Now in its third year, National Scarf Day is observed every September 27 “to recognize the power of the scarf.” Because on the internet, anything can be a holiday. So, let’s consider the scarf and how it is worn with Perfect Propriety.
Quite possibly the most powerful status indicator for a lady before 5 PM* is the Hermès scarf. Its value and quality is immediately apparent, and as Paul Fussell pointed out in his essential book Class, scarves “. . . instantly betoken class, because they are useless except as a caste mark.” There must be dozens of ways to tie a scarf around one’s neck. Etiquetteer has Dear Mother’s copy of Judith Keith’s of-its-era I Haven’t a Thing to Wear, which is full of ideas. The most luxurious is a long scarf draped loosely and anchored by a pin on one shoulder, but a long knotted scarf will bring you right back to the mid-1980s.
And then there’s the trend of tying it onto a handbag, which was started by Babe Paley en route to lunch at La Grenouille. She felt it was too warm to keep around her neck, but couldn’t figure out what to do with it. Onto the strap of her handbag it went, and an upper-crust vogue was born.
Edith Sitwell as Herself.
At the other end of the spectrum is the scarf used as headgear. Eccentrics like Dame Edith Sitwell and Little Edie Beale distinguished themselves by making their headgear an essential, iconic part of their appearance. It would have been unthinkable to see Dame Edith without something exuberant sprouting from her head, more often hats but memorably scarves and turbans. And Little Edie concealed even her ears with the stern application of a scarf around her head, anchoring it with bold costume jewelry. Ali McGraw, and then Valerie Harper’s iconic character Rhoda Morgenstern, did a lot to make the headscarf look more comfortable and accessible.
Ali McGraw knew how to work a scarf.
Ladies, if you feel like trying something a little different that’s still Perfectly Proper, why not attempt a mid-century style turban?
Etiquetteer is just a wee bit more skeptical about the success rate of these suggestions for scarves as dresses and beachwear.
Gentlemen, as usual, have less room to maneuver with a scarf than ladies. The Art of Manliness blog has a comprehensive guide to how a gentleman wears a scarf with Perfect Propriety (and also which scarves are for gentlemen and which are not). In the last few years Etiquetteer has become quite fond of the Parisian knot, which is quite easy and ought to be more widely used.
Since the 19th-century cravat fell out of style, scarves for men have fallen in and out of fashion. In the 1930s one often saw cotton bandanas or scarves knotted casually (but not too loosely) around the neck with sports clothes, and it’s become sort of a stereotype to see a pleated silk cravat worn with a velvet or silk smoking jacket. With evening clothes, however, the only Perfectly Proper choice for a gentleman is a white silk or silk-satin scarf, with or without fringe, and with or without an initial or monogram in black or gray only. It should not be necessary to specify that this is not in lieu of a bow tie . . . but it is.
Etiquetteer will admit to remaining fond of the trend started five years ago of the blanket scarf for men, but one has to be careful it doesn’t appear to be a shawl. Only someone with the creative force of Frank Lloyd Wright could get away with that!
With the colder seasons almost upon us, Etiquetteer hopes you enjoy ferreting out some favorite or forgotten scarves and facing the Fall with Perfect Propriety.
Etiquetteer sports a Parisian scarf knot for fall.
*After 5 PM is traditionally when it’s Most Perfectly Proper to start wearing one’s large jewels.