17 Things To Do With Vintage Silk Scarves

Hello frugal friends, and excuse my untimely post as I spent the last couple of weeks moving and on vacation. Anyway, I am back, with some great vintage gems that I picked up from St. Vincent De Paul just over the river in St. Chuck: three vintage silk scarves for a buck each.

When I started my research for this entry, I came across a lot of really great ideas and a lot of really not-so-great ideas on how to use scarves. The bulk of the not-so-great ideas come from lists proclaiming upwards of 100 ideas for uses. They generally contain about 20 good ideas, about 20 indiscriminate duplicates of those ideas, and 60 absurd ones. To avoid that scenario, I’ve selected and labeled17 good ideas, and three bad ones. They go as follows:

1. The Basic: Maybe I didn’t need to include it, but it’s a strong, classic style that cannot be overlooked. Use it with a bigger scarf and just wrap around your neck loosely.
2. The Pillowcase: Two scarves could be sewn together or just use any silk that you can find for the back to create beautiful silk pillowcases. My photo is just pretend though because I lack silk scarf commitment.
3. The Ralph Macchio: Some might call this one “The Hippie” but I feel like a warrior when I wear it. Just fold or scrunch into a band with the ends opposite corners of the scarf and tie around your head.
4. The Buntie: This one is a little reminiscent of a high schooler at a sock hop but I like it. Use a smaller scarf and again, scrunch or fold it into a band and tie it at the base of a bun. It’s a nice way to make a big messy bun look more polished.
5. The Knot: Make a band and tie at the top of your head twice. Hide and tuck in the ends.
6. The Fancy: This is a great method for spicing up the bedroom…or the living room. Perfect for commitment-phobes like me. Use a large scarf and place an old, boring pillow in the center, turned 45 degrees. Pull the corners of the scarf in and tie them to the opposite sides. You can either tuck in the little corners or leave them out like little flower petals. Voila!
7. On Standby: Tie a scarf onto the strap or handle of your purse, tote or briefcase. It will jazz up your bag and be ready for a rainy day when your hair gets destroyed.
8. The Cowboy: Fold your scarf in half to make a triangle. Tie the corners on the hypotenuse together behind your neck. For a long scarf, bring the ends back to the front and tuck under the front of the scarf.
9. The Politician: This is a classy look that is perfect for a campaign stop anywhere. It’s like the cowboy but backwards and best with a larger scarf to avoid looking like a boy scout. It can either be tied or fastened with a decorative pin.
10. The Rabbit Ears: This is a cute look for anything from a Pokey LaFarge concert to painting your bedroom. Make a band from a small scarf and double knot on top of your head.
11. It’s a Wrap: That’s it. Wrap the scarf around your head. Hold one corner in place as you wrap around holding the opposite corner. When you’ve run out of scarf tuck it in place.
12. The Banner: Display your scarf anywhere in your house by folding in half and tying the corners to… anything really.
13. The Double: Wrap two complimentary scarves around your neck for an extra flash of color and a more substantial scarf. Try knotting them together at one end so you don’t lose one!
14. The Twist: Come on baby, let’s do the twist. Make a band by folding and scrunching and wrap the ends around each other on top of your head tucking each side under itself.
15. The Kitchen Curtain: Hung on a rod in a small window, a colorful silk scarf will let light in and keep the room bright.
16. The Patchwork: Sew multiple silk scarves together to create a bedspread, shower curtain, or room divider.
17. I’ve Been Framed: select one large or multiple small scarves to display framed on the wall.

And now for the Don’ts:

1. The Faux Frenchie: Don’t tie your scarf tightly around your neck and pretend to be graceful, smoking a cigarette in a cigarette holder. Just don’t. However, as for the rest of the suggestions on what not to do, Halloween is an acceptable exception.
2. The Jackie: Don’t wear your scarf on top of your head and tie it under your chin. You are not Jackie O. and you cannot pull it off.
3. The American Creep: Do not do this variation on the Jackie and tie the scarf under your nose. You definitely should never attempt a mugging or kidnapping wearing this.