Buttercotch Business Lady

This would have been worthy of the ultimate 9-5 business lady look, if I had a really bad 80s pinstriped skirt suit. If it were the only assertion of femininity in an outfit, I think it would do rather well. 80s polyester plaid long, diagonal scarf, made for bow tying. I do really like the line work/pattern color, if not the cut and fabric.


Rectangular with diagonal end, long scarf, plaid, butterscotch/blue/grey/black white. Polyester, folded and hemmed edges in grey, signed in black, no ladybug, copyright. Looks more mass produced than most.

80s, Revisited

This scarf reminds me of my parents' house (and their friends' houses) decor in the 80s. The colors scream "I got the latest and greatest in colors!" in the 80s, like avocado/brown/orange said "This is the 70s". Mauve, Hunter Green, and that periwinklesque blue. I could see this being a scarf Lily Tomlin would have to buy for her boss in 9-5 (I am still convinced that scarf that ends up on Dolly is a Vera!). Not saying it is without charm: I will always love floral on silk. You really cannot screw that up! But the addition of an overlay of darker mauve paisley? So 80s!

Rectangular scarf of mauve silk with blue and green floral design, darker mauve (puce?) paisley design all over. Hand rolled blue hem, signed in darker mauve, no ladybug. 36" X 9"

Garden Party Napkin

This might be my favorite Vera napkin in my collection. Sadly, there is only one, because how pretty they would be on a tea table with my white china with yellow flowers.
This yellow cotton napkin has a fern leaf and a four leaf clover rendered in a lime green and a tiny red ladybug. The design is only on 1/4 of it, so it is obviously meant to be folded neatly on a table.



Yellow Cotton square, 18" X 18", lime green botanical print, serged limed green edge. Signed in green with a red ladybug.

Patriotic Fritillaries

Love this red white and blue butterfly print cotton Vera. I was just given a few Veras by a friend, and that is a gift that always makes me giddy. New Veras I do not have!

Cotton, red, white and blue butterfly pattern. 24 X 24, Vera signed in blue, no ladybug.

Just Peachy Keen

Peachy and Green Print. I like that the peaches are kind of rude, but then, peaches are in real life, all fuzzy and cleft.


18" square, silk, chartreuse rolled edge White signature. No ladybug.

Hot Rods From Hell

This is the Vera I wear most often. I love pink/black/white together, and the harly-q diamond is one of my favorite shapes. Sheer, long rectangular scarves bring to mind convertibles and bad girls with cats' eye sunglasses. Totally "Hot Rods From Hell" girl. I usually wear this with an all black ensemble. I wish I could wear skintight satin pants with it. Sexy! This is a different kind of bad girl sheer scarf from the "oogie". Oogies were more for motorcycle or hard top vixens. The longer scarves were for the convertible drag race betties. A few steps down from an Isadora Duncan scarf.

24" X 62" Sheer olive, pink, white harlequin diamonds outlined in black. Black hand rolled edge. Black Vera signature, no ladybug.

Where I lay my head

Washed my pillow cases today, and one of the ones in the current rotation is a pretty Vera. I like cotton pillow cases with floral designs gently scented with lavender. That is as personal as I get on the internet without a credit card number.

30"x 20" White cotton, yellow and green daisy print. Vera signed in black, no ladybug.

Mad about Plaid

Sexy Chocolate brown and green/blue white/tan plaid cornered silk! If I could have an entire fall wardrobe made out of these colors, I would. I simply adore chocolate brown and blue together.

Crayola used to make crayons that confused me. The big box had green blue and blue green and red violet and violet red. The green blue was more green than blue; the violet red was more violet than red. The blue in this scarf is reminiscent of the Crayola green blue crayon.


Chocolate brown with plaid line work in white, tan, . Chocolate brown rolled hem. 48" Square. Vera tag. Made in Japan, 60 % rayon, 40% silk. Vera signed in green/blue. No ladybug.

Spring silk

Celadon silk with cereulean and white floral motif. Banded with thick, hand rolled blue stripe, two smaller white stripes. This sad little item was rescued from a free pile at my old apt. building. She needed a home, and now she has one. *Any ones I find with stains or fixable flaws go into a "needs repair" pile, otherwise, they go back into their respective bags. Maybe when the project hits a certain point, I will reorganize. Color? Pattern? Shape? Size? Era? Autobiographical? Stay Tuned...


Pale green with white and pale blue flowers and stripes. Blue, hand rolled hem. Vera signature in blue with ladybug. 18" Square. White tag, made in japan, silk.

Blood, Sweat, and Tears

Blood, Sweat, and Tears. That's what I call this particular sheer square.

This is one I wear. At one point there was an accident involving a clothing steamer with me ending up with three quarter size red marks on my neck. So not attractive! I had quite the collection of Veras even then, but there were only about a dozen of them I wore on a regular basis. At the time, I was wearing a lot of red, white and navy. No, it had nothing to do with patriotism, but perhaps it kept people from asking me too many post 9-11 questions when I wasn't sporting the requisite cross/flag/yellow ribbon trifecta. I call this sheer square "Blood, Sweat and Tears" because of its droplet shapes in red (blood), blue (tears), white all over (sweat).


Sheer white back ground with red and blue tear drop shapes across. Navy hand rolled hem. Vera signed in navy, no ladybug. 18" squared. No tag, feels like silk chiffon.

Red/Blues/White Abstract Colorblock

Royal blue, light blue, white, and red abstract design. They kind of look like ladies' faces to me. Vera uses the patriotic trifecta often.

18" square silk of red/white/blues abstract design. Hand rolled edge of red, Vera signed in white, no lady bug.

Technicolor Plaid Silk

Ironing is such a bitch. This silk scarf was rolled into the size of a pea when I took it out. It makes it worse that I have no ironing board and a cheap ass travel iron. I know there are women out there who find immense personal fulfillment in ironing, and goody for them (seriously, google "I love to iron" if you want to read lots of young fundementalist christian wife-blogs- which is weird, I would think their husbands would blog for them- and read more about lavender water and the pleasures of ironing.) I hate doing it. It reminds me of learning to iron so I could iron my own white blouses for Catholic school. Always white. We could wear yellow or light blue with our plaid skirt and blazer, but they did not match the outfit, so always white. I still hate ironing.

This is a fantastically bright plaid which can be worn as a wrap on a cool summer/spring evening with a sleeveless dress, or over an ugly piece of outerwear, because who would notice what is under this bright banner of silk?

48" x 12" Orange, blue, nile green, purples, plaid Vera scarf! Rectangle has hand rolled nile green edge, edged in orange. Vera signed in white, no ladybug.

Mitzi's "Just SO" Luncheon

I had two of these in the bag I've been working from. I began to wonder where they came from and why they were tied in a faded blue ribbon.

Two linen napkins perfectly washed, folded and ironed after the last time Mitzi had Charlene over for lunch. Mitzi had everything, as she always did, just SO, as her mama and grand mama before her had, all nice Baptist ladies and members of the Junior League. The white table cloth and white "nice but not too nice" dishes, and the cheerful newest Vera spring napkin design Mitzi had purchased the last time she went to the Bon Marche. Mitzi even used the Waterford vase she received as a wedding present with a bouquet of late blooming lilacs in purple and almost pink. Charlene was the other social doyenne of their little town, and she was also married to the preacher, so she outranked Mitzi, no matter how many new napkins or new hostess gowns Mitzi bought. Speaking of hostess gowns, Mitzi's was TO DIE! White eyelet off the shoulder peasant top, empire waist and an A-line maxi skirt with the same pinks and purples of the napkins. Luncheon was tiny chicken salad sandwiches, aspic with tiny shrimp, and a meringue with fresh peaches. Mitzi made them all herself, with help from the Junior League Cookbook, revised edition.

Lunch was lovely, until Charlene started to turn purple and wave her arms around: the international signal for "help me, I cannot fucking breathe!", and Mitzi simply traced her fingernail along the voluptuous curve of the pink and orange flower on her napkin. She saw nothing unusual, she even attempted the heimlich maneuver. That's what she told the cops, anyway.

To this day, everyone but Mitzi thinks Charlene died choking on a missed chicken bone in the salad sandwiches, while Mitzi tried hard and bravely to save Charlene's life.

The napkins sat, tied with a ribbon in a special place in Mitzi's lingerie drawer, keeper of a woman's secrets. Dianna, Mitzi's daughter couldn't understand why they were so important, going through her mothers' life's leftovers after Mitzi passed quietly into That Good Night. She priced them at 10 cents each.

Linen napkin. Pink gerber daisies, fancy purple flowers, and other floral motifs run across a white back ground in purple, hot pink, and orange. Vera signed in orange, no ladybug. Edges serged in hot pink. 12" Square.

St. Patrick's Day Sheer

I am grabbing these Veras at random from an adjunct bag that has various non-Vera scarves, hand kerchiefs and odd pieces of lace. There is no rhyme or reason, just taking pictures of what is on had. And getting some organization out of it!

Sheer kelly green neck square. This is a high class version of the bad girl/drapette "oogie", thin single colored (usually pastels, black, or jewel toned) made of either nylon tulle or polyester. This is a thicker material with hand rolled edges. The tiny white tag reads "Vera", made in Japan. Otherwise I'd never have bothered with it, it is so dull. I prefer the oogies; they have much more precise sass.

18" Square. Sheer kelly green, rolled hem. No signature or ladybug. Tiny white tag reads "made by Vera". So small there was no photographing it with my craptastic camera.

Stripey Silk Square

Gunmetal Grey, White, and somewhere between Yellow and Chartreuse meet in diagonal stripes. Big corner of grey is mirrored in the signature. This is one of those lovely "pop of color" neck squares used in those "How to give a LBD ten different looks!" for gals on a budget, or maybe I read almost exactly that in the hideously fantastic Sex and the Single Girl, written by HGB, a figure who is tragic on so many levels, that I haven't the energy to say more about her.

This scarf wouldn't make a black dress that you wore yesterday with a strand of tasteful pearls look like a new outfit, but it will distract people from the "curling iron burn" on your neck. No one believes you and your stick straight hair! Wear the pretty stripey scarf, it will be so francais and you will have a sexy secret under stripey silk!

18" square, silk/ white hem hand rolled, made in japan tag. Gunmetal grey, yellowish, white diagonal stripes. Vera signature in grey, no ladybug. (Is ladybug one or 2 words? I like it as one. Aren't around half of all bugs lady bugs? Not all ladybugs are ladies. I am using it as one for my purposes from now on. And I also wish to go on record: I spell grey g-r-e-y NOT g-r-a-y. Thank you.)

Cat box shame

I have a cat who is the great love of my life. And, yes, I am one of those people that will make you stand in the rain and look at photos of my Gitsie on my phone. No, they do NOT all look the same, and don't worry, there is only one more GB! She is gorgeous and perfect and snuggly and chrip-sings when she is happy. She loves to lie in my arms like a baby for hours and hours. But don't let her long blue grey fur that feels like baby chicks fool you. Don't let the precious, perfect white paws, or the piercing yellow eyes suck you in. Do not be fooled by the David Bowie circa Ziggy Stardust white markings on her. She climbs up drapes. She howls for no reason, she enjoys stalking and attacking plastic bags. She only enjoys fine fabrics (well of course she does, she is MY cat). She spent the first 2 months of her life sleeping on a white faux mink full length coat I had planned to sell. She especially likes velvet, cashmere, and silk, like her mother.

Like her mama, Gitsie found and grew to love a Vera all on her own. I made the mistake of leaving this one on the bottom shelf of a closed cabinet in the bathroom. One morning, I came in to see the cat box covered in a brown and white square of silk. A Vera. Covering the litter shame.

I admit I set her up on this one. I left the Vera (it was not stained by "gifts", as Gitsie is too fastidious for THAT) on the floor of the bathroom, not near the litter box. And I waited. Lo and behold, Gitsie struck again, and I grabbed my camera. I didn't pose the scarf, but I did edit out waste. I also shot the scarf, such that it is. I don't know if I should wash it and keep it or throw it out. Probably wash and keep unless I find a dupe. I am a completionist, after all. I don't leave the Veras lying around the bathroom anymore.

Gitsie likes to be put in a pouch when I am wearing a cashmere sweater. She is strange like mama.


Scarf: 32" Square. Brown and white print silk. Brown hand wrapped hem. Brown Vera signature, no ladybug

Color Block

I really love color block scarves, especially square silk ones in unusual color combinations. This one reminds me of a Mogdigliani portrait sans features, but that could be because of the way I've cropped the photo. Large blocks of black, fuschia, taupe, and red. I know a painter who, when he is having trouble coming up with a series of paintings or a color combination, I will hand him a couple of scarves and one usually works. I won't say who it is, because he would wave around his crazy ass God Hands for sharing a trick of the trade! This one would be the kind I would choose for this purpose. The shapes are so full and lush.


18" Square, silk, red, taupe, black, fuschia, rolled black hem. Vera signed in white, no ladybug.

Pride Scarf!

Vera was well before her time with this "Lesbian Professional" scarf. Long, thin, and black with triangle ends, the scarf is sleekly embellished with rainbow stripes. Fashion can tell others so much about us. This scarf says "I am a serious professional who loves the ladies!".

Black acetate, made in Japan (tag), 32" X 8". Vera signed in red, no ladybug