How to Wear a Hermès Carré

Let’s be clear on something: I may have expensive tastes – but following through on them is the exception rather than the rule. There are only a few times in my life where I’ve thrown caution (and knowledge of my Visa balance) to the wind and decided to splurge on something.

Usually, this abnormally irresponsible behaviour is triggered by two things – falling head over heels in love with something and being able to justify it as an investment piece.

Case in point: the Hermès carré.

At the end of my first Parisien sejour, I thought that I should be getting a souvenir that was more valuable than the bits and bobs sold along the Seine. My souvenir should conjour up all of the wonderful memories of that month I spent sitting in cafés and walking the dog in the Luxembourg Gardens, and it should be something that I would enjoy for years to come.

Convincing myself that a carré fit the bill was easy – but the bill itself took some work. I recall my first reaction being “They want how much for what?!”. But that was before heading to the Faubourg St. Honoré and seeing the scarves in person. The artistry and the craftsmanship won me over. The weight of the silk is, simply put, divine.

I decided on the ‘Vif Argent’ pattern from the Summer 2011 collection because I think it’s a modern classic. The colour scheme of navy and red will go with a lot of my wardrobe, and as I age, the scarf will still be wearable. It also doesn’t scream out its collection year the way some others may – it will be timeless. The printed silk is made to look as though the red is dripping metal – it’s mercury-esque.

Since my return I’ve been pleasantly surprised at how often I wear it. I’d guess that it makes an appearance about once a month. I try to change the way I wear it each time and there are tonnes of great tutorials on the internet about how to wear a carré. I’m not going to attempt a halter-top with it just yet, as I’m sure that goes against the office dress code…

My two favourite ways to wear it are:

“The Tie”

A loose windsor knot, with a rather wide band helps show off portions of the central pattern as well as the end details

“The Bandana”

After folding the scarf into a triangle, I twist the ends of the scarf before tying them behind my neck. I like the way it creates a rolled edge to the bandana.