Interesting Tibetan women's headdress

When you are travelling in Tibet, it is very common to meet Tibetan women wearing Tibetan head ornaments. The fine and spectacular Tibetan head ornaments are usually made of high quality silver, corals, and turquoises. These Tibetan ornaments are beautiful things born with the magic powder endowed by this holy land at the roof of the world. Their main material are natural stones, corals, animal bones and silver. These materials are very common in Tibet, and in rough exterior, but contain exquisite connotations. Tiny patterns, engraving, mosaics are formed Tibetan jewelry's design style subtly, also has strong and thick antique and original rustic flavors.

Tibetan headdress is standardized, rigorous and humorous, also varied with different regions, ages and marriage conditions. For example, unmarried Tibetan girls like a single plait, the root of the braid was binded with a red hair string, which was called "Xia Jiu" in Tibetan Language. The only difference is that Tibetan girls weaved their braids in a triangular and set it on the head, so it look more beautiful, generous and elegant. While married women are double-braided, and without hair support, and the length of the red strings are longer than that of their hair plait, women set their two crossed circular braids in the head from the back of their heads, that looked dignified, generous and mature.

However, it's difficult to judge a woman who has married or not for her headdress in pastoral areas. Regardless of age, all pastoral women ave several small braids on their head, just like Uygur girls, they bind these small braids into two and decorated them with red and green hair strings, also bunch corals, pearls, agates and nine-eye beads on the two braids, which often as long as their body and often draged with their skirt edges. If they put their braids circled on the head, it will looked as a jeweled crown and much styleful.

For Tibetan elderly spinsters, their hair jewelry is different from both married women and young girls. An elderly spinster also have an alone braid, she put her braid circled on the head decorated with pale red hair strings, but is absent of a hair support.

In different occasions, Tibetan women's headdress might be different, too. Tibetan women merely should wearing different jewelry during mourning period. That is the only judgement mark to discern that special occasion. Tibetan girls in the first year of her mourning period should wearing green hair strings and wearing pale red strings in the next year, and they could reuse a red hair string in the third year.