men's scarf

Sometimes I wish that I had never discovered the wizardry that is the men's scarf, just so that I could re-experience that first scarved winter day, during which the cold could no longer continue its unrelenting assault of my neck and upper torso. If you do not wear a scarf in the winter, I cannot stress how much better your life will be once you begin wearing one. Scarves trace back thousands of years, evidence by their appearance on the terra-cotta soldiers at the burial site of Qin Shi Huang, as well as in other forms of ancient Chinese art. Scarves remained an element of men's fashion through the Roman empire, a sign of military rank by Croatian mercenaries, and was further popularized by the French noble court [1, 2].

Scarves are a broad category, and as such, have a long and diverse history. I decided to explore an interesting parallel between the origin of my favorite scarf knot, and a story that led to the similar discovery of another style.

Scarves continued their march into the modern day, importantly bolstered by the founding of Burberry in 1856 [2], and their famous plaid pattern which was first introduced in the 1920s [1]. My one Burberry scarf is the captain of my meager scarf collection, but it serves its purpose well, always ready to quickly be tied and defend my skin from the cold.