Lenços de namorados are handkerchiefs made of linen or cotton and embroidered with several related love patterns. This piece of handcraft is part of the typical clothing from Minho province (in Northern Portugal) and used by women of marrying age.
Lenços dos Namorados were used as a ritual of romantic conquest. The girl’s sweetheart should use the handkerchief in public so that everyone would know he had started a love relationship with her.