Hmong jacket with dab tshos dhos (Jacket, two-piece, probably man's)

Unknown Hmong or Yao designer, Chieng Mai or Chieng Dao district, Thailand

ID # Anthr1995 004 0009 01

Gift of Ruth Sharp

Although textiles were not central to the Bennington-Cornell anthropological project, clothing was one of the important ways in which the anthropologists identified the ethnic identity of individuals and communities they were working with. Lucien Hanks, one of the co-leaders of the project, wrote about the anthropologists' confusion when meeting with a community who identified as being of one ethnicity, while their clothing, as well as their houses, appeared instead similar to a different ethnic group. When speaking with members of the community, the researchers’ notions of ethnic identity and group formation were challenged even more by some of the particular practices that community practiced, demonstrating the ways in which the anthropologists conceived of communities through a static lens of culture.

In the publication, Ethnographic Notes on Northern Thailand, Ruth Sharp wrote an essay entitled, “It’s Expensive to be a Yao.” In the chapter, she described Yao self-fashioning and the production of cultural items that were used by the project team members to identify Yao individuals, reflecting the anthropological connection between identity and dress that Hanks had articulated in his essay. Sharp’s writing in the piece is expressive, potentially demonstrating her own interest in how individuals construct their self-presentation through clothing choices.

Hmong jacket with dab tshos dhos (Jacket, two piece, probably man's)

Unknown Hmong or Yao designer, Chieng Mai or Chieng Dao district, Thailand

ID # Anthr1995 004 0010 01

Gift of Ruth Sharp

These two jackets, both labelled as affiliated with either the Yao or Hmong community, appear significantly different from the jackets described in Sharp’s text, “It’s Expensive to be a Yao.” Instead of the embroidered pockets and front piece which wraps diagonally across and is attached with buttons on one side as described by Sharp, these two jackets hang down symmetrically across the wearer’s chest and the only decorative motif is appliqué on the jacket. In addition, it is likely these jackets were not worn by men either, despite how they were cataloged. With their dab tshos dhos (appliqué collar), they appear visually similar to those identified as worn by White Hmong women for special occasions. These jackets are made primarily of black fabric with blue accents and display appliqué and reverse appliqué motifs on the large rectangular color and bordering the front opening of the jacket.