Scarf tying anyone can do. Easily.

Scarves are an easy accessory to wear. But many women find them intimidating. They don't need to be. Seriously. 

For beginners, rectangle shapes are easier to style than silk squares. Those silk squares can be very intimidating & I speak from personal experience. I was buying them in droves & it took me years to start wearing them. 

TIP: The easiest way to wear a rectangle is slung over your shoulders & hanging down on either side of your neck. 

Do it in cashmere, wool, linen, cotton but please try to stay away from viscose or polyester. 

Today I tried on a blue & yellow linen rectangle at a budget chain called W Lane. I had previously noticed linen scarves in their store, so I thought a proper investigation was warranted today. 

This baby was more vivid in colour than the photo implies.
She has animal print on the narrow ends.

She is 100% line, $35 and hand washable. 

I really liked this baby and blues like me. 
But her yellows are my worst shade. On the other hand, winner winner chicken dinner, most of the yellows were on the ends. The ends were an animal print. My complexion was reasonably safe. 

Happy happy. 

Then I looked in the mirror at the overall impression. I wore her the most basic way - over my shoulders & hanging down either side of my neck. Like this. 

She's an Oscar for the best east-west eye movement by a scarf in an Alexander McQueen chiffon. She is a square but will work just as well with a rectangle. 

This way of "tying" creates lots of vertical eye movement along the wearer's torso lengthwise. That's code for talling & slimming. Too easy. Great words, huh? 

But when I tried the W Lane, my eye continued downwards. Horror of horrors, she was the ideal length for the animal print section to sit just perfectly along my hips/tummy. That meant there was east-west eye movement - shorting & fattening. Plus the yellow was the brightest colour - even more shortening & fattening.

If I had a big bust & small hips, she would have been perfect. Alas. 

Now while I have your attention, every scarf even with the most basic "tie" creates eye movement. Whether this is good or bad depends on your height & body shape. 

This scarf brings the eye upward but also makes you look you are being eaten up. By something big & plaid. It's kind of like the plaid blob eye movement look.  

This next one tends to have more east-west eye movement but it also brings the eye upward. 

Here is the best north-south eye movement which a scarf can create. The even print makes it easy on the rest of the body too. Unlike my yellow/blue W lane number. 

Here's one which is tied in a mass of knots - it's not as fancy or hard as it looks. The wearer is clever enough to tie the knots in a vertical pattern. Best for medium weight scarves like cotton or linen. 

Here is the latest scarf trend thanks to Christopher Bailey at Burberry. This will work with a large square in a fine wool or linen or cotton or a rectangle. 

Note the belt though - that's east-west if ever I've seen it. 

Make sure you stand back & look at your overall image in a full length mirror to decide what works for you. 

Here is another contender for Best East-West eye movement. It didnt win though, because it's quite a large square and the fabric around the upper body creates a bit of horizontal tango.  

Scarves are so easy to wear. But step back & look in the mirror to make sure they are behaving the way you want them to.