What is a "durag"?

[Kaitlyn]

I'm reading the latest Spenser book, and I come upon a word entirely new to me: "durag". An associate of Hawk supplying Spenser and Hawk with guns following a plane trip to California is described as wearing one.

So I pull out my trusty American Heritage dictionary to look it up. No dice. I run a web search. It appears to be either some type of mechanical device or something German, so no help there. I try dictonary.com. No entry. I ask some colleagues at work, and none of them seem to be familiar with the word.

So I am completely stumped. Either Parker made up the word or it's some type of slang he assumes most readers would be familiar with.

What is it, exactly?

[Tikki]

Bingo!

A little research led me to an alternative spelling du rag, also doo rag and doo du rag. It's a bandanna-like scarf popular with young African-American men.

Here is a link to a picture.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2844754506&category=2998

[trabi]

Isn't a Greek brand of condom? :)

[Philster]

"Do" as in a hair-do (although some people have hair styles that are more like "hair-don'ts"). Rag is kinda self explanatory, although it's usually a bandana fashioned for the head.

Hair-do rag. "Do rag".

Q. How do you like my new hair-do?
A. That ain't a do, that's a don't. Get a do-rag.

[Duke of Rat]

A red pig??

[Kaitlyn]

Ah, thanks. I know what a do rag is. The strange spelling threw me off.