Martial Spirit: Ways to Wear Scarves for Spring

German Elle Magazine. It's fantastic--even if you don't read the language (and therefore miss editorial gems like "Which Philosopher Are YOU Most Like: Kant, Nietsche, Plato" lol), you can still take great pleasure in innovative fashion shoots (no jumping models here!), and the chance to see cool local brands that have yet to make the leap to international notoriety. For example, Windsor, a German fashion house that melds the minimalist tailoring of Banana Republic with accessories just unorthodox enough to blast a safe-enough look into empyrean cool.

Case in point, below. The diagonal pocket square + white tee combo: brilliant. The diamante oval buckle + cargo pants + Armani-style jacket: this shouldn't work, but blow me, it does. And best of all: the scarf, with one end of the knot tucked down the sleeve, to cut down on the bulk in front. Great!


And now, please forgive a little rambling about the scarf. The checkerboard pattern is slightly reminiscent of a keffiyeh (which at this point has been leached of all political potency as a Palestinian national symbol by fashionables eager to look as though they too would throw stones at tanks were they not so busy sipping cappucinos after a hard morning's shop at Colette).

However, given the color of the pattern and the absence of fringe, this scarf is not quite that. In fact, to my eyes it's most closely reminiscent of a textile that's about as unpolitical as it gets--the linens used in a classic French bistro like the Fontaine de Mars in Paris (below, underneath a yummy-looking salade lardons and cassoulet), which themselves borrow bigtime from old-school kitchen towels.


The point: try tucking an end of a lightweight scarf down your sleeve as a new variation on an old accessory. Not quite as soul-satisfying as a bibbed napkin in Paris, but the check's a lot lighter, and you won't need a nap.