It's a wrap

Anyone who ever saw the overburdened coat rack in my Cambewarra bedroom knows that I quite like scarves.

They are the perfect item of clothing as far as I am concerned – bright, pretty, cheap and they can’t make you bum look big. You don’t even have to try them on in the shop. They can transform an outfit from boring to beautiful, and if you wear a different one every day no one will notice that you have on the same old pair of jeans.

When I moved to Dubai, I had to leave half my scarf collection at home. So the sensible thing to do is to replace it, right? I may have bought a few scarves since I got here (this will be news to my husband – sorry, dearest) and I expect I’ll buy a few more, because Dubai is scarf PARADISE.

It’s not just the enormous variety (and the ridiculously low prices –it would be downright  wrong not to take advantage of them). It’s the fact that you can get so much use out of them. Setting aside those women who have no choice in the matter (that is a tale for another day), Western women wear scarves/shawls/wraps/pashminas all the time in the Middle East, partly in honour of the modest dress code and partly (I’m sure) because they are just so darn gorgeous. You can throw one around you if your shoulders are (shudder) on display or wrap one around your head if you are entering a Muslim area. I have even seen a woman tie one around her waist when her short skirt caused offense in a government building. Setting aside a stranger’s right to tell you what to wear, she actually looked quite chic afterwards. (Of course, she was French. If I did it, I’d look like a heffalump.)

In Australia, there is really only one way you can wear a scarf without being considered eccentric, and that is looped around your neck, like so.

Sadly, this is not me.

But here, anything goes.

You can do the Tess of the d’Urbervilles thing and wrap it around your shoulders.

Or Elizabeth Bennet style, hanging from your elbows. I personally quite like this and think I look exactly the same as Keira Knightley here. Please don’t spoil it for me.

Or you can go all sari on yourself.

That’s before we even think about what happens when you start involving your head.

 

Just one more way to have fun in Dubai...

Which one is your favourite? Do you think you can totally rock that look? Would you be brave enough to take it to the streets?