A Comparative Study of Kurdish, Turkish, and Turkmen Women’s Scarves in the North of Khorasan in the Current Century

The garment is one of the cultural symbols of any ethnic group, and a scarf is the most distinctive one of them. Due to the habitat of various ethnic groups of Kurds, Turks, and Turkmen, the northern region of Khorasan has a special cultural diversity, affecting men and women’s clothing in this region. Regarding the variety of ethnic groups in the region and their importance, the present paper seeks to study, compare, and investigate the commonalities and differences in scarves of Kurd, Turk, and Turkmen women. The study uses a descriptive-analytical method and desk study and if necessary, makes observations and conducts oral interviews with informed people and specialists in the field of clothing. Investigating the references, resources, and oral interviews indicates the diversity of women’s scarves in the north of Khorasan with special local names. Every three ethnicities wear shawls and Taqiyah with different designs and cheerful colors, especially red. Some scarves, such as Diklichek (Tabarlik) are mostly used by Turkmen women, and Lichak is also worn by a tribe of Kurds. The results indicated that due to higher communications among the ethnicities and cultural relationships, their scarves have higher similarity and vary in terms of decoration and naming.