Traditional dress of the Maldives: libaas, feyli and more

Everyday clothing on local islands is modern and modest. Many women wear long, loose dresses or tunics, often with a headscarf. Men wear shirts and trousers or shorts, and some older men still wear a sarong at home or on the boat.

Traditional dress is now kept for special days: weddings, school and island events, dance performances and national holidays.

If you are wondering what you yourself should wear on a local island, that is a different question, and our guide to what to wear in the Maldives covers it.

“Dhivehi libaas” simply means “Maldivian dress”. It is one of the oldest women’s garments in the country and the one most Maldivians picture when you ask about national dress.

What it looks like

• The cut: a loose dress with long sleeves and a wide, square or rounded neckline.
• The colour: bright red is the classic, formal version. Green, blue and other colours are also made, and some modern brides choose white.
• The neckline (boavalhu): this is where the craft lies. The collar band is embroidered with kasabu, using gold and silver thread, sometimes with cotton or silk. Some dresses carry embroidery on the cuffs or hem too.
• The skirt: the libaas is worn over a feyli, a wrapped skirt, usually dark with pale stripes or bands.

Kasabu: the embroidery

Kasabu viyun (kasabu work) is among the most painstaking Maldivian crafts. The embroiderer builds up a dense, glittering band of metallic thread around the neckline, and a fully worked collar can take weeks of patient handwork. A good collar is often made separately and then sewn onto the dress.

Nobody is sure where the technique came from. The Maldives sat on old Indian Ocean trade routes, so outside influence is likely, but the origin is not well recorded.

A dress on the money

The libaas is also a national symbol. The red 100-rufiyaa note in the polymer series issued by the Maldives Monetary Authority (launched in 2015 and in circulation from January 2016) shows a woman in a libaas working on the neckline of a similar dress. If you change money, have a look.

The feyli is the woven cloth that sits under the libaas, and it was once worn by men too. It is wrapped around the waist like a sarong.

How it was made

According to a study published by the national centre for linguistic and historical research, the feyli was traditionally woven from cotton on wooden looms and coloured with natural dyes in white, black and brown. A single piece took many hours on the loom. Weavers on a handful of islands, including Dhevvadhoo in the south, were known for their skill.

The same study describes three main types:

• Hatharufatheege feyli: the most decorated, worn mainly by women.
• Thinfatheege feyli: simpler, worn mainly by men.
• Bolufeyli: a narrower cloth worn on the head at formal occasions.

A craft in decline, and a revival

Imported cloth was cheaper and easier to get, and hand-weaving slowly faded. Only a few weavers still work on looms. There are efforts to keep it alive: in February 2026 the President’s Office reported that an artisan had presented the President with a hand-woven feyli made in the style worn around 1932, and the government said it would support people reviving traditional crafts.

Most feyli you see today are machine-made or printed.

Men’s clothing was always simpler, and fewer records survive.

• Every day: a mundu, a sarong-like wrap, often chequered or lined, with little else in the heat. Fishing and island work did not suit heavy clothes.
• Formal wear: a long-sleeved white shirt with a mundu or a feyli (dark, with pale stripes near the hem), and a cloth tied on the head.
• Hats: men had different headwear for different jobs, including a woven hat from dried coconut palm fronds for fishermen, and a round, rimless cap for prayers.

You will still see older men in a mundu on many islands, especially around the harbour in the early morning. The palm-frond hat is one of many ways the coconut palm runs through Maldivian life.

The libaas is not the only traditional women’s dress.

• Dhiguhedhun: a floor-length, long-sleeved gown with a high collar, often worn with a small lace veil pinned to the back of the hair. It is widely seen as the national dress for formal occasions today, and modern versions use lighter fabrics and decoration. Brides sometimes choose white versions.
• Hedhun buri: a lighter, older outfit of a short-sleeved top and pleated knee-length skirt, worn with a plain dark feyli. It was used for everyday wear and for dances. It is rarely seen now, but local seamstresses can still make it.

Maldivian clothing grew out of a hot, seafaring life. Light cotton wraps suited fishing and reef work, and cloth was precious, woven locally or bought through trade. Islam, Indian Ocean trade and close ties with South Asia all shaped what people wore, and over the 20th century imported fabrics and ready-made clothes took over daily life. Our history of the Maldives puts these changes in a wider frame.

Interest in the old styles has grown again in recent years. Young designers have reworked the libaas for the runway, and in 2019 a social media campaign around Independence Day (26 July) encouraged adults, not just children, to put on a libaas and share photos. Hundreds did, including well-known public figures.

You are most likely to spot traditional clothing at:

• Independence Day (26 July): parades and island events often include children and performers in traditional dress. See the Independence Day page for how it is marked.
• Other national days and Eid: schools and island communities often put on cultural shows. Our festivals and public holidays guide lists the dates.
• Weddings: some brides wear a libaas or dhiguhedhun for part of the celebration.
• Boduberu and other dance performances: drummers and dancers often perform in mundu, feyli and head cloths. Read more in our boduberu guide.

On a small local island like Dhiffushi, national days are community affairs, so a visit around 26 July can be a chance to see the island dressed up. The wider culture, people and language guide gives the background.

• Souvenir shops in Malé and on some local islands sell simple replica dresses and printed sarongs. They make inexpensive keepsakes.
• Made to order: the best libaas are custom-made, with a separately embroidered kasabu collar. This takes time and costs much more, and you will usually need someone local to help you find a maker.
• Check what you are buying. Hand-embroidered kasabu feels raised and dense; machine embroidery is flatter and more regular.

Our souvenirs and shopping guide has more ideas for gifts that are genuinely Maldivian.

People at a festival or wedding are not a show for visitors.

• Ask first, especially before photographing women or children up close. A smile and a gesture to the camera usually works; a few words in Dhivehi help even more (see our Dhivehi phrases guide).
• Respect a no. Some people, particularly women, prefer not to be photographed, and that is entirely their choice.
• Weddings are private unless you are invited.

For wider manners on local islands, see our local island etiquette guide, written from Dhiffushi.