Headwraps

Description

Presents examples of headwraps from around the world and discusses their varying functions. Why do we cover our heads? Why do women wear veils? Why do men in India wear turbans? Who wears headwraps in the United States? What do they all have in common? These are questions that Georgia Scott set out to answer. She was fascinated by the fact that so many people all over the world cover their heads. In 2000 she put in for a leave-of-absence from the New York Times, mapped out an itinerary, cashed in her stock, and bought a stack of plane tickers five inches thick. She set off on an adventure across five continents with the singular, determined purpose of documenting the world's headwraps. This book recreates those travels. With every turn of the page, we follow Georgia Scott as she journeys around the world. She takes us to the Czech Republic, where satkas serve as symbols of national pride. We journey east to Malaysia, where handwoven kain dastars are wrapped for grooms by village elders. We explore the origins of the pagri, the turban worn by male Sikhs in India.^ And we swing by southern Nigeria to admire the color-drenched gélés of Yoruba women. These turbans all look remarkably different and serve very different functions in dramatically different cultures. How and why does the turban exist in such variety? What are its meanings? How has it changed? Headwraps are stunning sartorial creations for the head. They can be made of silk, cotton, gauze, muslin, wool and other fabrics. They can be tossed, wrapped, draped, tucked, tied or pinned in hundreds of styles. They can distinguish the highbred from the pauper, Christian from Muslim, men from women, and clan from clan. They currently make for hip fashion statements in France and America. In Headwraps, Georgia Scott retraces the dizzying year she spent travelling the globe. She researched the style, s documented the folklore, and snapped photos of headwraps wherever she went.^ The result is a stunning collection of images and anecdotes of a remarkable journey to chronicle our mysterious and fascinating efforts to cover our heads.

First Sentence

For the first two days of my drive into the Sahara Desert, i saw most of southern Morocco's rust-colored mountains while lying on my back in the back seat of a 4x4.

Subjects