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 Scarf has been the favourite ladies' accessory since the 18th century. Initially, in fashion there were big headscarfs made from cambric - fine, but solid, translucent material, similar to gas. Their ends were fastened under a cutout edge, or placed between a lace corsage, thereby creating the impression of a high bust. It was a necessary skill for the beauties of that time - to correctly tie a headscarf so that it slightly opened at inhalation, inadvertently showing to the cavalier the dignity of a deep décolleté, and returned to its original position at exhalation, making the owner of the headscarf look like a modest woman.
Often enough, this accessory was decorated with white embroidery on
white that is done with linen threads. It was popular for a house or
morning dress. A scarf was also important for a walking dress.
Gradually, the material was replaced by needle lace or bobbin lace.
However, by the end of the century, during the days of Marie
Antoinette's rule, cambric came back again into fashion. At the turn of
the 18-19th centuries, big woollen or pashmina (the underfur of
mountain goats) shawls came into fashion. They were produced in Kashmir
(Northern India) starting from the 15th century. In Europe, Napoleon
Bonaparte brought such shawls when he made a trip to Egypt as a gift to
his wife Josephine de Beauharnais. At that time, this perfectly
supplemented the fashionable superfine muslin dresses with high
waistline.
Probably, not only the amazing beauty of ornament
and softness contributed to the growing popularity of these shawls, but
also that the empire dresses were very cold inspite of all their
attractive lightness and transparency. The climate of Paris is still
somewhat different from the climate of the Ancient Greece imitators of
which were French women. Doctors begged for this fashion to be banned,
offering the ladies to go to the Per-Lashez cemetery and see how many
pretty frivolous women died from cold because of that dress.
However,
those women who were not willing to part with seductive dresses solved
the problem easily and started keeping themselves warm with the help of
warm shawls. At that time, on many portraits it was possible to see
beautiful samples of this accessory. In the early 1820-s, fashion
magazines recommended chequered Scottish cashmere shawls and black
shawls with a colour fringe. In the 30-s of the 19th century,
headscarfs, scarves made of transparent materials that are interweaved
with gold or silver pattern, as well as mantilla made from black lace,
relied on ball dresses. While fashion ladies adorned themselves with
weightless scarfs, spidery laces, the merchant women preferred wearing
headscarfs of very flashy colours. Bright colours were valued: red,
blue and pale yellow.
A gorgeous shawl is an indispensable
supplement of the merchant women's attire in the paintings of
Kustodiev, Malevich and Makovsky. After all, a silk scarf-square (most
often Hermes) up till now, is an indispensable attribute of a
successful business woman. As in the 19 century, they are very
expensive, but they are worth their cost.
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