Encircled

When I spent a few days in Stockholm last year, I was fascinated by one particular trend I kept noticing on the streets. It seemed as though many of Stockholm's chic female denizens used a scarf to finish off their cold weather looks. I'm not talking (or writing) about just any old scarf. What I saw were statement-making oversize scarves with an abundance of fringe. Scarves so colossal that they could double as shawls.

Then there was the manner in which these scarves were styled. While I tend to tuck my scarf into my jacket to keep it close to my neck, these women used their scarves as focal points. They'd wear them draped in a triangular shape on top of their jackets and coats. Seeing this over the course of a few hours of people watching incited some fascination in my trend-obsessed mind, and I decided to hunt down my own scarf to wear in such a way.

As luck would have it, H&M had oversize scarves galore, and since Stockholm is H&M central, I found the ideal version with little effort. At first I passed on a few versions, as they weren't thick or chunky enough. Then there it was, the perfect one - ivory in color, loosely knitted, and with plenty of fringe. It looked like something grandma would knit, and I envisioned myself wearing it half a dozen different ways, all of which would comfort me from the chill of a cold afternoon.

Wearing: paintbrush printed top - Forever 21, mesh tank and leggings - American Apparel, scarf and jacket - H&M, boots - Frye