Scarves and Hats

I'm really not clothing conscious much at all. Perhaps slightly moreso now that I had to replace the bulk of my wardrobe in recent weeks, but really I don't put much energy into dressing myself or accessorizing. In fact, I had to look up how to spell accessorize.


However, I am enjoying building a collection of headwear. I'm having almost as much fun as I did building wardrobes for my babies. And, I'm finding I'm having to be careful not to over spend, which would be easy to do. The chemo-headwear industry is much larger than I'd ever imagined. Truthfully, I'd never really imagined it, so that statement is somewhat false. But it is a large industry and there's some cool stuff out there to be had.

One of my favorite head coverings so far, is the t-shirt wrap. It's simple, easy, stays on, and breathes (a quality I'm finding very important). Here's a picture of the wraps I've made so far out of the bottom 2/3 of soft t-shirts. I'd like a more brightly colored tie-dyed one, but fear I'll have to wait until a child makes me one at the Black Swamp Arts Festival. I haven't been lucky finding any the correct size (adult M) at Goodwill. The only problem with this style wrap is that all the good pictures or writing on shirts is up too high and wouldn't show up on my head. For instance, Aidan has a tshirt that says "Jamaican Bobsled Team." I'd enjoy wearing that across my head, but it wouldn't show up. Or we have all these old "Bombers" shirts that I'd wear to games, if the logo would actually end up on my head. Alas, 'tis not to be.


Then there are the actual scarves. Fun. Very colorful. So far, all I have are rectangular ones, which I've learned to tie, but which have their own weaknesses as well as strengths. Unique and classy is a definite strength. They can be tied tightly, which is another strength. But they tend to be bulky or tricky to get on. Weakness. The larger ones are bulky. And the smaller ones don't get good coverage. Worn together, they look awesome.

What a lot of women wear are "faux scarves." I don't remember what the catalogs call them, but they are things designed to look like scarves, but they really are just fancy do-rags. They are probably more comfortable than real scarves, and clearly are more convenient. This is where the market/industry for headwear is exploding. Gazillions of places to buy stuff like this. So far, my faves are some a friend sent me, very simple things, with a little elastic in the back and gathers with small tails that don't necessarily need to be tied. Very light weight and comfortable. I bought a few more expensive ones and, wow, they seem bulky in comparison. Supposedly, the extra bulk makes it look like the wearer has hair...but we all know the truth. With the exception of the religiously conservative, who would wear this if they had hair?

Then there are hats. I have the ultimate bucket hat...with so much head coverage that I can barely see when I wear it. I need a broach or something to pin back the brim, or I'll spend my days walking into things. And the newsboy style. My friend Mary gave me those, remnants from her hair-free chemo days. Tynan loves them and I have to fight him for them. Clearly an awesome option for jeans and tshirt days (which is my typical uniform).

Finally, the toboggan hat style. There are lots of options for sale, and oddly, most have three seams. I tried one of those yesterday and felt each individual seam rubbing on my head. Perhaps when I'm more used to being hair-free I won't? Meanwhile, I'm excited for the two knit ones I have. One, knit by Marti, is of the softest, most awesome hand spun yarn. I can't wait until it is chillier to wear it (actually, it'd probably be cool enough today in the shade). I've never enjoyed this particular style of hat, because I hate how it interacts with my hair. No hair; problem solved!!!

So, now, off to mix some henna so it can sit for 24 hours...pictures of that tomorrow...