying as a visitor?

Worth it: an ajrak and a topi. Both are inexpensive, useful and given as gifts of respect, and nothing says you have been to Sindh more clearly. An ajrak works as a shawl in a Lahore winter and as a sun cover in the desert.

Worth it if you value handwork: a piece of genuine gaj or Thari embroidery, either as a garment or framed as a textile. It is a real purchase rather than a souvenir.

Less useful: a full traditional cholo or suthan to wear at home, unless you have an occasion for it. Most Sindhis wear these mainly at weddings and on Culture Day too.

If you want the national picture of what people wear across Pakistan, our guide to Pakistani traditional dress compares the provinces.

Frequently asked questions