She wears a head wrap. It’s almost like a turban that she has on her head. It’s actually a long-sleeve t-shirt that she put over her head and then took the sleeves and wrapped them around. That’s the garment that she would carry with her if it got cold at night. Yet, she doesn’t want to have to deal with her hair getting all full of sand and dust, so she tied it around her head during the daytime. Everything is dealt with like that.
If you look at the goggles that she wears closely, you can see that the lenses are actually old Storm Trooper eyes; maybe she found them in one of the old starships that she’s been scavenging from. Then she’s made them into goggles so she doesn’t get dust in eyes. Coming up with that just adds ingenuity to her character…plus it’s a bit of an inside joke. If somebody notices them―and I’m sure they will―they’ll know what they are and what it means and where she got them. I love doing things like this that enriches the character and make you realize how clever they are, but in a very quiet way.
Michael Kaplan, costume designer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens