Sunday, December 7, 2008

Scarves are not just Accessories

Scarves have not been a part of my primary winter wardrobe since before I moved out west in the early 1980’s. Now, I’m proud to say that after 2 months of cool New England temperatures, my body is slowly acclimating to the weather, however my mind still associates sunshine with warm temperatures. Hence, I don’t think to wear certain items of clothing because my brain does not identify a need for it yet.

Two days ago it was a balmy 45 degrees outside and the sun was shining. For the first time in several days, I did not wear a turtleneck. The lack of neck protection was fine until the sun went down and the temperatures dropped. It just so happened as I was heading out for the evening I noticed a cold chill on my neck. My first reaction was to head inside and put on a turtleneck, but then it occurred to me that I could actually wear a scarf. After all, isn’t that the real purpose of owning a scarf aside from making a fashion statement?

I quickly ran inside and selected a cute scarf that complimented the outfit I was wearing that evening. I proceeded to wrap the scarf around my neck two times and then tie it in a couple of knots. Something didn’t quite feel right about my scarf tying technique, but hey, I looked cute and besides, I was in a hurry.

It wasn’t until I arrived at my destination and attempted to remove the scarf that my problems began. I wasn’t able to untie the knots let alone unwrap my neck. It seemed the harder I tried, the more circulation I was cutting off to my head. I must have looked quite pathetic because a sweet elderly lady named Hannah came to my rescue. She happened to be celebrating her 91st birthday that day and obviously had many more years of experience in these matters. She was only too happy to untangle me from my self-inflicted chokehold. She then graciously proceeded to give me a detailed demonstration on how to properly tie a scarf the “trendy way” and made sure that I was able to replicate her example.

Here are two techniques I learned this week on how to tie a scarf. The first example is the trendy way as demonstrated to me by Hannah and later confirmed by 3 independent sources, as in fact, being the cool way to tie a scarf. The second way is the old school way as shown to me by my friend, Tina. Tina recommends the old school technique for really cold days.

Technique 1 – Trendy

1. Fold scarf in half.



2. Drape folded scarf around neck.



3. Take loose ends and pull through loop on opposite end of scarf.




Technique 2 – Old School

1. Wrap scarf once completely around neck (only once) and leave ends hanging in front.




2. Take both ends and tie a loose knot. You now should have an inner layer and outer layer of scarf wrapped around your neck.



3. If it’s really cold outside, you can pull up the inside portion as a face warmer.




Thank you Tina for modeling the various techniques for me.

1 comment:

Ann said...

Hilarious!! I can totally see you all tied up with your scarf. Thanks for the step-by-step instructions. I"ll have to give Tina's version a try!