| home | site map | bibliographies | country | forum | links | studies | what's new | photogalleries | about us |   powered by FreeFind

Woven headcloths from Southwest China

(Dong and Miao headcloths in the collection of Iain Stephens)

Different minority groups in Southwest China - including the Dong and Miao, weave headcloths as part of their traditional costume although, sadly, in some groups, these are being superceded by manufactured towels and, increasingly, not worn at all. The headcloths may be worn by men or by women. They are often beautiful gems of fine weaving and may serve to identify different groups. However, as the minority groups may live side-by-side and absorb style influences from each other it can be very difficult to identify which minority group may have woven them. The www.tribaltextiles.info/community forum has several threads where members have posted examples of the genre seeking help in identifying them or generally sharing their beauty. Forum member Iain Stephens, with several examples especially of Dong headcloths in his collection, suggested it would be helpful to put together photogalleries of them to share. The thumbnails below are links to photos of individual cloths in his collection. Hopefully, in the future, headcloths in the collections of other forum members can be added to this gallery.

all text & images © Iain Stephens
Click on thumbnail to go to associated slide show
Click on thumbnail to go to associated slide show