Married Woman’s Chirpi

The Tekke is a semi-nomadic tribe in Turkmenistan. Tekke women wear capes (chirpi or chyrpy) over their heads and shoulders like a cloak, with the vestigial sleeves hanging down their backs. Newer chirpis do have usable sleeves. These chirpis are constructed and embroidered by women. The design is usually of abstracted flowers, mostly tulips. It is executed in a lacing stitch called Kesdi.  Women wear different colors of chirpi depending on the life stage they’re in. Young women wear dark blue or black, married women wear yellow, and widows wear white.