Monday, July 9, 2012

Silhouette and Style

I'm visiting my parents, right now- my husband and I came out yesterday, on something of a whim.  At some point, last night, I was talking to my grandmother about this blog, and we were talking about her appreciation for what I do.  Somehow, this all got around to bringing me to consider what sorts of silhouettes I seem to want to create.  Don't ask about the chain of thought- I'm confident that it neither makes a lot of sense, nor matters.

In any case, perhaps as a result of my shorter-than-average height, or my mother's dicta as I was younger in praise of hairstyles that "gave me some height", I have lately wanted to wrap my scarves so that they do exactly that- add some height.  This is particularly true for when I want to dress nicely.  Wrapping additional scarves in ways that layer and create a fairly thick "crown" around my head is a style you've been seeing from me quite a lot, here.  The last wedding I went to, I pinned a necklace to my scarf, also drawing light and attention upwards.

I've seen a variety of products online, designed to add height to one's head-silhouette.  Most seem to be padding of one sort or another, added under your scarf.  They seem to be popular already in the Muslim community, and I've seen a number of Jewish women getting into them as well.  This seems to be the stylish silhouette, right now.  So maybe I'm just following the trends.

It reminds me (and this was part of the way I got to this topic, from talking to my grandmother) of a couple of scarves/head-coverings that were part of the dress-up chest when I was little.  They had been my great-grandmother's I think, and I could never figure out quite what they were for, when I was little, because they had a padded section in front.  (At the time, I also didn't like the fabrics much, so there wasn't a lot of incentive to find ways to play with them.)  I don't know if that was the style, then (my bubbe didn't usually cover her hair/head, but I suppose some situations called for it?), or if the padding was to help keep the scarf on.  Nevertheless, those scarves would make a different silhouette from anything I see done now- either the styles that add some height or the more low-lying ones.  Too bad they aren't still lying around somewhere, so that I could make a comparison.

2 comments:

  1. I've seen what amounts to a scarf bustle in some of the shops in Petach Tikvah. It makes a large bun that gives a very decidedly Sepharadi silhouette that are a favorite among the French and North African headscarf wearers. They often will wear a rather large Pashmina-type scarf. The look is similar to this: http://thestyleunderground.typepad.com/.a/6a0128760c3f7e970c0133f650d926970b-pi

    If it's something you'd be interested in, I can pick one up for you. I was thinking of getting one for myself since I have very short hair.

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  2. You've got a great knack for naming things- "scarf bustle" sounds a lot clearer, and more amusing, than the descriptions I came up with.

    I would be interested, if you get a chance. Let me know how much it is, and I'll be ready with a reimbursement.

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