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Four Ways to Tie Your Silk Scarf

Are silk scarves generational? The stores are filled with them yet I see few young women wearing them. When they do, they’re styled in unique ways that I am experimenting with. I love the way a scarf can elevate a simple tee and jeans to a polished look. They save many a bad hair day while addingĀ color and pattern to many of my neutralĀ outfits.

Jennifer Connolly of A Well Styled Life shopping Kate Spade scarves at Nordstrom

The scarves I’m seeing this spring are in happy colors and fun patterns which suits my mood perfectly. I’m tired of gray, and black feels dreary, so adding a pop of color is just what I need.

Ā 

a tray of folded pink polka dot and plaid scarves

Kate Spade skinny scarves from Nordstrom

Skinny, tie-like scarves are perfect to tie around your wrist, your neck, in your hair, or on the handle of your handbag.

Jennifer Connolly of A Well Styled life wearing Kate Spade scarf at Nordstrom
NEW YORK DECO HOTEL SCARF on sale

Several of you have asked me to share a few ways that I tie them, so I have a short video for you today. This is a bit blurry, but you’ll get the idea.

Do you wear scarves?

Thanks for being here, and have a great day!

45 Comments

  1. Hello Jennifer, when my kids were in high school I had a part time job serving with a catering company. I wore the white shirt and black pants as required but we could wear any color of necktie. Both men and women had the same dress code. I got so used to tying a necktie that I started using the standard knot with my large collection of scarves. It works with all but the smallest scarves, in silk, wool, cotton, rayonā€¦Try it sometime and see if it works for you!
    Warmest regards from North Carolina in eastern US.

  2. I love scarves and wear them all the time with tees/sweaters and jeans. It makes me feel more ā€œladiesā€™ lunchā€ than ā€œCostcoā€ even if I am at Costco! I love the ease of the infinity loops, looped twice, that never come untied. However, thereā€™s not a great selection of them. My favorite trick is to buy a pretty silk oblong, handstitch the ends together, and make my own infinity loop!

  3. Great post. Loved the video! Such pretty scarves. I just had a friend give me a whole bag of different scarves, some of which will be perfect for spring. I am looking forward to tying a few like you showed. Thanks for the lesson! – Amy

  4. Being only 5’1″, I finally realized that the normal scarves are way too long for me….. ( And, I know I’m not talking about the scarves you are discussing today) but, I discovered that you can actually cut them off….they have a selvedge end and won’t unravel and you can fringe them just like they were originally. It’s amazing what cutting off 4-6 inches does do a petite girl…..You have such great ideas for us of a certain age! …..66 now but close to next birthday and body is a changing!

    1. I know just what you mean. I was happy to discover this ā€œbanadanaā€ size this week. Such a better proportion for me.

  5. Jennifer…I LOOK FORWARD TO YOUR COMMENTS AND ENJOY YOUR TOPICS..i WAS WONDERING HOWEVER WHEN YOU ARE IN THE dressing room diaries’, WHY IS IT YOU DONT REVERSE YOUR CAMERA PHONE SETTING FOR YOUR SELFIES SO WE WONT SEE YOUR PHONE? AND WE CAN SEE YOU LOOKING FORWARD WITH THE OUTFIT YOU ARE FEATURING. P.S. scarves ARE MORE APPEALING WHEN THEY TIE AT LEAST ONE COLOR OF YOUR OUTFIT TO THE SCARF PATTERN..LIKE YOUR BLACK OUTFIT..EVEN WITH A SIMPLE BLACK BORDER ON THE SCARF THE OUTFIT WOULD LOOK MORE pulled TOGETHER….just A THOUGHT I WEAR A SCARF ALMOT DAILY AND REALLY APPRECIATE WHAT SCARVES CAN DO TO POLISH YOUR LOOK. and again I think you do a splendid job and are much appreciated…

    1. Iā€™m taking my Image in the mirror so you see the whole outfit. If I flipped it around you would only see the top half, if that. Scarves are a small weakness of mine;)

  6. Great ideas to use right away! Thanks!

  7. Gail Schwartz says:

    Thank you so much for the video. I love scarves, but only knew the pretzel. You started me practicing. The knotted necklace style is on me right now….very pretty.

  8. Kathleen O'Brien says:

    How I love scarves! Thank you for this really great video – I’m going to wear the pretzl today!

  9. All your ideas are simply awesome ( and do-able:) Being Canadian we are committed to those big plaid wooden scarves so fashionable with a parka;) but it reminds me of a very practical use for a scarf. My mother who amassed quite a selection of scarves over the years told me to always wear one to protect the collar of an over coat from skin oils/makeup. Her comment was that it was easier to launder a scarf than dry clean a fur/cloth coat! I think it’s a good idea even with a lighter spring coat or expensive cashmere sweater! Even with black or navy I still grab a scarf to wrap around my neck.
    I will use your great ideas! Ugh just had 8 inches of snow fall in Ottawa so no light scarves yet!!!

    1. Your mothers suggestion is brilliant!! It is much easier to clean a scarf than a coat.

  10. L H Carter says:

    AAAACCKK ! I meant Jennifer the other common name that every woman has if they are not Susan…or Debbie….or Linda. Forgive me please for mis-naming you in my excitement over the scarf.

  11. L H Carter says:

    Thanks to you I am a well styled woman today. Right now. In the past 30 minutes as I am dressing for lunch.
    The pretzel tie, thanks to it ,I will be broke due to a scarf buying spree. So I am sending out an alert.
    Ya’ll are the first to hear: Tomorrow there will be a world wide shortage of scarves because I intend to buy every single one.
    I do not care that I live in Florida and summer heat is banging on the door. I am going to be a proud Scarf Queen.
    Thank you again Susan for being my game changer.

    1. You go!! Scarves are amazing style changers. Iā€™ve been known to wrap one around the brim of a straw hat in the heat.

  12. Very nice video. I have always loved scarves and wear them often. I even have a few in my collection from back in the 60ā€™s and they look as fresh and fashionable now as they did then.
    Have you ever intertwined a scarf with a necklace? It works! I just twist and then wrap a thin scarf around a necklace making sure parts of the necklace show. I either leave the two ends of the scarf just hanging or tie the end into a low knot. This works with a variety of scarf and necklace lengths.

    1. I havenā€™t tried that but am going to try it now. What a great idea.

  13. I didn’t know how to tie the Pretzel. Thanks for sharing that!

    I received my first silk scarf when I was 14 years old. It’s a small square one. I still have it. It’s a treasured gift.
    I’ve collected a lot more along my journey.

    I have a scarf with elements/designs I don’t like that I tied into a necklace like you did. the colors and design look neat tied as beads. I wore all the time with my work ensembles 20 years ago. It’s still tied into the necklace in a drawer. I used to get compliments on it all the time. Perhaps it’s time to pull it out and give it an airing. šŸ™‚
    Thanks for the inspiration and reminder!

  14. Great video Jennifer! I use the pretzel a lot but have never thought of wearing a scarf under my hats, so thanks for the tip.
    There are many ways to tie scarves smd they’re so much fun… I rarely go out without one attached to me somewhere lol

  15. Loved your use of the small square as a knotted necklace! In Marseille I noticed women wearing a scarf wrapped quite snugly around the neck with no ends showing so it almost looks like a whiplash collar. The first one I saw was plain ivory, so I was sure she’d been injured… then I noticed more and more in different colors and realized it’s a style. I was a little surprised that a scarf must be removed at the Paris airport when going through security.

    1. Iā€™m shocked to hear a woman must remove her scarf to pass through airport security! That seems so wrong to me

      1. I remember as a child in the 1950s we would pick up my Great Aunt at the airport )where you could actually walk up to the stairs on the plane). She would step out in a suit, gloves, and a pill box hat, looking very glamorous. Now we all look like bedraggled refugees because you have to practically disrobe in front of strangers to go through security.

      2. Perfect description of airline travel! The security measures have certainly stripped some of the elegance out of it.

      3. I know, right?! But they can’t be too careful in this day and age. There was a pair of soldiers with rifles and a German Shepherd nearby so I wasn’t about to protest.

  16. Thank you for this post. I love these new scarves for spring. That store you were shopping in looked amazing! Was it a Nordstrom? You should do more videos. You have a very nice voice, look great, and explain things very well. Thanks for doing the video.

    1. Thank you Diane. Yes it was the Nordstrom in Walnut Creek, CA.

  17. I love scarves and wear them frequently. When we went to Paris, women and men were wearing them and looked so chic! They can elevate a ho hum outfit to something special.

    1. Thatā€™s what I love about scarves. Theyā€™re transformational.

  18. I happen to be wearing a vintage echo silk scarf right now with the tag still sewn on it. I use the last example all the time but have not seen the first one. Thanks for adding it to my repertoire!

  19. Barbara L in Charlotte says:

    I have been a scarf wearer for a long time. I started with squares (very long ago) or those little silk ties that were tied under collars of suit blouses (as an attorney, when I began my career it was necessary to look like the men with suits and ties!). I love the colors and the accents they provide. Current days the focus seems to be on the oblong format. Thanks for reminders on how to use the squares again.

    1. I find oblongs easiest to tie so always keep my eye out for pretty ones.

  20. L H Carter says:

    Scarves are like magic. Together with your choice of shoe can raise a simple top and pants/skirt to the tenth power. Thank you for posting this topic with the video.

  21. anne shannon says:

    Hi Jennifer
    I accidentally entered my email address twice, earlier today. So if you could remove my name or the entire comment is that is the easiest solution that would be appreciated. Enjoy your writing!

  22. Carol in VT says:

    I had never seen the pretzel. Thanks for a new technique for scarf tying.
    My daughter & I love scarves. When she was in high school we would “go halve-sies” when purchasing scarves. There were only a few times we wanted to wear the same scarf on the same day, but I relented most often. As an art teacher, I often have to remove my long scarves anyway so they don’t end up in paint or glue. When my daughter went to college, we’d negotiate which scarves would go with her for each interval between visits. When she moved to her own apartment post-college, we split up the collection like a divorce settlement!
    Thank you for your blog. I enjoy peeking in.

    1. Thatā€™s a clever idea! Scarves hold such great memories.

  23. anneshannon81@gmail says:

    Liked the pretzel, will try it today.
    thanks.

    How do you store long sweaters – folded?

    1. If very lightweight I hang them, otherwise I fold. I store seasonal ones flat folded

  24. We’re still in the transition between the monster-scarves of winter and spring, but I do see younger women with silk scarves. They tend to wear the longer ones (Ć©tole) rather than square ones (foulard). Wrapped a few times around the neck, the way they do with knitted scarves. However, the most popular among the young is the chĆØche, a very long, often crinkly scarf (12-24 feet!!), of cotton, wrapped generously around the neck and left hanging long.

    1. Thatā€™s a very long scarf! Iā€™ve never seen one here

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