Scarves Love it then leave it ,how do you curate your scarf collection?

[Nomad]

Interesting thoughts all around on themes and proportions. Generally speaking I avoid ‘the classics’ not because they’re dowdy or aging but because classics don’t appeal to me (not limited to scarves - I also avoid classic literature, opera, classic movies, etc).

I have noted that I lean toward busier designs in most formats but less so in 140s.

My ‘Oh But…’ scarves trap me with design details (oh but it has dogs, oh but it has bears, oh but the horsecycle is so cool, oh but it’s so weird, oh but it has metallic ink).

Ha interesting about the wide realm of classics!!
N Oh boy can I relate to this snausages.
Oh but it has a bunny. Oh but it has a unique color set. Oh but it has a mythological connection in the story behind haha. My oh-buts cross many category of details haha. Thus how collection needs whittling.

I think you and I are doing well to cull collection down to the love-loves and fitting them comfortably in our defined ( still working in mine) personal styles. After all we only have one neck
You have a defined style with your scarf purchases. I love that if I saw a random list of scarf designs (and I didn’t know it was your collection) that I could pick you out as the collection owner. Even just from a list, not even pics. Tho Pics would make it easier . I love that about your collection , and your style, and purposeful knots to highlight elements, and as you have said knotting/tying/wrangling/corralling them to work with and compliment your stature.

And like you, I also like the edge to edge busy designs. I really truly struggle with wide borders, tho I have one left in 90’s. In my personal style effort, the border makes my life difficult. And if a scarf makes my life difficult I must pass it on.

 

[momasaurus]

My curation at the moment has to do with: "do I already have this scarf?" - like, does it do the same thing to an outfit as another scarf (similar colors, scale of design, etc.)?
I'm also finding a light sky blue (don't know the H color) that is not flattering to me, and is even a tad boring. I had a similar problem with Bleu Jean leather. No mystery or depth.

 

[marietouchet]

Ha interesting about the wide realm of classics!!
N Oh boy can I relate to this snausages.
Oh but it has a bunny. Oh but it has a unique color set. Oh but it has a mythological connection in the story behind haha. My oh-buts cross many category of details haha. Thus how collection needs whittling.

I think you and I are doing well to cull collection down to the love-loves and fitting them comfortably in our defined ( still working in mine) personal styles. After all we only have one neck
You have a defined style with your scarf purchases. I love that if I saw a random list of scarf designs (and I didn’t know it was your collection) that I could pick you out as the collection owner. Even just from a list, not even pics. Tho Pics would make it easier . I love that about your collection , and your style, and purposeful knots to highlight elements, and as you have said knotting/tying/wrangling/corralling them to work with and compliment your stature.

And like you, I also like the edge to edge busy designs. I really truly struggle with wide borders, tho I have one left in 90’s. In my personal style effort, the border makes my life difficult. And if a scarf makes my life difficult I must pass it on.

On the border to border ones, do you tend to wear scarf necklace-style ? Or hnd\ging down your front? I suspect the former

 

[Nomad]

On the border to border ones, do you tend to wear scarf necklace-style ? Or hnd\ging down your front? I suspect the former

Sorry this is so long, but it was a great exercise for me to hone in on why I like and don’t like what I do..on me.

Marie, I am not 100% sure what you mean by border to border. Do you mean where the design goes right to the silk edge, or as I call it edge to edge? Like animapolis. I do think you mean an Animapolis type design. Correct me if wrong.

It is safe to say I don’t have a go-to tie/ ties that I use all the time. I use a bunch of ties based on my mood to try a new tie or not, or I want to highlight something specific that day.
I looked through archives to see what I do, and it’s very much all over the place with my ties/knots haha. Nothing is a typical tie.
Marie, here are some edge to edge designs where I like the look of any and all ties/knots. So I suppose an edge to edge and full covering design is a more throw and go for me.
I included loosa because an artistically designed graphic border is part of the edge to edge design, to me. However I suppose when we all speak of ‘Edge to edge’ designs I think we all probably mean animapolis, cosmographia, beach story etc.


In looking at my scarves with a ‘border’ I apparently have more than the ‘one’ 90 I mentioned above haha. And I am much more particular with what I like and don’t like in tying my border scarves. Much!!
So there are borders that have bold color borders, which I feel have more ?contrast?, or more in your face boldness, or something. Perhaps to a winter season girl these are not bold, but to me they are, they stick out.

I do not like high tight neck ties where the border just shows up in the knot tails. It is contrast-y and jarring to me to see that color blob.

But if I show a little more of the bold border all around my neck a little bit then I like it a lot better. See how you can see the border slightly around my neck. It helps with cohesion I think.

I like to completely eliminate the border (like a summers day in first pic), or use longer ties with the border further away from neck. I included La France just because there is a defined contrast with the teal border, even though the design overflows onto the border.

Then there are the big blank borders that are the same color as the base color of scarf (aqua Rialto). I have zero problem with these in any tie at all. A throw and go. I included grand nord here as a border scarf because it is very similar in color to the rest. Notice the higher neck tie with border tails in nord aren’t sticking-out-there color blobs. They match completely with what is seen in the design. There is total cohesion in colors.

I have a new cent plis that I have only worn once. It is my other border scarf not listed above. I do notice I tucked in the border tails ( blobs) haha.

 

[Teaforparrots]

So there are borders that have bold color borders, which I feel have more ?contrast?, or more in your face boldness, or something. Perhaps to a winter season girl these are not bold, but to me they are, they stick out.
View attachment 5957151
I do not like high tight neck ties where the border just shows up in the knot tails. It is contrast-y and jarring to me to see that color blob.
View attachment 5957154

Winter season girl chiming in. You’re right - those barely even register as borders to me! I can pull off a BORDER. And the knot tail COLOR BLOB is my friend. Long live the blob!

 

[Nomad]

Winter season girl chiming in. You’re right - those barely even register as borders to me! I can pull off a BORDER. And the knot tail COLOR BLOB is my friend. Long live the blob!

Hahah I love it!!! It really is so personal what we each feel comfortable wearing . I never notice the blob bothering me on anyone else’s modshots, believe that! And I truly hope none of my thoughts on what I like on myself carries over to what is worn by others. I love our shared cw of summers day on you in whatever tie you have with it. It’s just an on-me feeling I have with it, and borders
So I feel like if I walk in a room, with my light no-contrast coloring then those colored border tails up by may face are literally all that can be seen by any person looking at me. Because after all, when I look in mirror or at a photo of myself with full (no contrast light) face in said scarf, then my eye goes towards the boldest item above my shoulders, which is those bolder (than my entire head) tails. Instead of seeing what “I” look like as a whole low contrast look in its entirety, with hopefully a glowing complexion . Summers should have an entire look that is low contrast. I can do a purse and shoes that are bold and contrast-y though . And I find these seasonal color rules/ideas are all very true for me to look my best.
Hope that made sense. It’s a me-thing, not a you-thing in anything haha

 

[Barbette]

This is so interesting @Nomad and @Teaforparrots, we all have different takes. When I first started collecting I had to like every color and design element on a scarf to consider it. Now I look out for the odd color or not as enthralling flat but ties wonderfully. In past I never worried about how a color looked on me but now I do try to consider colors. (I can't see the difference unless it is hideous on me, but I think I have similar coloring to Nomad so I do pay attention to insights!) I have yet to let go of any of my silks, I don't know if I can, lol. For now I just try to be careful to love what I buy and treat my items well. But I do have so many that I'm feeling like I should let go of something to bring a new silk home...

 

[Redbirdhermes]

Hahah I love it!!! It really is so personal what we each feel comfortable wearing . I never notice the blob bothering me on anyone else’s modshots, believe that! And I truly hope none of my thoughts on what I like on myself carries over to what is worn by others. I love our shared cw of summers day on you in whatever tie you have with it. It’s just an on-me feeling I have with it, and borders
So I feel like if I walk in a room, with my light no-contrast coloring then those colored border tails up by may face are literally all that can be seen by any person looking at me. Because after all, when I look in mirror or at a photo of myself with full (no contrast light) face in said scarf, then my eye goes towards the boldest item above my shoulders, which is those bolder (than my entire head) tails. Instead of seeing what “I” look like as a whole low contrast look in its entirety, with hopefully a glowing complexion . Summers should have an entire look that is low contrast. I can do a purse and shoes that are bold and contrast-y though . And I find these seasonal color rules/ideas are all very true for me to look my best.
Hope that made sense. It’s a me-thing, not a you-thing in anything haha

Reminds me of the saying, "Am I wearing the scarf, or is the scarf wearing me?". You sound like you often feel that the scarf is wearing you, and I think that is a valid reason to let it go. There are many colors where I feel that the scarf is dull and is not doing enough for me, but rarely do I feel that the scarf is wearing me. The yellow Tulipomanie was one scarf that was way too bright for my comfort, so it was returned. I'm also careful with hot pinks, bright oranges and too much black. But, I don't worry about the color of the scarf ends next to my face, as much as I try to keep them from poking out at odd angles. I consider myself to be a strong Summer. I look good in the Summer palette and I also like a lot of Winter colors, except for black. Navy is my dark neutral of choice.

 

[momasaurus]

Sorry this is so long, but it was a great exercise for me to hone in on why I like and don’t like what I do..on me.

Marie, I am not 100% sure what you mean by border to border. Do you mean where the design goes right to the silk edge, or as I call it edge to edge? Like animapolis. I do think you mean an Animapolis type design. Correct me if wrong.

It is safe to say I don’t have a go-to tie/ ties that I use all the time. I use a bunch of ties based on my mood to try a new tie or not, or I want to highlight something specific that day.
I looked through archives to see what I do, and it’s very much all over the place with my ties/knots haha. Nothing is a typical tie.
Marie, here are some edge to edge designs where I like the look of any and all ties/knots. So I suppose an edge to edge and full covering design is a more throw and go for me.
I included loosa because an artistically designed graphic border is part of the edge to edge design, to me. However I suppose when we all speak of ‘Edge to edge’ designs I think we all probably mean animapolis, cosmographia, beach story etc.
View attachment 5957143

In looking at my scarves with a ‘border’ I apparently have more than the ‘one’ 90 I mentioned above haha. And I am much more particular with what I like and don’t like in tying my border scarves. Much!!
So there are borders that have bold color borders, which I feel have more ?contrast?, or more in your face boldness, or something. Perhaps to a winter season girl these are not bold, but to me they are, they stick out.
View attachment 5957151
I do not like high tight neck ties where the border just shows up in the knot tails. It is contrast-y and jarring to me to see that color blob.
View attachment 5957154
But if I show a little more of the bold border all around my neck a little bit then I like it a lot better. See how you can see the border slightly around my neck. It helps with cohesion I think.
View attachment 5957155
I like to completely eliminate the border (like a summers day in first pic), or use longer ties with the border further away from neck. I included La France just because there is a defined contrast with the teal border, even though the design overflows onto the border.
View attachment 5957156
Then there are the big blank borders that are the same color as the base color of scarf (aqua Rialto). I have zero problem with these in any tie at all. A throw and go. I included grand nord here as a border scarf because it is very similar in color to the rest. Notice the higher neck tie with border tails in nord aren’t sticking-out-there color blobs. They match completely with what is seen in the design. There is total cohesion in colors.
View attachment 5957159
I have a new cent plis that I have only worn once. It is my other border scarf not listed above. I do notice I tucked in the border tails ( blobs) haha.
View attachment 5957174

I love scarf wearing philosophy and observation. Great post!

 

[Snausages]

I keep trying to cull down to the Cold Dead Hands, but apparently my classifications have some fluidity. Gah.

 

[Snausages]

My curation at the moment has to do with: "do I already have this scarf?" - like, does it do the same thing to an outfit as another scarf (similar colors, scale of design, etc.)?
I'm also finding a light sky blue (don't know the H color) that is not flattering to me, and is even a tad boring. I had a similar problem with Bleu Jean leather. No mystery or depth.

And the Hermes color catalog is amazing. I'm totally a pink person but some pinks are just ghastly on me. And while blue would seem like a universal color (much like O blood type!) there are some blues that just don't cut it for me - light blue is particularly tricky. Hahaha the rehome pile beckons me

 

[marietouchet]

My curation at the moment has to do with: "do I already have this scarf?" - like, does it do the same thing to an outfit as another scarf (similar colors, scale of design, etc.)?
I'm also finding a light sky blue (don't know the H color) that is not flattering to me, and is even a tad boring. I had a similar problem with Bleu Jean leather. No mystery or depth.

Yes, I know the light blue CIEL, lacks something, dates back to the days when dyes were not as vibrant (read : loud)

 

[textilegirl]

Question for seasoned and NEWbies (like me) Hermes scarf lovers. It’s so easy to collect scarves because, just like handbags a scarf always fits! What is your ideal number? When do you think is too many? And what is a ‘minimal’ collection in your view?

@ladysarah, I’m answering here because I think this thread has some good thoughts on the subject. And adding my latest for you here as well

Well, they don’t call it the orange slope for nuthin’

Seriously, much depends on whether you’re collecting or just wearing. For the latter, you have one neck, there are seven days of the week, and unless you intend to wear more than one a day, somewhere between one and seven is a reasonable minimum. After that, the sky’s the limit, subject to your financial tolerance, any minimalist tendencies, and more seriously, if you have an allergy of sensitive skin (that will cut out a big and expensive swath of products, but never fear, there’s plenty more temptation!).

 

[Barbette]

@ladysarah, I’m answering here because I think this thread has some good thoughts on the subject. And adding my latest for you here as well

Well, they don’t call it the orange slope for nuthin’

Seriously, much depends on whether you’re collecting or just wearing. For the latter, you have one neck, there are seven days of the week, and unless you intend to wear more than one a day, somewhere between one and seven is a reasonable minimum. After that, the sky’s the limit, subject to your financial tolerance, any minimalist tendencies, and more seriously, if you have an allergy of sensitive skin (that will cut out a big and expensive swath of products, but never fear, there’s plenty more temptation!).

Terrific answer @textilegirl. I have these same thoughts about numbers @ladysarah and I have a considerable amount after collecting for multiple years. A couple of additional thoughts: Are you a comfortable repeater or do you like to mix it up? I keep my wardrobe to a fairly small style/color range and use my scarves as the fun differences. My common 'uniform' includes a mock neck or turtleneck, so I don't worry about sensitive skin, and feel like I am protecting delicate fabric from some oils/lotion/wear. As to minimal, scarves are very easy to store in not much space. All of these rules allow me to justify buying more (to myself at least), so actually maybe not the best comments to add. Most recently, I have settled on being happy at any amount as long as I wear them each repeatedly each year. (And even that I self-justified by increasing the number of days per week I wear a scarf to 4 at minimum...sigh.) My dh coined the term I embrace, I am a scarf connoisseur.

 

[Meta]

I've just rehomed a few silks that I bought because they were pretty. After marinating for more than 5 years, it was time for them to go to a better home, all with tags attached. The next group that I need to work on are the ones that I no longer wear!