The Akha woman’s outfit would not be complete without an elaborate headdress, worn while working in the fields and sometimes covered with a woven bamboo hat for protection against the sun and rain. A variety of bright, colourful objects was used to decorate these headdresses including, glass beads, silver balls and discs, coins, wool pompons, gibbon fur, red-died chicken feathers, and Job's tear seeds. The more elaborate headdresses denote age and economic status, while different shapes indicate clan identity.
