summer scarf conundrum

I don't know how some people do it. It's 96 degrees Fahrenheit, humid, and sticky outside, yet their face is dry, powdered (but not visibly so), perched on spiky/buckled/laced up/complicated high heels, hair is tidy but not too tidy, and then there's that scarf. Scarves in the summer? Really? My practical self would normally roll my eyes at this silliness, but scarves compliment the entire outfit so well. (That "normal self" is typically the opposite of the primped girl: hot, cranky, soggy, and wilted.) Maybe it's another style imported from Paris: the iconic Parisian girl with beret, baguette, and little red kerchief around her neck, but I'd like to think it's the new, practical way to protect yourself from summer heat, sweat, and the potential of yet another awkward shoulder strap tan. Not to mention the simple power of a scarf to make an outfit interesting when it's too hot to deal with complicated layered clothes or accessories. And for days when it's too hot for that, it can be a head wrap.

Here's a run down of some of the scarves I've been eying from the comforts of an air conditioned room, from luxury brand to their enemy: Forever 21.

The DVF scarf

Anthropologie scarf 2

Forever 21 scarf

*This just in:

Forever 21 copy of Anthropologie scarf 2

* Update *

Check out Bill Cunningham of the New York Times' video article about summer scarves regardless of heat, here.