Every week a different FADER staff member will pick a clothing item or accessory that he or she has lately been spending a lot of time with—or would like to—and write a little love letter to it. We would’ve done a column on who we’re dating but that seemed a little bit much. This week Chioma Nnadi writes about the Spratters and Jayne Tube scarf.
Back in the fall of 2009, my closet and I made a very special pact—we vowed to embrace winter and all its bundled-up frost-bitten glory. I've been known to utter the phrase "cute goes out the window in winter," at many points in my life, and several times on the pages of this very website. Of course the word cute should not be exclusive to any season, and even though there are multiple shades of happiness in my collection of summer dresses, I'm determined to make winter beautiful this year.
The key to winter dressing boils down to layering—you can have all the fun in the world with clothes once you've nailed that. Of course that isn't easy, and—surprise, surprise—I spent 30 minutes in front of my bedroom mirror this morning trying to figure out what shade of happy grey stockings to wear with my dress, before ditching the whole look all together. Bare legs are the perfect neutral, damnit!
The one thing that winter is major for is accessories—hats, gloves, bags, boots, shades (winter sun!) and my favorite department, scarves. The newest and most cherished layer in my winter wardrobe this year is this tubular scarf by Spratters and Jayne. Handmade from Peruvian wool, the scarf engulfs my neck so comfortably and completely, it's like I'm still at home under the covers—warm, toasty and surrounded by a soothing ring of color. That ruby-colored wool gives my complexion a lil freshly flushed glow (who needs rose-tinted glasses?) and the knit work is so flawless I've had yarn enthusiasts corner me in the street. Seriously, if all winter clothes made me feel as cozy as an embryo in the womb, I'd probably move to the North Pole and call it a day.