Properly Vintage Powder Blue ‘Caraibes’ (Caribbean). Paradise!

Created in 1974 by Christiane Vauzelles (one of the few Hermes artists who didn’t sign their designs) this Hermes scarf was re-issued in 1991. Here we have the fifty-year-old original version with all the softness and drapeyness of a properly vintage scarf, in gorgeous baby blue.  It’s slightly faded, with a couple of pulled threads, and if you examine it with a microscope, you might find tiniest mark, but these wont show when worn, and this scarf has been beautifully cared for and loved over all these years. Condition: 8.5/10.

The illustrations are wonderfully intricate interlaced depictions of the exotic birds and flora of a Caribbean paradise.

Between 1960 and the 1990s, Mme Vauzelles was responsible for nearly 30 Hermes scarf designs, all very varied in their interest and value, including Armada, Sedan d’Or, Calles de Golf, Berline d’Or, Carousel, Cheval Turc, Brides et Frontaux, Carillons d’Hiver, Chevaux du Monde, Jardins de Versailles, Leopards, Muserolles, Selles a Housse, Tigre Royal, and Tsubas.

One of the things that makes Hermès’ scarves unique and so sought after, is the designers’ and colourists’ use of colour. It is not simply that the colours are beautiful, which of course they are, but that interesting and unusual colour choices and juxtapositions are used. The colours can be subtle, clashing, bold, vibrant, soft, strange, but they work. And they also work because there is almost always something that will suit each woman’s (or man’s) complexion, eye colour, hair, clothing and lifestyle.

Unlike other scarf designers, Hermès offers lots of different colourways for each scarf. These can transform the pattern so that it can look quite different. Sometimes scarves with the same design look so unlike each other, when they are tied, that they are hard to identify. The differing colourways can create alternate moods for the scarves also. For instance,The Parures de Samouraïs, is available in 12 different colourways. Paperoles was re-issued in 2016/17 in 10 different colourways. Each colourway creates a different mood for the design, even on a classic scarf like this.

Hermès is notorious for its quirkiness and unpredictability in how its web boutiques are stocked. Unfortunately for those of us in Europe, the inventory for the European sites is often quite limited, and so we often cannot easily access the full range of colourways for each scarf.