Best brands for silk scarves
- Thread starter Sadayakko
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For cashmere Loro Piana for silk blends Cucinelli, Gucci, YSL, Dior, Ferragamo
Vintage YSL silk & wool combos were interesting as well as vintage YSL silks
Colomobo cashmeres are also quite beautiful
I prefer a 140 cm or larger
Vintage YSL silk & wool combos were interesting as well as vintage YSL silks
Colomobo cashmeres are also quite beautiful
I prefer a 140 cm or larger
Do you have any recommendations for pure silk scarves? Are the current ysl scarves not as good as the older ones?
They are (and always have been) from the Italian lakes - Gucci, Ferregamo, Cavalli, and Valentino etc all get theirs from the specialists from that area. Only H is still predominantly still in Lyon and separate. Not sure about Chanel and Dior (although I have both). Depends on what you mean by 'old'. Saint Laurent have the same quality as most luxury silks.
I have possibly most silk scarf brands vintage and newer
Chanel
Hermes
Gucci
Ferregamo
Liberty (variable)
McQueen seasonal (i.e. not usual skulls)
Burberry
Saint Laurent
Asprey
Savage
Cavalli
Etro
Dior
Consistently best silks are the most obvious:
Hermes
Gucci
Ferregamo
Asprey (thicker)
Chanel large squares (140) are like the Hermes Plume (lighter and thinner than Hermes twill).
@papertiger Thanks for your in-depth reply, how would you say Saint Laurent, Dior or Ferregamo compare to Hermes? I find Hermes to be thicker than Burberry and more to my liking.
I've bought at least 1 or 2 Hermes 90 twills (+ other formats) per year since 2009 and have vintage going back to 1953. Totally consistent. The only difference is, since 2014 the scarves are more regularly laser-printed so I make sure that whichever new scarf I buy is saturated through (especially if not on a white/light background). It's a pet-hate.
My Asprey silk squares are the thickest. They do a animal print that I don't need but very hard to resist.
Ferragamo and Dior prints are now mostly generic and commercial designs. I have some stunning 1980s designs. I would pay for the right design, the quality is there.
Gucci are slightly more inconsistent (my oldest is 1971) but I have had some recent beauties, thick, strong and heavily saturated both sides. I must see Gucci scarves in-person to check on thickness.
YSL/SLP are like Gucci. I always check in-person.
Saint Laurent, Gucci, Ferregamo, Valentino etc are made in the same factories. There is not difference brand to brand but there can be scarf to scarf. You are paying for these names, but IMO they are investments, season after season they give me pleasure.
@papertiger Ok thanks, I´ve never really bought Gucci, Cavalli and Valentino since I find them to be a bit "out there" for me. Will definitely check out Asprey, always associated them with jewelry. 
@papertiger Ok thanks, I´ve never really bought Gucci, Cavalli and Valentino since I find them to be a bit "out there" for me. Will definitely check out Asprey, always associated them with jewelry.
Cartier is another one that's god for scarves BTW, again not usually on people's radar
I collect Ferragamo. I think the quality from the 1980s on is definitely as good as Hermes, but I may be prejudiced. I have a couple of recently made scarves (last 2-5 years) and I think they're as nice as my Hermes. Ferragamo silk scarves from the 1970s and early 1980s are a light, loose weave.
Thing about Ferragamo is that you can find vintage scarves on resale web sites like ebay for about $100 or less. And they have really lovely animal and nature prints.
I have one Gucci scarf from I think the early 90s or maybe late 80s. Quality not that great and the dye is unstable and bleeds easily. I get nervous wearing it with anything about which I'll be crushed if there's dye transfer.
Aspinal of London...o.k., but a budget luxury scarf. A little lightweight, the edge machine stitched, printing not as saturated as more high end scarves. But fun prints. My Aspinal "robin" scarf is one of my favorites.
Liberty of London has some nice silk scarves. Their classic peacock or hera scarves and shawls are I think de rigour for a collector. But some are lighter weight than others, and not twill. If you're buying online you need to check the weight.
There are a lot of no-name vintage silk scarves out there that are of beautiful quality. Some with heavy twill and hand-rolled edges. You can find them on etsy and ebay. But you do need to be careful that they are in fact vintage. There are a lot of sellers selling things described as "vintage" and "silk" and they are neither. Especially on Amazon. I would never buy a scarf described as silk from Amazon because the majority of that stuff is poly.
I think back in the '80s every name-brand designer sold silk scarves, but quality varies a lot, even through the brand. I have a couple lovely silk scarves from Bill Blass. But he also sold a lot of so-so poly scarves. One of my favorite silk scarves is from Liz Claiborne, but most of what she sold is unremarkable and synthetic.
Thing about Ferragamo is that you can find vintage scarves on resale web sites like ebay for about $100 or less. And they have really lovely animal and nature prints.
I have one Gucci scarf from I think the early 90s or maybe late 80s. Quality not that great and the dye is unstable and bleeds easily. I get nervous wearing it with anything about which I'll be crushed if there's dye transfer.
Aspinal of London...o.k., but a budget luxury scarf. A little lightweight, the edge machine stitched, printing not as saturated as more high end scarves. But fun prints. My Aspinal "robin" scarf is one of my favorites.
Liberty of London has some nice silk scarves. Their classic peacock or hera scarves and shawls are I think de rigour for a collector. But some are lighter weight than others, and not twill. If you're buying online you need to check the weight.
There are a lot of no-name vintage silk scarves out there that are of beautiful quality. Some with heavy twill and hand-rolled edges. You can find them on etsy and ebay. But you do need to be careful that they are in fact vintage. There are a lot of sellers selling things described as "vintage" and "silk" and they are neither. Especially on Amazon. I would never buy a scarf described as silk from Amazon because the majority of that stuff is poly.
I think back in the '80s every name-brand designer sold silk scarves, but quality varies a lot, even through the brand. I have a couple lovely silk scarves from Bill Blass. But he also sold a lot of so-so poly scarves. One of my favorite silk scarves is from Liz Claiborne, but most of what she sold is unremarkable and synthetic.
I just discovered this thread as I was wondering where to post about being a multi-brand scarf enthusiast. I am reasonably sure to find something in one of my scarf drawers to go with a "new" color (to me) bag or other wardrobe item. My avatar bag of the moment (Joseph Duclos) is an orangey-red (unique to my collection) and paired with a wool scarf from Kenzo that I bought to go with a blue Moynat like 10 years ago. Today it's with a more recent Etro silk that I bought to go with my (since rehomed) Bambou So Kelly.
Scarves are the best for tying things together! Here are some of the brands in my silk drawer:
Hermes
Chanel
Ferragamo
Givenchy
Kenzo
Alexander McQueen
Pucci
Etro
Armani
Epice
Faliero Sarti
And, in the "best bang for the buck" column - Monoprix! Not handmade and definitely NOT the best silk, but I have never been unable to find something fun for about 20 Euros. (And the cotton ones do last - like forever.)
Scarves are the best for tying things together! Here are some of the brands in my silk drawer:
Hermes
Chanel
Ferragamo
Givenchy
Kenzo
Alexander McQueen
Pucci
Etro
Armani
Epice
Faliero Sarti
And, in the "best bang for the buck" column - Monoprix! Not handmade and definitely NOT the best silk, but I have never been unable to find something fun for about 20 Euros. (And the cotton ones do last - like forever.)
I'm debating an Etro scarf I saw today. Actually, deciding between two... anyone care to vote on these?
I don't think either is tied/photographed to show it off well. The bigger square one is silk with a pretty gold thread running thru it, and the smaller rectangular one is modal/linen/silk and soft. If I had my choice I'd do rectangular with the gold thread but of course that doesn't exist. LOL
I don't think either is tied/photographed to show it off well. The bigger square one is silk with a pretty gold thread running thru it, and the smaller rectangular one is modal/linen/silk and soft. If I had my choice I'd do rectangular with the gold thread but of course that doesn't exist. LOL
They are both beautiful. If it were me I would go for the square one because there are more options for wearing it, including on the bias draped like the rectangular one.
I love Etro scarves!
Hermes Consistently excellent
Chanel Constantly very good
Ferragamo Consistently very good
Givenchy Don't know
Kenzo Don't know
Alexander McQueen Seasonal scarves VG-Excellent, classic skull average
Pucci Consistently good, vintage very good
Etro Recently very good, older excellent-remarkable
Armani Don't know
Epice Don't know
Faliero Sarti Don't know
A few more you may like:
Roberto Cavalli Consistently good
Valentino Consistently good
Leonard Paris Consistently good
Liberty variable good-excellent
Sabina Savage variable good-VG
Gucci variable good-excellent
Ferregamo Consistently very good
Balmain very good (I only have one)
Square, you can do so much more with it, including fold on the bias and make a long scarf
Ooh thanks a couple of names in there I’m not familiar with and will have fun investigating!