VietNamNet Bridge - People often admire the clothes of Vietnam’s numerous hill tribes but one of the most admired items of ‘ethnic clothing’ is the pieu headscarf worn by Thai women in the north of the country.

There is a strange and wonderful style to the more colourful scarves. Thai women have learnt these patterns and weaving techniques from one generation to the next. There is no school for design! Every scarf is completely handmade. There are many different kinds. Some are woven with a mélange of different coloured threads while some are indigo-dyed cotton sheets. The headscarf has its own style in each locality.

The edge of the headscarves is decorated with oblique lines, called tin xao, in which you can find stylised figures of crabs, spiders or stars. Son La province’s Yen Chau district is famous for quite sophisticated pieu headscarves, while in Muong La the designs are simpler and often feature an embroidered tree branch or flower.

It takes 15-20 days to complete a pieu headscarf. Before getting married, a Thai bride will make 20-30 pieu headscarves. At the wedding, the pieu headscarf is regarded as a valuable gift, and the young bride will present one to her fiancé’s mother, sisters and other relatives.

Thai girls learn how to make pieu headscarves from a very early age. How fast and well a Thai woman can weave a headscarf indicates her skill and diligence. There is a Thai proverb that goes, “You my darling, who can weave threads into flowers with your dancing hands, we young men wish to have a headscarf made by you.”

In recent times thanks to growing tourism, pieu headscarves have become popular souvenirs for tourists. The headscarves are also now marketed both in Vietnam and abroad. You can now spot these beautiful headscarves throughout the nation.

(Source: Timeout)