September 20, 2016 – French Women and the scarf.
In 2003, Glenn Close was in a
movie entitled “Le Divorce”. She was not the lead role, but her character,
Olivia Pace, an American Journalist had a conversation about the French women
and the scarf. In the movie, during the
below musing by Olivia Pace, there is a montage of French women wearing scarves
in the various ways she is describing.
“All their customs and
ceremonials.
I mean, their scarves alone...
an entire
chapter.
Knotted in
front, one end down,
other end
thrown over the shoulder.
Or looped around double
and the ends tucked in.
Or around the
shoulder,
over their
coat like a shawl.
Or tied in
the back.
I mean, châle, foulard, ècharpe.
Just think of
all the words
they have for
scarf.
And in a
language which is
very sparse
in vocabulary.” [see NOTE]
I find this montage spell binding
every time I watch the film. I have
always loved wearing scarves. I have a
whole wardrobe of them. During a trip to
Europe I bought a scarf in every country [they pack well] and on the airplane
home my husband bought me a Hermés scarf which I cherish.
I have found that “less is more”
when it comes to a scarf. Fuss with it
less, the better it looks. You toss it
on and go out the door – it is as simple as that. The second thing I have discovered is it all
has to do with the fabric. Some fabric
is perfect, silk for example, drapes with folds that have body.
I have been known to actually buy
a scarf and then make a dress to go with it. [Taupe worsted wool dress for the fawn,
cream, and taupe, shawl-size bird scarf I bought at a train station when
leaving London.] I love that scarf –
seems to go with everything in my fall wardrobe.
I have additionally purchased
printed chiffon and made my own scarfs.
It is tedious work creating a small rolled hem, but well worth it when
it comes to compliments.
The scarf I draped myself in the [September
19, 2016, blog that earned me the title “flagship of the family”] I made. It is an oversized square of chiffon which
has a creamy yellow gold background with a chestnut, cinnamon, and taupe colored
botanical design. [I hate to admit it,
but it happens to look much like the leaves and the flower heads of the Johnson
grass that I have been battling with.
See my September 15, 2016, blog. Isn’t that curious?]
One of my favorites is actually a
piece of artwork that I bought on my sailing trip to Gloucester, Massachusetts.
[See September 5, 2016 – Blog about the trip].
It is a large square with an unusual shade of blue. When you hold it up
to blue it looks purple, when you hold it up to purple it looks blue. As close as I can tell, it is a dark
periwinkle blue.
The artist took a large square of
silk fabric, stretched it out like a canvas. Then she took local sea oats, also
known as seaside oats, dipped them into various colored paints and slammed them against the silk canvas multiple times for
an imprint of the grassy reed in two directions. It has purple, navy blue, and a touch of
black. The scarf does not go well with
everything – but works extremely well with black. I often feel sort of smug in
knowing I am wearing a piece of modern art.
How many people can say they are wearing an “original” and it actually is
an art canvas, sort of?
The silk has great “hand” and it
is very slippery – so I have to use caution and pay attention when I am wearing
it or it could simply disappear – slip off and be left in a theatre or
restaurant. And, since it is a work of
art I try not to over wear it, I save it for special. Personally, I would like to try my hand at
such an artistic project but I haven’t been able to find the right colored
fabric for my experiment.
If you admire someone wearing a
scarf – ask her how to tie it. You will
be surprised at how welcoming us scarf wearers are at giving lessons. We have a whole pocket full of little tricks.
No comments:
Post a Comment