It’s that time of the year again, scarf season. Who knew wearing scarves had such early beginnings? As early as 1350 B.C. Egyptian Queen Neferti wore a finely woven scarf topped by a conical headdress. In Egyptian culture, scarves were viewed as a social status symbol. Queen Neferti was one of the first known scarf wearers.
In 60 A.D., it was Emperor Nero who rarely appeared in public without a sudarium (linen kerchief) around his neck. Another historical scarf note, the French wore scarves and called them “cravats” from the Croatian word krayata. It became popular to demonstrate political support by the color of one’s scarf, sounds familiar with the Democrats and Republicans of today. In 1786, Napoleon Bonaparte is said to send his first wife Josephine de Bonaparte cashmere scarves from India during his travels.