Isicholo or Married Woman's HatIsicholo or Married Woman's Hat

Isicholo or Married Woman's HatIsicholo or Married Woman's Hat

A1800-008

Isicholo Or Married Woman's Hat

African Tribal

South Africa

Zulu People

20th C.

Human Hair And Cloth



Zulu women of South Africa traditionally indicated their married status by wearing unique hats called isicholo. The wide hats have a circular basketry frame and is overlaid with grass fiber dyed with red ochre. The hat is based on the hairstyles of past generations when the hair was directly dyed and styled into a truncated cone shape. The hats, though now only worn on special occasions, symbolize a woman's maturity.