The silk scarf, properly: how to buy one and how to wear it

A silk scarf is the smallest luxury purchase that changes an entire outfit, which is why it keeps coming back. Google's summer report on Canadian searches put silk scarves among the fastest-rising accessories, and a walk through Yorkville on a Saturday confirms it: knotted at the neck over a white shirt, tied to the handle of a bag, worn as a headscarf on the streetcar like it is 1964 and the streetcar is a convertible. It is a hundred-dollar object doing the work of a wardrobe.

Because it is small and the good ones are not cheap, it is worth knowing what you are paying for. Silk varies more than almost any other material, and the difference between a scarf that drapes and one that sits in the drawer comes down to weave, weight, hem and size.

Judging the silk

Weave. Twill is the classic scarf silk: a fine diagonal texture, a soft sheen, enough body to hold a knot. It is what the great French houses use and what most good scarves should be. Satin silk is shinier and slipperier, better for a bag handle than a neck. Chiffon and georgette are sheer and gauzy, beautiful in summer, useless in wind.

Weight. Scarf silk is measured in momme, a unit of weight per area, and a good twill square usually sits between fourteen and sixteen momme. Lighter feels flimsy; heavier starts to behave like a blouse. A shop that can tell you the momme is a shop that buys silk seriously.

The hem. Turn the edge over. A hand-rolled hem, slightly irregular, rolled toward the front of the print and stitched invisibly, is the mark of a proper scarf. A flat machine hem is not a crime, but it is the first place a maker saves money, and the edge is what you see when the scarf is tied.

The print. Screen-printed silk, where each colour is laid down separately, has depth and a crispness at the edges of the pattern; digital printing is sharper and cheaper and can look slightly flat. Hold the scarf to the light and look at the back. On a well-printed silk the colour should come most of the way through.

Size, and what each one does

The ninety-centimetre square is the classic and the most versatile: large enough for a headscarf, a halter or a shoulder wrap, small enough to knot at the neck. The seventy-centimetre square is a neck-and-bag scarf, easier to wear and easier to lose. The long, narrow "twilly" lives on a bag handle, a ponytail or a wrist. Oblongs over a metre are for the shoulders and the coat, and they want a heavier silk or a silk-wool blend in a Toronto autumn.

If you are buying one, buy the ninety. If you already own one, the twilly is the one you will reach for most.

Six ways to wear one

• Folded into a band and tied at the side of the neck over a white shirt, the classic, which is classic because it works.
• Draped loose under a coat collar, where it does the job of a necklace and keeps the wind off.
• Folded into a triangle and tied behind the head for a streetcar window seat.
• Knotted to the handle of a plain leather bag, which dresses the bag and keeps the scarf close.
• Worn as a belt through the loops of high-waisted trousers, with the ends left long.
• Tied as a halter or a wrap top in the two weeks of July when Toronto allows it.

Where the good ones live

The best selections in the city sit with the multi-brand boutiques of Yorkville, where the European houses and the newer printmakers share a drawer, and with the independent accessory shops that buy silk as a category rather than an add-on. Browse women's scarves in Toronto to see what the boutiques are carrying, and read the Yorkville guide for the shops to visit in person, which for silk is worth the trip: the hand tells you what the screen cannot.

It is also the most reliable gift in the city, for exactly the reasons above, and the Toronto gift guide treats it accordingly.

Common questions

How much should a good silk scarf cost?

A well-made twill square from an independent maker usually sits between $120 and $250 in Toronto, and the great French houses start around $600. Under $80, the silk is often thin, the hem machine-stitched and the print digital; it can still be pretty, but it will not drape or last the same way.

How do you wash a silk scarf?

Gently, by hand, in cool water with a drop of delicate detergent, without wringing. Roll it in a towel, lay it flat or hang it away from sun, and press it on the silk setting while slightly damp. Dry cleaning is safer for anything with a dark or saturated print.

What size silk scarf should I buy first?

The ninety-centimetre square. It does everything the smaller sizes do and several things they cannot, and once you own one, the seventy and the twilly become easy second purchases.

Prefer to browse from your couch? within opens Toronto's boutique shelves on October 1, and the quizzes will read your taste in the meantime.