The history of Tujia costumes can be divided into four stages: formation stage (pre-Qin to Tang and Song Dynasties), development stage (Yuan and Ming Dynasties to early Qing Dynasty), evolution stage (early Qing Dynasty to 1980s) and innovation stage (1990s to the present), and each stage has different characteristics.

1, formation stage. The period from pre-Qin to Tang and Song Dynasties is the formation stage of Tujia costumes. A large number of studies show that Tujia nationality was formed in Song Dynasty. This shows that Tujia culture, including costumes, has been formed at the latest in the Song Dynasty, so the Song Dynasty can be regarded as the lower limit of the formation time of Tujia costumes.

The formation stage of Tujia costumes can be divided into three historical stages, namely, the pre-Qin period (Ba costume period), the Qin and Han dynasties to Sui and Tang dynasties (barbarian costume period), and the Five Dynasties to Song dynasties (Tujia costume period). Pre-Qin period is the origin stage of Tujia costumes. Before mastering textile technology, Ba people experienced the stage of making original clothes with straw and animal skins, which can be seen from the costumes of Tujia primitive dance "Maogusi". After mastering the textile technology, they gradually knitted clothes, divorced from the original clothing stage, and combined clothing with accessories. The period from Qin and Han Dynasties to Sui and Tang Dynasties was the initial formation stage of Tujia costumes. With the further improvement of textile technology, textile "Shebu" is regarded as a famous tribute, which provides favorable material conditions for the initial formation of Tujia costumes. During this period, Tujia ancestors used a lot of clothes and formed a colorful personality. The Five Dynasties to the Song Dynasty is the final stage of Tujia costumes. Since Tujia ancestors were called "Tuding" and "Tumin" after Song Dynasty, Tujia costumes in this period were called "Tuding costumes" or "Tumin costumes". During the Kaiping period of the Five Dynasties, Peng Kun, a Han Chinese in Jiangxi Province, returned to Chu and was named the secretariat of Xizhou, leading a large number of craftsmen into Tujia areas, and a prosperous scene of "female diligent weavers are organic" began to appear. Since then, it has become more common for Tujia people to make clothes with homespun cloth and decorate clothes with "western cloth", and their colorful personality has become more prominent.

2. Development stage. The Tusi period from Yuan and Ming Dynasties to the early Qing Dynasty was the development stage of Tujia costumes. After the formation of Tujia costumes, it has experienced a relatively independent stage of development, that is, except for the upper-level Tusi costumes influenced by China culture, most Tujia costumes are basically unaffected by China culture, thus forming a unique personality with the overall characteristics of men's and women's costumes.

The development of Tujia costumes is mainly reflected in the following aspects: First, the clothing cloth basically adopts self-woven and self-dyed homespun (commonly known as "home weaving"). During this period, a large number of Han people moved into Wuling area one after another, which further promoted the development of Tujia manual textile technology and enabled Tujia people to process kudzu, hemp, cotton and silk into homespun. The second is the extensive use of Xilankapu as decoration. Colorful lace on women's clothes and children's rocking quilts are all products of Xilankapu. Third, a large number of models are adopted. The sleeves and trouser legs on Tujia women's dresses are completely patterned by "flower picking". Fourth, personality characteristics are gradually formed. Based on the comprehensive literature analysis, the basic characteristics of Tujia costumes in Tusi period can be summarized as "men and women in one style", "short coat", "vertebral bun", "squatting" and "wearing colorful clothes".

3. Evolution stage. From the early Qing Dynasty to the 1980s, it was the evolution stage of Tujia costumes. The evolution of Tujia costumes can be divided into four stages: from the return of the Opium War, from the Opium War to the Republic of China, from the Republic of China, from the founding of New China to the 1980s. Through the evolution of these four stages, Tujia costumes have undergone profound changes in style, fabric texture and color. After the reform, Tujia costumes were forced to change and gradually changed, mainly in the following two aspects:

First, the styles of Tujia men's and women's clothing have been completely changed, and the styles are gradually increasing, and the differences between men and women are getting bigger and bigger, thus forming a complete Tujia clothing system. Men mainly wear short jackets and wide trousers with centipede buttons, and the waist is wrapped with flower boards; Women mainly wear right-sleeved tops and eight-point skirts, pleated skirts, tubular skirts and embroidered trousers with big feet, which are more diversified with age. Whether it is the style and accessories of clothing or the types of clothing, it is gradually systematized. The second is to make Tujia costumes more and more influenced by Manchu costumes, and more and more people change to wear Manchu costumes. After a large number of Han immigration officials and farmers entered Tujia areas, Manchu official uniforms and Han costumes had a noticeable influence on Tujia costumes.

After the Opium War, a large number of foreign cotton yarn and cotton cloth were dumped to Tujia areas, and foreign cotton yarn and cotton cloth gradually replaced local cotton yarn and cotton cloth because of their low prices. Therefore, after the reform, Tujia clothing changed from linen to cotton and then to foreign cloth, which was beyond recognition. During the Republic of China, especially after the outbreak of War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, a large number of teachers and students from Hubei and Hunan provinces moved to Enshi, Yuanling and other places, which further accelerated the ethnic mobility in Tujia areas and accelerated the evolution of Tujia costumes, that is, more and more people changed to wear Han costumes, while fewer and fewer people wore their own traditional costumes. After the founding of New China, a large number of party and government cadres, mainly Han people, moved into Tujia areas one after another, which completely changed the ethnic structure of Tujia areas, making the mainstream position of Han costumes in Tujia areas more and more obvious, and Tujia costumes more and more marginalized. After the reform and opening up, with more and more contacts and exchanges between Tujia people and the outside world, their costumes are becoming more and more fashionable.