Scarf Love

Back when I was a kid, women always seem to have a scarf handy to preserve a hairdo or snazz up an outfit. My mom had a whole drawer full of scarves. Occasionally in high school I would borrow one, but I never felt the need to buy my own.

Then in my 30s I inexplicably fell in love with scarves and shawls and started buying them. I was particularly fond of ones from museum catalogs because of the amazing prints offered.

Nowadays I love finding vintage scarves at estate sales and thrift stores. Even though most aren’t worth much (have yet to find a real Hermes or Chanel) I can’t resist buying them. Some of my finds remind me of my mother…like this Signature Echo fall print scarf. If she were still alive, she would be getting this in the mail!

Here’s a small psychedelic ’70s scarf I found at an estate sale. (Excuse my poor listing photos of this. Gotta redo them.) These aren’t my colors otherwise I’d keep it. I can picture Janis Joplin wearing this, can’t you?

But now, years later, I’ve noticed, a lot of my scarves aren’t getting worn much. I work from home and just don’t dress up too often. It seems pointless to keep so many so I’ve started culling my collection. It’s been a tad painful because honestly, I still love them!

Here are a few I’m selling on eBay. These two are from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and feature William Morris prints. The black one is a long silk scarf and the other is a lightweight wool/silk shawl.

This smaller wool shawl is from the Museum of Fine Art in Boston. I’ve had “a thing” for paisley for decades!

This paisley shawl is one of my older woven Dutch ones. Typically these are made of wool or a wool/cotton blend and are durable and warm.

I’ll likely be letting go of more scarves and shawls, but in the meantime I’m also getting some online fashion inspiration. I love this whole outfit, but particularly how the scarf pulls it together.

Hmmm…maybe I will start wearing some of my scarves again!

How about you…any scarf love??