Conical hats (Non La -Vietnamese Hat)

Conical hats (Non La -Vietnamese Hat)

Every country has its national headgear. For USA you might think about a baseball cap, the beret for France, the Tiroler Hut may be for Germany. In Vietnam, the national hat is the “non la”, better known as conical hat.

The hat has a conical shape, made out of straw and is kept on the head by a silk cloth chin trap that keeps the hat from slipping out of the wearer's head. This traditional conical hat is particularly suitable for fierce sunshine and hard rains.

Each region in Vietnam has a well-known conical hat - making village. The conical hat of the Tay group has a distinctively red color, whereas the one in Thanh Hoa differs from all the others. Hue's is thin and elegant, contrary to the thick ones from Binh Din

Chuong Village in the former Ha Tay province is the conical hat making village producing the durable hat here in the north. Thousands of conical hats are sold every market day at prices ranging from VND 20, 000 to 50, 000 each.

There are tourists who also come here to pick out a conical hat and experience the environment of the countryside, not to mention a famous traditional handcraft village. Every visitor is charmed by the residents’ friendliness and hospitality, and impressed by the skills of the local artisans making the conical hat.

Source: http://kiribane.org/home/2012/9/9/-non-la-a-piece-of-vietnam