Soft, elegant and timelessly stylish, silk’s enduring allure has captured the hearts of fashion icons, generation after generation. Monarchs, first ladies and Hollywood headliners have come to view the silk scarf as the go-to accessory. 

Film and fashion idol Audrey Hepburn once said, “When I wear a silk scarf, I never feel so definite-ly like a woman, a beautiful woman.” 

Legendary actress Elizabeth Taylor deemed a scarf a vital addition for any woman. “A woman who doesn’t wear a scarf would have no future,” she once quipped. 

A well-worn silk scarf is a powerful symbol of femininity and elegance, so it is little wonder that the sleek shawls regularly adorn leading ladies from across the world. And some of their classic chic tying styles even started fashion trends that have lasted for generations.

In the 1960s, Grace Kelly, the film star who gave up Hollywood to become Princess of Monaco, made wearing a headscarf with large sunglasses an essential trend. And the style lives on: her favorite head wrap is still known worldwide as “the Kelly headscarf.”

Another icon of the 1960s, former American First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, was also fond of the headscarf. The photo below was taken when she and her husband President John F. Kennedy were on a beach holiday in 1962. 

And the lasting popularity of the silk headscarf is perfectly illustrated by Queen Elizabeth II; the British monarch has wrapped her head in an array of colorful silks through the decades. 

But Her Highness Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser, the second of the three wives of Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, former Emir of Qatar, has been crowned the “queen of the headscarf.”

The most frequent scarf-on-neck style is the butterfly knot or the tie knot, using either a square silk scarf or a long scarf. 

Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, typically wears a scarf casually, in a style that can be simply replicated with the use of a ring, rubber band or scarf buckle. 

Similarly nonchalant knots have also been utilized by political royalty. 

When the silk scarf is applied in a butterfly knot, pay close attention to the nature of its corners. Different scarf corners can result in very different looks. 

In the photo above, Grace Kelly has fashioned a bow using the triangular corners of the scarf. As the texture of her scarf is firm, a clearly-defined shape is formed. A soft-textured scarf with a straight angle would make the tie more casual, as displayed by Rosalynn Carter, wife of America’s 39th President Jimmy Carter. 

The style of a scarf when worn changes depending on the way in which it is tied, the texture of the material and the corners. 

Long scarves and large square scarves are usually dressed over the shoulder. If tied skillfully, they can create the effect of elongating the body. Wearing a scarf on the shoulders in a tastefully chosen color match can add flavor and vitality to clothes. 

A silk scarf worn as a top exudes femininity - it is usually tied with a long or large square scarf.

Silk scarves, once purely functional, now exemplify classic style – often with a modern twist. They embellish, complement and beautify, whether worn traditionally or even as a belt. In history, silk also serves as the ‘envoy of the culture’, tightening the bond between the East and the West. 

Silk, as valuable as it is, had been gifted to the leaders of the countries through history and being traded and circulated after the establishment of the Silk Road in Western Han Dynasty. It is one of the oldest ‘national gifts’ in China. In recent years, silk product has also been gifted to the leaders of the countries. It not only has become a true emblem of female fashion, but also carries the culture of the East and links the connection among the nations.

(Pictures used in article are from the Internet)

(Story and video and Gao Xingzi)