One of the most interesting elements of the Slovak folk costume is the woman's bonnet, which epitomises the beauty, richness and variety of the traditional dress as whole.

The festive bonnet of the Tekov villages, including Čajkov and its environs, is an unusual one. The front part has a broad band composed of five somewhat large, sharp teeth embroidered on tulle on a black base. The back is of tulle with white embroidery on a triangular base of stiff card. This raised the height of the bonnet and lent it the dinstinctive shape referred to by its wearers as "horned". On the front a lining of black leather was placed below the edge of the bonnet and this was formed into a point at the centre of the forehead. This detail - actually imitating the rather unusual manner in which hair was originally dressed - lent the woman a mysterious air which to many suggested the orient. Over time the original black and white gave way to the use of coloured sequins and glass beads. The use of bonnets of this kind survived longest in the wedding ceremony.

The designs for this issue are based on items from archive of the Slovak National Museums's Ethnography Museum in Martin.

PhDr. Alžbeta Gazdíková