Women find scarves are stylish accessories

Always in style, they do yeoman's work in today's wardrobe.
By MACKENZIE CARPENTER
SCRIPPS HOWARD
When she broke her arm, Grace Kelly used an Hermes scarf as a sling. During World War II, Rosie the Riveter wore a humbler version in the factory to protect her hair and face.
Babe Paley, 1960s fashion icon, tied her scarves to her handbag. In the new hit film "The Queen," Helen Mirren scowls in Elizabethan disapproval under hers, which is tied under her chin like a babushka. And Isadora Duncan favored long white silk scarves, but met an unfortunate end when ...
Still, there's something about a scarf that makes a woman interesting, even if it has been known to also cause the occasional freak accident (yes, Isadora did unfortunately choke to death when her scarf got caught in the spokes of a wheel).
Whether to protect a hairdo, shelter from the cold or add a splash of color to a plain outfit, scarves do yeoman's work in a wardrobe. They're always in style, and not just for women: Fred Astaire used a scarf as a belt and Cary Grant used an ascot to hide his broad, muscular neck.
Updated look
While our mothers and grandmothers always had a scarf in the drawer, a few years ago, the craze for pashminas -- those huge, jewel-colored cashmere shawls from India -- introduced a whole generation of young women to the notion that scarves weren't an "old lady" thing. The long, skinny tie-scarves of four or five years ago -- featured in the collections of Anna Sui, Ralph Lauren and BCBG by Max Azria, among others -- updated the look even more.
They are probably the most fool-proof accessory there is -- as long as you know what to do with them.
"It's important not to let the scarf wear you," says Patricia Goettel, whose clothing boutique sells dozens of scarves from all over the world. A surprising number of women don't know how to drape and tie scarves in a way that is flattering and imaginative, she says.
How-to tricks
While there are plenty of magazine articles and books with diagrams showing how to wear them, it doesn't have to be that complicated.
Choosing the right color is important: pick your scarf based on eye and hair color, not just by what's in fashion, she said. One popular color combination these days is pale turquoise and brown, from home interiors to scarves, "and they look wonderful on women with blue or gray-green eyes, but not on someone with black hair and pale blue eyes."
French women, in particular, have a knack for wearing scarves stylishly, says Goettel, who visits Paris every spring. At the Air France counter, she noticed that "the flight attendant's uniform includes a scarf, and no two were tied the same way."
During her trips, Goettel likes to sit outdoors at her favorite cafe, the Cafe de Flore and sketch women walking by in their scarves, just to see if there are any new ways to wear them.
Sometimes, though, she sees even the chic-est Parisian women definitely having a bad scarf day, especially early in the morning.
However, as the day warms, things improve. The scarves get looser and more free flowing. They might be tied around the waist or just be a tiny scarf knotted around the neck.
Whatever the case, Goettel always comes back with ideas for her store, which sells a range of special occasion clothing and scarves to go with them, priced from 28 to 200-plus, although one scarf -- which she describes as a one-of-a-kind-piece of "wearable art" -- is 750. It was created by Brazilian artist Maya and combines knitting, needlepoint, crocheting, raffia work and needlepoint.
"You wear it around your shoulders like a ruff," she said. "Maya is really inspired by texture and color."
Long life
When properly cared for, a scarf will last forever. Goettel still has a black-and-navy silk charmeuse scarf from Rodier Paris, "which is older than my daughter. I wrapped her in it as an infant, and she later took it with her for a year abroad studying at Oxford."
But the scarf in her closet with the most history is the gorgeous black-fringed and embroidered-silk scarf purchased by Goettel's Aunt Grace during a trip to Florence, Italy, in the 1930s.
"She ended up marrying an apple farmer in upstate New York, and living a quiet life. The scarf ended up in a drawer," Goettel said. After she died, Goettel received the scarf as a gift. "I promised Aunt Grace's scarf I would make up for all the parties and travel it missed," Goettel said, laughing.
Today, "there's a picture of me wearing it at the Algonquin Hotel's round table in New York," she said. There's another photo of Goettel with the scarf at the top of the Eiffel Tower.
"And somewhere, Aunt Grace is smiling on me, I just know it."