Debra Rosenberg
I just returned from Paris. I had to say that because it sounds so awesome, although not as awesome as, I just arrived in Paris.
I’ve been to Paris a few times over the course of my life and I’ve always been struck by French women and their scarves.
Scarves in Paris are not about keeping one warm or covering up a turkey neck, although a scarf is certainly a bonus in both of those cases. A scarf in Paris is about attitude. It’s a particular mentality. French women don’t just wear scarves, they flaunt them. It’s about throwing on a scarf in just the right way as if to say to all of us tourists, I am fabulous, you…not so much. It’s confidence. What’s more, it’s as if French women came out of the womb wearing a scarf in just the right way. It’s innate and totally natural.
It’s a look I have tried to imitate over the years but I’ve never been successful. More often than not, I’ve risked asphyxiating myself. I have learned to not practice when I’m home alone. It could turn out deadly and there would be no one around to come to my rescue.
It’s said that when you wear a scarf, you don’t need to wear as much make-up. It’s true that most of the women I saw wearing scarves wore nothing on their face but a touch of mascara and bold red lips.
So I bought a scarf in Paris. It’s not as though beautiful scarves are not available in New York City, but I’m hoping my Parisian scarf will come with magical powers and just sort of know automatically how to wrap itself around my neck. My scarf feels like ultra-fine linen. It’s ivory with golden threads delicately woven throughout. I know it sounds expensive. It wasn’t! I bought it for five Euros on the street (about $7.00). Thank goodness for improved polyester manufacturing. I realize this may prove to be a problem, that my scarf won’t know how to tie itself properly. Kind of like buying a pair of shoes at Payless as opposed to a similar looking pair at Prada. Those shoes from Payless definitely don’t feel quite the same as the pair from Prada.
Due to my financial situation, and the fact that my husband would probably divorce me if I started buying all my shoes at Prada, I try to seek out a happy medium in my footwear. I would have done the same with the scarf but I didn’t have the time or knowledge to look for a shop in Paris with a selection of medium priced scarves. I did see a scarf that was similar to mine at Chanel. That scarf was 670 Euros, around $870.00. Even if I could afford the Chanel scarf, which I absolutely cannot, I would not have purchased it. That’s far too big of an investment to spend on something that may end up stuffed in the back of a dresser drawer. The only reason I went into Chanel was because I had time to kill at the airport so I stopped by the duty free shop.
I plan on wearing my Parisian scarf with aplomb! A Parisian woman may see me on the streets of New York City and know that I’m a fake but I don’t care. As I often say, it’s all about attitude.