The silk scarf is definitely coming back into shape

Ln September 23, 1784, Louis XVI put an end to a situation that was not going well. By letter patent, he orders: “The length of the handkerchiefs that are made in the kingdom will be equal to their width. » And thus imposes on the ancestor of scarves the square shape. In question, the many deceptions on the goods, responsible for deformations ” after a first shutout », note of his “full power and royal authority” Louis XVI.

The subject is serious. Because this piece of utilitarian fabric has become over the centuries a luxury item, sometimes inviting itself into the hands of the powerful on their official portraits, from Marie de Medici to Queen Victoria. In the middle of the XXe century, it is on her head that her great-granddaughter, Elizabeth II, wears the silk scarf. Passionate about horses, she showed a preference for Hermès, a house originally linked to the equestrian world, which launched its first square in 1937 in the same material as that of jockeys’ jackets, silk twill.

Inspiration is then to be sought in the military field where, at the end of the 19ethem ” illustrated handkerchiefs “, square in shape, teach young illiterate conscripts, actions and procedures – from the handling of weapons to first aid gestures. Then will come the commemorative scarves or those of propaganda, in particular the vichysts manufactured by the silky Lyonnais Colcombet.

Read also The manufacturing secrets of the Hermès silk scarf

Crowned heads and movie stars

When peace returned, designers, from Emilio Pucci to Salvatore Ferragamo via Christian Dior, turned this imposed shape into a space of freedom where colors and patterns flourished. The Queen of England is not the only crowned head to adopt it: for the Princess Consort of Monaco, Grace Kelly, Gucci created in 1966 a floral scarf, Flora. Following a fracture, it is a Hermès model that the ex-actress ties on her shoulder to immobilize her arm.

Because big or small, the silk scarf lends itself to a thousand experiments: mixed with a ponytail or a bun, wrapped around the waist, tied around the wrist, tied behind the head to the corsair, worn as a scarf as Audrey Hepburn in Charade, or fixed below the belt like Kim Novak in Vertigo.

A protean and essential accessory to the elegance of the 1950s and 1960s, it was able to protect the most emblematic styles and brushings of the time (from Jacky Kennedy to Catherine Deneuve), until the 1970s and hippie scarves make it cheesy. Remained for a long time wisely tied around the neck, the one that has established itself as a symbol of the bourgeois wardrobe, even BCBG, tends however to emancipate itself… returning lately to comb the hair of the granddaughters or great-granddaughters of these ladies. If the square is a regular polygon, fashion is a cycle.

Carven scarf, in silk, €150.  carven.com;  Coat, Carven.  carven.com
Le Rêve de Julia 90 cm scarf, in silk, Hermès, €410.  hermes.com;  trench coat, The Frankie Shop.  thefrankieshop.com
Monogram Frame 70 scarf, in silk, Louis Vuitton, €305.  louisvuitton.com;  waistcoat, Courrèges.  courreges.com
Icicle scarf, in silk, €250.  icicle.com;  raincoat, Maison Margiela x Mackintosh.  maisonmargiela.com;  shirt, Figaret.  figaret.com
Carré Charvet, in silk, €280.  charvet.com;  shirt, Cos.  cos.com;  vest and sleeveless sweater, Linnea Lund.  linnealund.com

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