How Do You Wear A Hermès Scarf?

That is the question. In the footsteps of Queen Elisabeth II, Madonna, Sharon Stone, and Sarah Jessica Parker, how could one ever really wrap this scarf (or carré in French) and it’s long history around their shoulders with confidence? You would do well to be hesitant about entering the VIP club of past ladies (and gentlemen) that have sported this precious piece.

Precious is definitely the word for the carré: it takes two years to manufacture one, and their designs, whether they come from Hermès or one of their guest designers, are rooted in a deep history of 75 years. Wearing the carré means more than just putting on any old scarf: it means you’re accepting an accompanying heritage. This can lead to not just to an uncanny adoration for the item, but also enough respect for it to make you arrive at the above question: “How do you wear a Hermès scarf?” Of course, no one dares give a cut-and-clear response, rather, they may think to themselves something along the lines of: “You don’t wear it. You venerate it.”

Try asking the question to a salesperson: she’ll promptly hand over a little orange box with the Hermès carriage and the inscription “Cartes à nouer” on it. Open it, and you’ll find a deck of cards, each with a single rule: “Play with your Hermès scarf”, along with several examples. And there it is, the blinding flash of insight: you may be able to get a little inspiration from the Hermès card deck, but the examples are so numerous that they seem to add up to one conclusion: “Have fun! Don’t take this scarf so seriously!”

This is perhaps what has bestowed such timelessness and eternal success to the piece since 1937. If the Hermès scarf is still a crowd-pleaser at age 75, it’s because it’s been able to stay young. It’s because wearing a Hermès scarf is a form of constant innovation, a perpetual surprise (remember when Grace Kelly wore one as a sling for her broken arm?). So how do you wear a Hermès scarf? You wear it by letting your imagination run wild, and by forgetting that it’s ever been worn by anyone before you.