Summer with the Selvedge Archives: Head Start
The Many Benefits to a Stylish Scarf
Written by Amelia Thorpe for Selvedge Issue 41, Coastal
Wear them, collect them, frame them – the headscarf is to be enjoyed for its design, colour and pattern – and its unexpected record of life in the 20th century. The scarf is an important a part of the modern wardrobe. So say authors Nicky Albrechtsen and Fola Solanke in their new book Scarves.
While women in many cultures, both past and present, have donned headscarves for modesty and traditional etiquette, others have worn them out of practical necessity whilst working to keep their hair from getting dirty or caught in machinery. Albrechtsen and Solanke attribute the success of the headscarf as a fashion accessory to the growing popularity of the automobile in the 1950s. “Scarves, worn to protect the hair and neck from the wind while riding in a car became an essential element of women’s leisurewear and a symbol of affluence,” they say. “By the 1950s stars of the silver screen had made the headscarf not merely a fashion item but an icon, and couture houses created elaborate and distinctive printed designs to establish the scarf as an exclusive accessory.”
The ‘Grace Kelly’ or ‘touring scarf’, which was worn over the head and around the neck, and knotted at the back, was considered the height of chic, while bold colours, large scale flowers and novelty prints were the choice of the moment. In Britain, the major silk scarf producer of the period was Jacqmar, named after the founders Joe ‘Jack’ Lyons and his wife Mary, who initially produced scarves from the silk remnants of their couture dress fabric business. Jacqmar’s designs, notably by Arnold Lever and Richard Allan, went on to earn the company a distinctly upmarket reputation. After the 1950s the headscarf trend continued with designers such as Mary Quant, Emilio Pucci and Elio Fiorucci producing bold, graphic scarves.
Such were their popularity that scarves were also used to advertise products and to promote holiday destinations, hotels and airlines, while others were issued to commemorate events. This wasn’t new: designs of the 1940s had promoted patriotism and propaganda during the war years, and during wartime rationing Jacqmar had produced a range of scarves made of rayon and seed-sack cloth.
Recognising their importance as documents of social history, Paul Rennie of Rennart has been inspired to collect interesting designs. “I bought a couple of scarves that had been produced for the Festival of Britain in 1951 and didn’t think any more about them until, some years later, I was shown an Anglo American friendship scarf from the Second World War, designed by a famous poster artist,” he says. “It started me thinking about the historical connection.” This summer, some of Rennie’s scarves, including those produced to commemorate VE Day, the London Olympics of 1948, the Queen’s Coronation in 1953, as well as the Festival of Britain, will be displayed at the Southbank Centre as part of its Festival of Britain 2011.
Somebody else interested in the history of headscarves is Sam Ascher, grandson of the founders of Ascher London. In 1943 Czechoslovakian-born Zika Ascher and his wife, Lida, began approaching artists to design for their newly formed scarf business. Feliks Topolski, Henry Moore and Cecil Beaton provided designs, and were soon joined by French artists Henri Matisse, André Derain and Christian Bérard. These sought after silk ‘artist squares’, with designs created by over fifty artists, are now highly collectable.
Today Sam Ascher is reviving the Artist Scarves with a collection, the first for over 30 years, incorporating upscaled archive designs, including those by Henry Moore and Graham Sutherland. “I think the reason for the renewed interest in our vintage designs is that consumers are looking for authenticity in product and manufacturing, in addition to design that is beautiful,” he says. “While digital printing has allowed certain areas of print design to progress, I believe overall it has had a diluting effect on the general quality of both print design and on the craft of printing. Certain barriers to entry into the market, such as screen costs, served as a method of reinforcement to really think deeply about the effectiveness of a given design.”
Amongst the well known houses producing scarves in the 20th century, Hermès stand out as a household name. Hermès was founded in Paris in 1837, originally making carriage harnesses, hence the motif used on its silk scarves which were first produced a century later in 1937. The Queen was famously photographed in the 1970s wearing a Hermès scarf, an image which was later used on a 17 pence stamp. But, while the Queen continues to wear headscarves, for most women today a vintage scarf is more usually worn tied as a belt or on to a bag, or possibly thrown around the neck. “It was the ‘wash and go’ era for hair, ushered in by Vidal Sassoon, that killed the headscarf,” says Paul Rennie. “Women’s hair became much more dynamic, so there really wasn’t the need to keep every strand in place with a scarf any longer.”
Collect them, frame them (Ascher gives precise instructions on his blog) or wear them, they are, says Rennie, a relatively inexpensive collectable. “Scarves are often found in the rummage box,” he says, adding that, at the top end, he sells vintage Hermès scarves for up to £150. At Kerry Taylor Auctions, a firm specialising in antique and vintage fashion and textiles, scarves will occasionally come up for sale. Recent examples include a Jacqmar ‘Free France’ scarf which fetched £130, and a World War II design which sold for £100. Interesting prints and artist squares, including Ascher designs, may fetch more.
So, if the lure isn’t monetary, what is it? “It’s to do with the simplicity of the object,” says Rennie. “It’s a two dimensional square of silk, but it performs the same function as a picture. That’s very appealing.”
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Further Information:
Selvedge Issue 41, Coastal, is available as a digital download.
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* If you are interested in the cultural and historical significance of scarves, take a look at the following London Textile Month event:
Wednesday 16 September, 2.30-4.30 p.m.: Talk, Scarves: Four Centuries of Design with Mary Schoeser
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Image Credits:
Lead: Dennis O'Clair, Getty Images
All further images as credited in captions.