Red and wed!

My love of ethnic dress takes me to many exotic locales, some of which are not as straightforward as they may seem. Ten points to the person who can tell me where this photo was taken (and no, despite obvious similarities, the guy with me in the photo is not a relative)…

Somewhere in Africa, right?

Actually, these shots were taken in Chiang Mai. I’m sure Thailand was your next guess, wasn’t it?! I was there three years ago and visited an international flower show which was put on for the king of Thailand’s coronation anniversary or significant birthday (or actually I think it might have been both?). There were displays from all over the world, so I took these pictures at the Kenya hut … tricky, hey?

I’d just bought the top from a hill tribe for $6, it is apparently handmade, but I can’t verify that as I think that particular tribe exists just for tourists. Not the highlight of the trip exactly. I was told that this sort of top is worn by married women, hence the title of this post, but I didn’t let that stop me, although now I’m thinking maybe it’s because I wear this top that I’m still single?? Men must see me wearing it and think “oh, well she’s obviously married, I better not talk to her”… yeah, yeah, that’s it… never mind, I grin and bear my single status…

I love the colour but the fit was non-existent as it’s really just a folded-over rectangle with a hole for the head. But thanks to Self-stitched September*, I have finally got around to giving it a bit of shape…

…not that it’s very obvious, I now realise… maybe it’s easier when I’m not wearing it? Can you see the darts I’ve put in?

And although I love the fringing, it is going to knot and drive me crazy so I have started the long task of plaiting it. The red, white and blue threads were plaited already, but there’s still a lot to do.

I had a dress very similar to this top which I altered too, you can see what I did with it here.

*I know I’m not making it easy to work out what I’ve been wearing for Self-stitched September but as I said previously, I really don’t think you want to see anyone in their pyjamas, tracksuits or dressing gowns, least of all me, and when I don’t go out, that – and self-hemmed jeans (boring, boring) is the self-stitched stuff I resort to!