Bandana as Accessory

Bandanas have meant a dozen different things across a century of American culture and still work as accessories because the fabric is cheap, the size is versatile, and the patterns carry history. Paisley prints came from India through Britain and landed in American workwear by the 1920s. That same pattern railroad workers tied around their faces showed up in 1970s punk and 1990s hip-hop. I keep a red 1 in my back pocket mostly out of habit, folded into a strip. It works as a headband when it's hot or a napkin when I am eating outside. Cotton is thin enough that it dries in 20 minutes and soft enough after a few washes that you forget it's there. Fascination is how 1 square of fabric can signal so many things depending on who wears it and how.