A lovely friend who knows my passion for scarves gifted me recently with a fun little book ‘The Art of the Scarf‘*.
Big Ideas in Little Packages
This handbag sized book is filled with ideas. Not only the ‘how to’ of tying a scarf in multiple orientations, but also other ways to use it from belt to hat, dress to handbag. There were actually quite a few ideas I had never thought of, or never would have thought of.
My favourite is The Cape. As the book says “try out new trends without breaking the bank with fashion forward looks like the edgy Cape…”. Spoiler alert! The Cape is using a large scarf, folding in half and tying the meeting corners together. Then you slide your arms through the resulting loops. Et voilà – a cape.
Honestly, I do wish I had thought of this simple ‘how to’ before as I often go out with a scarf for a little additional warmth, generally wrapping it around my neck in some fashion. But during cool evenings, having the ability to cover my shoulders, whilst not having the scarf fall at some point to the floor, would have been a really nice thing to know. (Hence my spoiler alert as I pass this little tidbit on.)
The Art of the Scarf
In between the ‘how to’s’ are snippets on well known women who perfected the art of the scarf, as varied as Sophia Loren to Frida Kahlo. These are one page biographies about their style, their iconic look, and of course their use of a scarf.
To round out the book are lovely little drawings done by Libby Vander Ploeg. They remind me of 1960s style artwork. The images give demonstration as well as the resulting look.
Surprisingly there is no author for The Art of the Scarf, just the name of the illustrator. I guess it is one of these ‘how to’ books put together by publishers with a specific audience in mind. Such as me.
And thus…
In these days of you tube demonstrations, this book has made a nice little cosy quick read on a cold dark day. And one I can recommend to own, or gift if you also know someone who loves a good scarf.
You can also read more on the subject of scarves in my 11 reasons a French Silk Scarf is so special and/or Scarf versus Jewellery posts. Both these posts also include videos on the various ways to tie a scarf, both for men and women.
And please do visit my vintage French Silk Scarf Shop to see the unique art and style that makes a French Silk Scarf. I specialise in searching out rare designs from the 1950s and 1960s especially due to the quality of the silk, which is no longer really seen, or felt, today.
*Our Book Club + Disclosure
For our Vive le Livre Book Club we are affiliated* with Bookshop.Org. As great readers ourselves, we wanted to offer a way to purchase the books we recommend about France and the French (and wine). We specifically chose to affiliate with Bookshop because they support independent bookshops. They are currently supporting, and you can buy from, bookshops in the UK, USA and Spain.
For this and other books we recommend in our book club, simply click on your book of choice below to read more or purchase…
From the UK:
From the USA:
We also offer a small selection of vintage book finds, mostly English, some French in our own Shop.
*If you would like to read more about our Affiliates, visit our Nourishing Pumpjack & Piddlewick page.