There’s no remedy for winters but to stay warm.
Everyone wants to stay warm during the cold winter days. The dropping mercury levels bring scarves and neckwear into action. Heavier knitted and woolen wraps replace lighter chiffon and silk scarf.
As the cold weather casts its spell scarves for women as well as mens scarves become an important dressing accessory. This lose piece of garment also become favorite gift items during the winter season.
Designers seek interesting scarf patterns for neck as well as head scarves. Labels such as Aquascutum and Louis Vuittion add interesting scarves to their ready to wear collection. In addition to cashmere and pashmina, fashion gurus seek newer and improved fabrics for style and convenience.
The word scarf brings to mind ‘a wrap for the neck and shoulder’ but trust me there is a lot more associated with this word!
No doubt, scarves are mostly shawl wraps of different knitting pattern used as head or neckwear to stay warm in the cold or light weight silk scarf to accessorize and outfit during the summers.
However, new and contemporary ways of utilizing the scarf include wearing it as a skirt and as a poncho.
A scarf simply wrapped around the lower body can work as an excellent skirt. Likewise, scarves draped around the shoulders and pinned at the center can take the form of a poncho.
There garments are easy to craft and can be made with scarves of different size and material.
Square and rectangular scarves make good skirts and sarongs. Whereas, longer and oblong once are more suitable for ponchos.
All types of material including cashmere, pashmina, cotton chiffon, woolen and silk scarves work equally well for this style. Be it tartan, paisley or mission all styles seem admirable when a scarf of either is worn as a skirt or a poncho.
Designer scarves have always been my weakness and I can’t seem to resist walking down the scarf accessories section of the top labels.
This time my dilemma lies between choosing one from two of my favorite brands, Gucci and Louis Vuittion.
The Gucci scarf my heart is set on is a GG pattern shawl. It is a dark purple scarf with black GG on it. The blend is 70% cashmere and 30% silk. The size is 45.3”L X 49.2”H. And it costs USD 395.
The other one is Louis Vuittion’s Leopard and Monogram Scarf. It is a crepe silk scarf with two Louis Vuittion signatures, the monogram and the leopared print. The size is 70.7”L X 7.9” H. It is 100% silk and costs USD 281.
Both of the above are excellent fashion scarves and would make great scarves for women. They can either be worn as a head scarf or as a neck scarf.
The above information confuses me as to if I should go for the purple scarf or the leopard monogram scarf. Both have become my heart throbs but would be too costly for me to buy two.
Can someone please help and advice me what to do?
When it comes to thinking of scarves we normally think of a warm shawl snuggled around as a neck scarf. Scarves are an accessory which can be worn year round depending on the material it is made of.
A cotton, light weight linen or pure silk scarf would be one’s summer accomplice. On the contrary, woolen knitted shawls and those with a higher percentage of cashmere or pashmina would make good winter scarf accessories.
A cashmere silk scarf is quite a unique add on as slightly playing around with the blend can make it adjustable for either weather. The standard ration is 70% cashmere to 30% silk. This blend makes the scarfs quite warm. Altering the ratio by adding more cashmere would make it warmer with 100% pashmina being the warmest. On the other hand, reversing the blend by adding more silk and lesser cashmere would make it lighter and more suitable for cooler climates.
Scarves have always been an integral part of women’s clothing. A scarf falls under the clothing accessories section and serves various purposes.
The main purpose of a scarf is protection. In cooler climates wool and knitted scarves are used to stay warm. In moderated climates, lighter materials such as a silk scarf are used as fashion scarves.
As compared to the past, today men’s scarf are becoming as popular as women scarves.
Designer scarves are available in a variety of crochet and knitting patterns. Cashmere and pashmina shawls available in a wide variety of patterns add color to a simple outfit white providing protection against the cold. May it be a black scarf, a red scarf, green scarf, a white silk scarf or any other color it is sure to add style and serve as an expression of personal taste.
Scarves used as uniforms help identify civil authority figures and different groups.
Ladies scarves and wraps worn as head scarves promote religious dress codes such as Judism and Islam.
Thus, a scarf originally known as a “sudarium” and used as a sweat cloth has many great uses today.
Pashmina scarves also known as cashmere scarves are made of wool derived from the pashmina goat indigenous to the Himalayas. Having its roots in the 15th century Kashmir today, these shawls are marketed throughout the world.
Being famous for its warmth and soft feel this gauzy and open weave fabric can be dyed and spun and knitted into clothing of all sort including scarves.
Today, the most common blend of cashmere fabrics are 70% pashmina/cashmere with 30% silk and 50% pashmina/cashmere with 50% silk to enhance durability and strength.
These lightweight shawls drape well and are available in a variety of colors and sizes. Though the natural color of pashmina is white, gray and brown but it can be dyed into any color.
The price of a cashmere scarf can vary from a couple of dollars to thousands of dollars depending on the content and quality of pure pashmina wool.
The falling temperature creates a demand for extra covering from head to toe. Snood scarves are replacing caps and hats this season as they look more fashionable. A snood is an ordinary scarf which can be worn like a hooded scarf covering the head against the blistering cold.
These fashion scarves can be knit from wool, made from a simple silk scarf or any other material such as cashmere, pashmina, velvet etc… You can attach accessories such as furs and fringes or even pompoms to make them into a luxury item.
This winter accessory can be of any length ranging from three feet and going up till six feet depending on how many times you want to wrap it around your neck, head and ears. The general trend is to have very long snoods, wrapped around several times for extra protection and added style.
The color of a snood scarf or snood shawl can vary from a black scarf to a white scarf and anything else in-between such as a red scarf. But the most hip color of the season is a purple scarf.
Buy lots of shawls and scarfs this season and enjoy wearing them as a snood scarf!
My passion for scarves began as a teenager. Teenage is the time when all young adults love independence and are keen to explore new horizons. I shall never forget my 18th birthday as it brought forward a hidden passion within me.
As a child, I loved to have lots of clothes and always wanted to wear a new outfit every time I went somewhere. My dad’s job at the time was such that we would travel around a lot and I don’t remember living in one for over three years. Unfortunately, with all this travelling I could not carry a large wardrobe with me all the time since packing and relocating was a big concern for us.
I had always admired my grandma who had always lived in the same house she was born in. She had large cartons stored in the attic of used unwanted clothing and other things and never had to think of packing or extra storage space. Whenever we’d go to granny’s house I’d go to the attic and enjoy playing with the tons of extra clothing.
By chance, we happened to be visiting granny at the time of my 18th birthday. Each year she would ask me what I wanted as birthday gifts and would get me whatever I asked for. This time only two days were left till my birthday and she had not even once mentioned anything about a birthday gift. I kept on waiting till late the night before but still she didn’t ask and I disappointedly went to bed thinking she has forgotten my big day.
To my surprise when I woke up the next morning I was covered with a warm shawl wrap instead of my routine blanket and a bundle wrapped in a silk scarf lay by my side. The shawl wrap was so soft and comfortable that I wrapped it around my shoulders and reached for the bundle which was tied with a velvet ribbon. A small card attached to the gift said “There are three hundred and sixty-four days when you might get un-birthday presents and only one for birthday presents – With Love from Grandma”. To my amazement, as I pulled at one end of the ribbon knot the bundle opened and beautiful colored scarves lay in front of me. There were pashmina, wool, silk, cotton, velvet, cashmere, linen and all sorts of fashion scarves in different shapes and sizes.
Just then grandma opened my bedroom door and singing ‘Happy Birthday’ walked towards me. Breathless with joy I dashed out of bed and hugged her. I was so happy that I did not have the words to thank her.
This was the best gift ever. There were so many scarves yet upon folding they took so little space. I was so happy as I got so many scarves and could carry them with me everywhere we travelled without having to think of packing space.
Since that day my passion for scarves began as I realized how convenient it was to travel with scarf accessories and add style to your ordinary clothing.
We as humans have always adapted any mode of popular dressing of that particular time and enjoy making it our current style.
One of the most fashionable wear of all times has been the “scarf” and all generations have used it as an accessory of adornment. It has served as a reflection of social and economic status and as a necessity of desirable clothing.
Scarves combine knitwear with warp and weave reflecting ethnicity on one hand and rebellious sporty trends on the other end. In short, they make you create your own individual look and style by mix and matching fabulous patterns, shapes and colors to make you look beautiful.
Today, the scarf industry is a highly profitable business growing at a tremendous rate and has become a major component of the international fashion industry. The rise of world-renowned fashion houses and fashion magazines has brought about new attractive styles of shawls and scarf accessories. Pashmina and silk scarf have become a-la-mode and are used for a variety of purposes be it protection from the weather, birthday presents or as Christmas gifts.
Freshness creeps all around as the weather starts warming. The warm air creates a sense of jubilation and celebration as spring is a time of blossoms and freshness. Feelings of openness and lighter ambiance dominate after the long gloomy winters. The hearth is cleaned and packed while the windows are flung open letting the sunlight through.
The changing weather also creates a demand to lighten the wardrobe packing and storing away the heavy warm clothes. Latest spring-summer collections lurk new shopping and gives rise to a demand for lighter wear.
Trendy scarves with bright colors add joy to the spring celebrations. Wool, pashmina, cashmere, fleece and velvet are replaced by cotton, silk and chiffons as the heat builds on. Marry making takes course and the demand for designer as well as casual women clothing takes a leap. Hats, light weight formal shawls, scarf belts, bandanas and other scarf accessories appear on the racks. Leading brands and trend setters such as Louis Vuittion scarf, shemagh scarf and desert scarf become a la mode. Fashion scarves also create a demand in exploring new ways of how to tie a scarf in search of looking trendy.