Enough scarfs to tie 10 on (note to self: come up with better title)

If there's one thing I have to many of other than shoes, it's scarves (and gingham shirts... and vests... alright, so I own too many clothes).  Aside from the fact that one of my favorite directors and one of portland's greatest citizens certainly knew their way around some neck adornment, I think scarves are a great way to add some punch to an outfit.  Depending on how you tie them and what color scheme you use you can end up with lots of different looks from the exact same outfit.  One outfit 10 ways with scarves after the jump.

 First things first, know how big your scarf is.  I have scarves ranging from 6'8" long and 8" wide (the rainbow scarf on the far end) to 4'4" long and 11" wide (the brown plaid on the near end).  Far be it from me to tell you how to wear them, but following are all me wearing gray pants, white button down oxford, a very dark navy sweater and a peacoat.  The idea is to see how you can jauntily toss a scarf over your shoulder or bundle up against the cold.  So... without further ado.

40 degrees and sunny...

but it might get cold later.

The easiest way? Toss one end over your shoulder.  This works equally well with a short or long scarf, with or without a jacket and with a heavy pattern or a solid.  Bear in mind it's not really the warmest way to wear one, just the simplest.

cool & casual

warm & formal

Next up is the ascot style knot.  This gets tied like the first step of a tie knot (right over left, up and through). I like this best with a short scarf knotted up really tight, definitely the warmest way, also the most "formal" (i.e. this is probably how you'd wear a scarf under a nice overcoat).  Though if you have a nice, colorful scarf just loosely pull it through for a bright pop to an otherwise monochromatic outfit.

color

pattern

My favorite is probably the pull through (there's about 50 names for it).  You just fold the scarf in half, then pull the ends through the loop.  Very warm, plus it will never come undone.  Wear it tucked in to keep extra warm and put a colorful adornment next to your face, or wear it out to show off a cool pattern.

B: Sprezzatura: Italian for
"I pretend not to care so
 I seem cooler than I am"

A: Showing off the colored
ends of a black scarf

Finally we have the miscellaneous ties.  These tend to work a bit better with slightly more outlandish scarves, really long ones, multi-colored, complex patterned, fringed bearers of awesome.  You can wear these however you want, but for edification we have.

A: middle of the scarf in front of your neck, flip both ends around and let them hang in front.

B: drape the scarf over the back of your neck, cross one end over the other and button under your jacket.

C: multicolored non-chalance

D: fuck it, I hate captioning
these things.

C: drape over the back of your neck, one end longer than the other, pull the long end around your neck and let it the ends hang loose.

D: free form, just sort of wrap it around however and then tuck the ends into your jacket.

Or maybe you don't even want to decide which one to wear so you wear them all.

Don't let me stop you.

Just remember these are all suggestions!  Only you know what you like.  I would never actually wear my scarf like misc. B.  But you might think that looks awesome, more power to you.  Or hell, you might have some way nobody's ever thought of.  According to leading scientists who study sciencey things, there's 85 ways to tie a tie, so there's probably about that many ways to tie a scarf.  Maybe you want to braid it or something crazy like that.  DO IT!  You'll never know unless you try.

As long as you're trying new things and doing it shamelessly, I'll approve.  And isn't my approval the most important thing? (ed. note: my approval is not the most important thing).  So for now, let's just stay in the circle of sartorial trust.

Yes, circle of sartorial trust is a stupid way to end this post,
but I really wanted an excuse to post this picture.