Varanasi Silk Scarf – 55x180cm

Shot silk gives this orange silk scarf its life: as it moves, the colour glows bright orange where the folds rise and darkens to red-orange in the hollows. With no pattern at all, the sheen of the cloth carries the whole look, and the orange tassels are the same shade as the silk.

It is pure silk, handwoven in Varanasi, India, from fine yarns dyed before weaving, and it measures 55 × 180 cm. The cloth is light and floaty, made for colour rather than warmth: tie it at the neck of an autumn coat, or drape it over a dark dress where its glow can show. It needs very little else; a plain brown, black or olive outfit lets it do the work.

Matthew chose this scarf and wrote that picking a colour online “is always a worry”, but that “the pictures didn’t do the item justice, it was super vibrant and so vivid”. Other buyers of our Varanasi silks praise the softness and quality, though a few have found colours different from the photos; with a single, plain colour like this one, there is less to guess.