Ba tầm

Nón Ba tầm is a traditional Vietnamese flat palm hat. It should be distinguished from other traditional Vietnamese headwear such as the conical nón lá and the coiled turban, khăn vấn.

Nón Ba tầm is traditionally worn by Vietnamese women as an accessory to finer garments, as opposed to the more functional clothes associated with farm work. The hats worn by shamans traditionally had silver ornaments hanging from silk strings around the brim.

Origin of the hat
According to documents from the French at the end of the nineteenth century, Ba tầm were translated into French as, Le chapeau de trois tầm (literally "the hat of three tầm), tầm (尋) was an ancient unit of measurement used in China, Korea, Japan, and Vietnam. The measurement is equivalent to an arm span. According to Vũ trung tùy bút, the Ba tầm hat is a combination of styles of dậu, mền giải, and viên cơ hats. The hat is attested in literature since the 18th century, but its origin could be a lot older than that. When I was eight years old, I saw old men wearing "ngoan xác lạp 黿殼笠", the custom called "mền giải 蟹" or "tam giang lạp 三江笠" hats; the children of the mandarins and the students of the schools, the team "phương đẩu đại lạp 方斗大笠", the custom called "nón lá"; the relatives of the mandarins and the old men wear "cổ châu lạp 古洲笠", the custom called "nón dâu"; adults and children team liên diệp lạp 蓮葉笠, colloquially called "nón lá sen"; boys and girls, men and women in capitals wear cổ châu lạp, children wear "tiểu liên diệp lạp 小蓮葉笠, called "nón nhỡ khuôn"; men and women in the countryside, wear "xuân lôi tiểu lạp 春雷小笠", customarily called " nón sọ nhỏ"; soldiers wear "trạo lạp 掉笠", custom called "nón chèo vành"; servants and soldiers' wives and children wore viên đẩu lạp 圓斗笠, customarily called "nón khua"; monks and nuns wear "cẩu diện lạp 笱面笠", customarily called "nón mặt lờ"; mourners "xuân lôi đại lạp 春雷大笠", customary called "nón cạp"; those who carry a year or less of "cổ châu lạp 古洲笠", strapless, only the mandarins and the powerful have funerals, the team "cẩu diện lạp" to distinguish. People in Thanh Nghệ team "viên cơ lạp 圓箕笠", customarily called "nón nghệ". The Mán Mường people in the outskirts of province wear a "tiêm quang đẩu nhược" hat, which looks like a nón khua, has a pointed tip, made of bamboo bark, different from people everywhere. Around the year of the Nhâm Dần – Quý Mão, the Tam phủ army rebel, relying on public work, many people wore nón viên cơ, to mix with the soldiers. In the year Bính Ngọ, there was a change in the country. They gave up viên cơ lạp 圓箕笠, teamed with cẩu diện lạp 笱面, who had a mourning period of one year or less, tied a white string to distinguish them. In the countryside, according to the shape of ngoan xác lạp 黿殼笠 that makes it shorter, it is called "toan bì lạp 酸皮笠", customarily called "nón vỏ bứa", sometimes someone wears xuân lôi tiểu lạp 雷小笠者; and the things that are nón tam giang 三江, ngoan xác 黿殼, phương đẩu 方斗, viên đẩu, cổ châu 古洲, liên diệp 蓮葉 and trạo lạp 掉笠 are no longer seen.
 * Nón mền giải (Also referred to as Ngoan Xác lạp 黿殼笠 and Tam Giang lạp 三江笠) – was worn by the elderly during the Revival Lê dynasty, which then fell of fashion.
 * Nón vỏ bứa (Also referred to as Toan Bì lạp, 酸皮笠) – was worn by the poor, is a simplified version of the nón mền giải, where it was made smaller. During the Nguyễn dynasty, it was referred to in literature as Thủy Thủ lạp (水手笠).
 * Nón dậu (Cổ châu lạp, 古洲笠) – was worn by elderly relatives of mandarins, middle-class men and women, scholars and commoners in the capital. The top is pointed and has a flat rim with a few beams of thao thread, a type of silk.
 * Viên cơ lạp (圓箕笠) appeared in Hoan Châu province (Modern-day Nghệ An province). During the Revival Lê dynasty, it was worn by soldiers during the Arrogant Soldiers Rebellion (Loạn kiêu binh) during the Later Lê dynasty, with a long design, it almost like a winnowing basket (nia). During the Nguyễn dynasty, it was redesigned as a small hat, similar to the nón thúng, but with a square bevel, hats smaller than nón Ba tầm called a nón Nghệ (referred to in French, Le chapeau de Nghệ-an) was typically worn by women. Nón thúng (Chapeau en forme de panier) was worn by men and women, and had bronze tapered design when compared to Nghệ hats.

Construction of the hat
Ba tầm hats are covered with palm leaves or gồi leaves, shaped like a parasol or mushroom ears, flat top, cone diameter about 70–80 cm, the brim 10–12 cm higher or more. The inside of the hat is attached with a funnel-shaped rim called a khua or khùa (摳) to reinforce the hat on the user's head. In addition, people often tie the colorful thao thread to the brim of the hat to make a charm. Presently, nón quai thao is often used to refer to a nón Ba tầm, it was because of an improved design by writer Kim Lân and his son to be more compact and suitable for artistic activities. This type of hat was later adopted by female Quan họ singers where it became more popular.