How to Wear a Tubaw

Among the Dulangan Manobo people, the datu (chieftain) wears a tubaw (headscarf) almost all the time. The scarf is a symbol of their high standing in the community. But as far as I know, ordinary men may also wear a tubaw. It’s not prohibited. (As to women, they don’t wear a tubaw; they wear headdresses instead.) I like tubaws. I like wearing them, especially on important occasions. I don’t know why. Perhaps it’s because wearing a tubaw is an easy way to draw attention to myself. Non-indigenous men rarely wear a tubaw, if at all, and I like being different—I sometimes like showing people that I’m different. Perhaps it’s also because I simply can’t resist the exquisiteness of tubaws. They have simple yet regal designs. Indeed, the question should not be “Why do I wear a tubaw?” It should be “Why are we not wearing it?” We wear Western clothing most of the time, and we don something K-Pop or anime if we feel like experimenting. So why not tribal? Why not a tubaw? It’s our own. You can even express your creativity with a tubaw. There’s no prescribed way of wrapping the cloth around your head and tying its ends. Just look at the men below. The styles of their tubaws reveal different personalities. I can create a life story for each of them based on the headscarves alone.