Yao Hill Tribe Tribal Pants Pillow

I bought this set of Yao hill tribe trousers fragment on eBay and have them converted to pillows.

Vintage Tribal embroidered pants nice old fabric.from the ;Hilltribe people of nothern thailand . Handmade. This is a beautiful piece, nice and with old style embroidery stitch.

Yao are to be found in China, Vietnam, Laos and Thailand. In Thailand there are approximately 55000 Yao in widely scattered villages in the provinces of Phayao, Nan and Chiang Rai, and perhaps another 10000 or so refugees from Laos, living in refugee camps along the border.
The Yao originate in southern China, and are the only hill tribe to have a written language. Yao villages are mostly found on low hills, and their houses built usually of wooden planks on a dirt road. There is a guest platform of bamboo in the communal living area.

Their economy for several generations has been based quite largely on the cultivation and marketing of opium, although opium addiction is relatively rare among them. With the present drive to stamp out the cultivation of the opium poppy in Thailand, the Yao find it necessary to seek other means of livelyhood.

Yao women are noted for their magnificient cross-stitch embroidery, which richly decorates the clothing of every member of the family. The costume of the women is very distinctive, with a long black jacket with lapels of bright scarlet wool. Loose trousers in intricate designs are worn and a similarly embroidered black turban.