Scarves

Even if the first thing that comes to mind when we think of scarves is cosy wool and winter walks, shawls and scarves are not really limited to any one season or style. A triangular scarf of soft jersey material can also complete our outfit wonderfully on warmer days; a wide silk scarf is just as good for throwing round your neck in summer as for tying into a headscarf. Whether for warmth, sophistication or a dash of nonchalant Bohemian charm, scarves and shawls are versatile and augment our outfits in the most diverse ways. Always just the way we like it – and the way it suits us best.

For outfits with that certain something: a real eye-catcher for any style

For a long time now you and your best friend have been dreaming of opening your own café. During a winter walk around the neighbourhood where you live, you in your duffel coat and a knitted loop scarf, your friend in a down jacket and a soft chunky knit scarf, you come across an inconspicuous sign on the side of the little corner shop that has been standing empty for quite some time. Now the shop is available to rent again! Excited you peep through the dusty window – there's a lot to do but you're certain that, together, you could make something of the shop. A month later all the paperwork has been signed and you launch enthusiastically into the renovation of your future café.  Of course your friends and acquaintances also get stuck in. After two strenuous weeks it's all but finished and you reward yourself with an excursion to one of the biggest bric-a-brac shops in town. In a nappa leather jacket and a soft woollen scarf you wander around between 50-year-old chairs and old satin couches looking for unusual items to decorate the café with. The pride and joy of your café arrives on the first warm spring day of the year: the large shiny chrome espresso machine is being delivered today that you managed to get at a bargain price with a huge portion of luck at the closing down sale of another café. Your light, wide cotton scarf flutters in the gentle breeze as you walk excitedly down the street to let the installation technician in. The installation has just been completed and the technician is showing you how the pressure and temperature displays work when your friend walks in. As quick as a flash she slips off her coat and finely patterned woven scarf and dives on the espresso machine. You spend the rest of the day boiling up cups of all the different kinds of coffee drinks and testing various espresso roasts.

Silky soft, transparent and airy or warm and cosy – scarves and shawls for any season

The weather takes a change for the better almost as soon as you open the café for business – a stroke of luck for you. The little tables and benches that you've set up outside the café are more or less permanently in use. You stand at the counter dressed in a summer dress and a colourful silk scarf explaining the various espresso beans to a customer, whilst your friend, in a tank top and shiny satin scarf over her hair, whips up some milk and brings the guests their drinks. By autumn your café has become an established feature in your neighbourhood. The regulars appreciate the personal, cosy atmosphere and the excellent coffee. By now it's so busy in the mornings and on weekends that you need to start thinking about employing some extra staff. It's a damp, grey morning as you arrive at the café in a woollen overcoat and a soft jersey shawl around your neck to join your friend in writing out a job description. She meets you at the door of the shop in a knitted dress and a large viscose mix triangular scarf accompanied by a young lady smiling bashfully. Your friend introduces you to one another. The woman is French and is a fully trained patissière, who has just moved to this country to be with her boyfriend and is now eagerly looking for a job. She really wants to work in your café and has offered to augment your current range with authentic French tarts and macaroons. An excellent idea – and fantastic prospects for the new year.