Yemeni qarqush: A head covering for the Yemeni single lady [Archives:2007/1032/Culture]
March 12 2007
 |
For Yemen Times
Yemen is one of the countries most rich with unique dressing fashions as well as head coverings. Yemeni women wear various types of dresses for special occasions. Head coverings called al-qarqush also are one of the most attractive items women of the past used to wear on their heads.
“Why did we abandon one of our Yemeni traditions? Why don't we make al-qarqush part of the uniform for schoolchildren to get back some of our traditions?” asks Amat Alrazak Jahaf, head of the Women's Development Center for Traditional Heritage.
Al-qarqush is a cloth hat or bonnet with two ties tied around the neck. It was made of various types of fabrics, the most common of which was al-jerz or cotton (called zakma in Yemen).
Children between one and two months old used to wear it for the first few months for different purposes: in cold weather, sunny weather, to cover the hair or for adornment. Al-qarqush for boys is different than al-qarqush for girls, the main difference being that girls' qarqush has ruffling (karkasha) along the edges, but those for boys' don't.
Yemeni boys then began wearing kufaya made of cotton or other fabric, with the type of head covering varying depending on the boy's age. “Yemeni girls began wearing al-qarqush at age 5 or 7 and it would be made from more expensive fabric as the girl got older,” Jahaf notes.
The shape and form of al-qarqush depends upon the geographical characteristics in which Yemeni citizens live, as those worn in mountainous regions are a far cry from those worn in desert regions.
Jahaf explains, “Al-qarqush worn in desert regions are square-shaped, long in the back, open at the sides of the ears and decorated with shells. However, in the mountains, we find the mountain's conical form is reflected upon it, as it's cone-shaped and decorated with what's called qiateen, which is woven along the edges of this type of al-qarqush.”
She adds, “In Sana'a, little children used to wear a round qarqush with slight ruffling, but young girls used to wear the conical one.”
The Yemeni Jewish qarqush is inscribed and rich in silver. It's long to the middle of one's back and seems like the Sana'ani qarqush from the front. This type of qarqush is distinguished by its precise decoration and placing the shells in exact locations.
There's also the Harazi qarqush made of the same fabric Harazi people used to wear, while in Sa'ada, al-qarqush is combined with shells and handmade embroidery.
The custom was that a girl shouldn't take off al-qarqush unless she gets married. However, if a girl reached age 25, which was considered the age for a spinster at that time, her parents would hold a small party, buying her clothes, gold, etc., so she could remove it during that party. By doing so, she then would have the right to wear what other married women her age were wearing.
After marrying or after age 25, a Yemeni woman may wear any of several head coverings for special occasions.
Getting married is an important event in a Yemeni girl's life and if she's still single after age 25, she removes al-qarqush. “This custom shows us the humanitarian aspect of Yemenis, as society seeks to protect unmarried women's feelings by not letting them feel that they have any shortage because they didn't get married.” Jahaf observes.
——
[archive-e:1032-v:14-y:2007-d:2007-03-12-p:culture]
