Scarves in London

LONDON
During our first week in London, Lily and I kept noticing women everywhere wearing black tights—on the Tube, with shorts, walking, shopping. . . they seemed a mandatory part of the London “uniform.”  Now, suddenly, with a bit cooler weather it’s scarves.  Women young and old, Muslims wearing the hajib, white, black and Asian—even men— all wear colorful scarves wrapped artfully around their necks or draped over their heads.  And they are for sale in many places—outside Tube stations at kiosks in discount stores and Indian saari shops, in fashionable department stores.  I’m surprised I haven’t seen so many women in hajib given that we live in a Turkish neighborhood.  In fact, I’ve only seen one woman in a burka so far.  Scarves seem to tie women of all nations and backgrounds together for the sake of religion, fashion, convenience, or warmth. Whatever the reason for wearing a scarf, the result seems to be a kind of friendly multicultural unity, which makes me rather proud to be a temporary Londoner.  

Beth