The 'giraffe women' of eastern Burma who wear brass rings around their necks as a sign of beauty.

These Kayan women, from Kayah state, wear brass coils around their necks to give the impression that their necks are stretched. Having a long neck is often seen as beautiful in Kayan culture.They can start wearing the rings from the age of five and tend to add more rings as they get older

While the neck rings make the women’s necks appear long, in reality, the weight of the coils pushes down the muscles around the collarbone and compresses the rib cage - meaning their necks appear longer than they are.

The Kayan women of eastern Burma wear brass rings around their necks to make them appear longer

The women – who can start wearing the rings from the age of five - have a long piece of brass wound in a spiral around their necks..

The metal is wound manually by the women and, as brass is tough, this process can take many hours.

The rings do not actually stretch the women's necks - the weight pushes down their collarbones and compresses their rib cages making their necks appear longer


The women can remove the rings but they tend not to as it can be uncomfortable and the skin underneath tends to be discoloured