The Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties was a period of major transformation in ancient Chinese clothing history. During this time, because a large number of Hu people moved to live in the Central Plains, Hu clothing became the popular fashion of the time. The characteristics of Hu clothing include tight-fitting, round collars, and slits.

　　Male Clothing:

　　Ritual Costume: Except for the Northern Zhou, the grandest ritual costume, the sacrificial robe, remained only one type, similar to that of the Han Dynasty, but with slight differences in the main color of the upper and lower garments.

　　Ping Mian Costume: The forms and colors of the costumes for various ranks were roughly the same, but the patterns on the upper and lower garments varied. The Son of Heaven used twelve patterns, the dukes and feudal lords used nine patterns such as mountain and dragon, and officials below the ninth rank used seven patterns such as brilliant birds. The Son of Heaven's costume was embroidered, while the nobles used woven patterns.

　　Northern Zhou Mian Costume: Because the Northern Zhou Emperor Wu's Sinicization policy was successful, he vigorously promoted the ancient Chinese Zhou Ritual system, so the Northern Zhou clothing color system was mostly based on the Zhou Rituals.

　　Wimao Cap Costume: This was the ceremonial attire for high-ranking officials when performing the ritual of the ministerial archery ceremony. The upper garment was black and the lower garment was white, with a white border at the collar and sleeve of the inner garment.

　　Court Costume: Same as the Han Dynasty, the court attire of the emperor and officials was distinguished by the caps they wore. They also had five-color court costumes. However, during the Han Dynasty, the usual court attire was mainly black or red, while during the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, red court attire was dominant.

　　Tongtian Cap Costume: During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, all dynasties used this costume as the emperor's court attire and also as a secondary ritual costume. It consisted of a red gauze robe, a black-edged inner garment, and black shoes.

　　Yuanyou Cap Costume: This was worn by the crown prince and princes. It included a red robe, red gauze robe, a black-edged white gauze inner garment, and a white collar.

　　Official Caps and Attire: Mainly red gauze. However, the system in the Chen Dynasty was more complex. High-ranking officials wore red robes as their court attire, while lower-ranking officials wore black robes with black and white gauze edges.

　　Color-graded Garments: Officials near the throne and those guarding the palace all wore five-colored clothes, decorated with brocade, silk, and embroidery, known as "color-graded garments."

　　Daily Wear: Mainly the trousers and jacket (ku zhi) costume, which was widely used and could be worn as court attire, military uniform, or casual wear. It was used by everyone from nobles to commoners.

　　Female Clothing:

　　Imperial Consort's Temple Visit Costume: This is the most solemn ceremonial attire among female official uniforms, and also the wedding attire of the empress.

　　Temple Assistant Sacrificial Costume: This was the sacrificial attire for concubines, princesses, and virtuous women. In the Jin Dynasty and the Southern Dynasties of Song and Chen, it was entirely black on top and bottom.

　　Ceremonial Silk-reeling Costume: This was the ceremonial attire for the empress when she performed the silk-reeling ceremony. It was entirely green on top and light blue on the bottom.

　　Assisting Silk-reeling Costume: This was the ceremonial attire for concubines, princesses, and virtuous women assisting the empress in the silk-reeling ceremony. In the Jin Dynasty and the Southern Dynasty of Chen, it was light blue on top and light blue on the bottom. In the Southern Dynasty of Song, it was green on top and green on the bottom.

　　Court Costume: All three dynasties regarded this as the female court attire.

　　Compared to the Zhou Rituals: Female official attire was just as complex as male official attire, with a wide range of colors, very different from previous dynasties.