My mother died nearly a decade ago now. I mention this because, for the first time since her demise, I’m actually wearing some of the things she left me. When I say things, what I mean is scarves, in particular silk scarves, and most particularly Hermès scarves, which she loved so passionately.
This is a scarf moment; the first for 20 years, I’d wager. As the recently released Martha Stewart would say, this is a good thing, since scarves have traditionally suffered from an image problem. If it wasn’t Isadora Duncan’s strangulation, then it was Kim Basinger’s blindfold in Nine 1ž2 Weeks, and if it wasn’t death or bondage, then it was the Princess Royal, née Anne.
Eighties Sloanes never quite got the hang of the scarf. This was fortunate because, like the notorious velvet headband, an awkwardly tied scarf was a signal to step away before the braying began. It was all quiet on the scarf front in the Nineties, which was not at all surprising. It’s hard to do pared-back and minimal with a bright silk square thing flapping about in your face.
Scarves are hard to figure out and to wear. This season, though, in accordance with fashion’s laid-back but hedonistic stance, you can wear your scarves round your waist, wrist, handbag, head, neck or even ankle. All that’s required is patience, know-how and chutzpah (though not necessarily in that order).Hermès (020-7499 8856) are the Rollers of the scarf world. Sure, they are expensive, but go into the store, ask the assistant to unfurl a few and it will become obvious what you are paying for. A Hermès scarf is a work of art. It takes 6-12 months to create, is engraved by hand, then silk-screened and hemmed – again by hand. The patterns and the colours are uniquely opulent and, like a great dress or coat, you immediately feel special when you slip it on. If this is beginning to sound like a commercial, it isn’t. Hermès have given me nothing for the writing of this column, save the fabulous tiny orange book they donate with every scarf purchase, which contains detailed instructions on how to tie your scarf.
The other good thing about scarves is that they are great gifts (attention husbands, partners, boyfriends). If they are Hermès, your loved one will immediately recognise that you have unselfishly forked out more than £180 in a gesture of unabashed endearment. If you don’t feel like spending that sort of dosh, you could always try vintage. I realised how out of control my scarf habit had become recently when I found myself attempting to barter with an aged crone for a shocking-pink vintage number in a tiny Florentine chapel. After ten minutes of exhausting negotiations, it became clear the woman was not going to sell. “But why not?” I pleaded indignantly. “Because,” said an Italian- speaking observer, “she is trying to tell you the scarf belongs to the church. Visitors use it to cover their heads during Mass.”
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