As I mentioned in my last post, I buy most of my scarves in thrift stores. Thrift store shopping is always a treasure hunt, but once in awhile you’re lucky enough to find something particularly interesting. Everything I purchase second-hand is washed before I wear it and it wasn’t until I was ironing one of my latest purchases that I realized what I’d bought. Sewn into the edge of the scarf, visible but not obvious, was the name emanuel ungaro.

Emanuel Ungaro (1933-2019) was a French fashion designer who, after working for famed couturier, Cristóbal Balenciaga, went on to found the fashion house in Paris that still bears his name. He attracted celebrity customers known for their good taste in fashion including Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Catherine Deneuve and Isabelle Adjani. Second-hand Emanuel Ungaro scarves sell online for anywhere from $15 CAD to several hundred dollars. I bought mine for 50 cents! 

It was the colours in the scarf that caught my eye and caused me to add it to my bag, particularly the olive green which is a favourite of mine and on-trend this fall. I also like the clear violet and light lilac, both part of my Spring colour palette. They remind me of the little flowers that are so prevalent along the hiking trails that we love so much at this time of year.

These purple colours are sadly lacking from my wardrobe. In fact, they only appear in these favourite earrings, a gift from my sister-in-law. Perhaps I need to remedy that!   

Depending on size and fabric, there are numerous ways to wear a square scarf and plenty of tutorials online to show you how. Here’s the super simple cowgirl style which shows off the colours nicely. I’m wearing it with a plain white Uniqlo t-shirt and the olive green shirt/jacket that I showed you here. It was also thrifted.

And here’s another very simple option. 

Do you enjoy thrift store shopping? Have you found any treasures?