Dhivehi Libaas, the traditional Maldives dress is unique to the Maldives. Dhivehi libaas simply means Maldivian dress, the simplest of which is just called libaas. The ordinary libaas used to be the everyday attire of the ordinary folk, even as recently as forty years ago. The more sophisticated, boavalhu libaas seen here is embellished with a neckline trimmed with white and gold laces known as kasabu. These are hand-woven ribbons made of gold, silver and coloured threads.
Both the ordinary libaas and the boavalhu libaas are worn with a wraparound underskirt. While the ordinary Dhivehi libaas is worn with a simple underskirt, kan’diki, a simple black wraparound, the boavalhu libaas is often worn with the more sophisticated feyli bordered with black and white stripes.