A NICE SCARF

You know it’s fall in New York when the scarves come out.
Whether artsy crochet, street-vendor pretend pashmina, or insanely expensive status pieces, every woman has her favorite way to keep the chill off her neck, and not incidentally add some personality to her outfit.
Warm scarves have probably been around since the first cave person grabbed an animal skin on a cold day, but the knitted and crocheted variety became quite a thing during the Victorian Era, and they’re still a thing for some people. Like other forms of fancy-work, women created beautiful pieces for themselves and their loved ones, and they became prized possessions, not just for their looks and style, but for the feeling that went into their creation.
If you’re lucky enough to be a fiber artist – or have one in your life – you have all the statement scarves you need. (I know -- my mother is an ace knitter!)
But there’s another kind of statement scarf that also goes way back: the status scarf.
Queen Nefertiti was apparently the first to sport one, at a time when silk was incredibly rare and expensive outside China. Silk scarves appear in images of the queen and her court – and her young relative, King Tutankhamun was buried with one.
Silk scarves were around in high-status circles for centuries; Roman commanders wore then to signify their rank, and no less than Eleanor of Aquitaine had a nice collection of filmy lengths of silk to cover her hair or fly off the pointy end of her headdress. (It was called a hennin, and probably every bit as uncomfortable as it looked!)
While the scarves were a known part of the upper-class wardrobe, they didn’t really come into their own as status items until the late 19th and early 20th centuries. High-end outfitters and design houses like Burberry and Hermes began making elegant, showy silk pieces with immediately recognizable prints.
By the 1950s, the Hermes scarf was such a thing that they were seen on Princess Grace of Monaco, Queen Elizabeth II, Jacqueline Kennedy and Audrey Hepburn…probably the only style point on which those ladies would agree! Other houses made scarves, but the Hermes scarf was the top of the tree.
Not that women who couldn’t afford Hermes were left completely in the cold.
While stylish ladies aspired to an Hermes piece, those who were unable – or unwilling – to spend breathtaking amounts of money on a simple bit of silk could still follow the trend without breaking their budgets. Several big names took over the department-store space, and vintage pieces still get snapped right up online. Echo was one of the biggest – if you get a chance to browse Grandma’s scarf drawer, take a very good look!
Thanks to icons like the Queen and Jackie, the scarf fashion went pretty much all the way up and down the economic spectrum. Women who couldn’t afford department-store silk could still get serviceable rayon pieces, some of which still looked pretty good, if not Hermes.
While functional, warm scarves and all kinds of wraps are still a big part of streetwear, status scarves haven’t been as visible in recent years. It’s probably another side effect of the pandemic – it’s tough to style one with a WFH hoodie. But they’re still stylish, versatile, and status-y…so don’t be surprised to see them marching down the runway – and the street – again soon!

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