What makes the silk scarf a viable option when compared to scarves composed of cheaper, bulkier materials, such as cotton or wool? Isn’t wool warmer? And isn’t cotton much cheaper? The answers are yes and yes, but silk is still a superior fabric for scarves for several reasons.
The first reason is that silk is more comfortable than either cotton or wool. If you’ve ever worn a woolen jacket, you can imagine how a wool scarf would feel around your neck. They can get so irritating that you develop a rash. Silk is so smooth that you can barely feel the fabric around your neck; if anything, you neck feels better with it than without.
Another reason why the silk scarf is a superior item is that it traps heat better than even wool. Silk is so finely woven together that it prevents a larger amount of body heat from exiting than even wool; and a far greater percentage than cotton, which heat can move through relatively easily. The heat transference resistance of a silk scarf is on par with man-made fibers, such as polyester, nylon, and acrylic, which are used in the “shell” of certain jackets.
So who produces a good silk scarf? If you’re looking for an expensive, designer scarf, you can always purchase one from Burberry. They generally use expensive silks – and put clean-cut borders around relatively unimposing scarf colors. A Burberry silk scarf will cost you around $100 in most places. If you want to go one step down from Burberry, you could purchase a Chiffon scarf, which is still a high-end brand, but sells for less than $50 in many cases. If you’re looking to save even more, you could purchase something from Oscar De La Renta for around $20