Hadassah over at In the Pink is asking for advice on organizing her headgear. Curious, I added up the items she listed and counted about 75 bandannas, berets, scarves and the like. She wears one (or two?) every time she goes out, so I gather she needs an assortment for different outfits and situations. I also cover my hair outside and while I can’t imagine owning so many, I certainly understand why it’s hard for her to keep them from taking over the bedroom.
Her post got me curious about my own supply. I counted 15, not including a few that have been put away for the winter. My collection ranges from inexpensive scarves to dressy hats for weddings. Among the15 are a few I rarely wear, and wouldn’t miss much if they disappeared. I buy mainly neutral colors, and get rid of what I don’t like fairly quickly. The mystery is that despite having so many fewer than Hadasah, mine also seem to take over my bedroom.
Hadassah, I don’t begrudge you your scarf assortment. Fashion isn’t that important to me, I guess, and I’d rather manage with less than sort through mounds of clothes. But during an unfrugal month for my family, you helped me feel a lot better about that dressy summer hat I paid full price for a couple of weeks ago. 🙂
So are there hair-covering female readers who can claim the dubious honor of owning more head-coverings than Hadassah, or fewer than me? Don’t be shy.
Related:
I have 2 shaitels, 3 pre-tied bandanas, and 10 regular bandanas. The 10 regular bandanas are all the same, plain black.
Freyda, so why 10 if they are all identical?
I love my solution for my hats. Not so much for my scarf. Thanks for the heads up – I posted my hook arrangement on In The Pink, although I am thinking of now writing about it also and posting a photo.
I think it is more common to own more hats in the US than in Israel, especially since people dress up more here.
Unfortunately, I think people also notice a lot more here! http://www.ima2seven.com/representing
I liked your response to Hadassah that with 365 days in a year, some items are getting very little wear, but I’ll add a caveat. On a normal day I’ll change my covering 2 or 3 times. Snood in the morning getting ready for the day (I might run outside for the newspaper or to take out the garbage); wig for the office; back to snood once I’m home serving/eating dinner and getting the younger kids ready for bed; and scarf or hat for going out to the supermarket (the snoods are a little ratty). On the other hand I have only a few headcoverings I wear regularly – maybe 5 scarves, five snoods, 3-4 hats and 3 wigs. And I don’t keep stuff around that I don’t wear, so they take up little space.
Tesyaa, I also wear more than one a day but it’s not fair to assume you need more coverings because of that is it?
MII- I bought in bulk because I couldn’t find any plain black bandanas in any store. I like having multiples to leave around the house and in my purse so I have them readily available. I also wash them frequently so I need to have several. I lost a few of them but I still have all that I need, B”H.
Tesyaa, I also wear more than one a day but it’s not fair to assume you need more coverings because of that is it?
Apparently not, because I change frequently yet I really don’t have so many. I think the issue has less to do with fashion and more to do with whether one is a pack rat.
I am glad you posted this – because after I read Hadassa’s post I was a little ashamed to have so few headcoverings/scarves. I have a wig that I wear everyday to work, then I have two scarves (one black, one white) and three berets (one black, one white, and one brown) – so that would be a total of 5.
Gracious – I have 6 mitpachot and 6 berets just for everyday and I actually wear them all. It doesn’t seem like too much to me and I like to think of myself as a woman who dresses simply. Mitpachot are very inexpensive and so comfortable in the heat. They can really dress up even a simple jeans skirt and plain top kind of day. Good cotton berets, well, they cost more but make covering my head a pleasure; they are comfortable and come in a gazillion colors and look nice and are warmer than mitpachot in winter.
I use a wall-mounted rack I think is meant for coats / hats to hang the scarves and berets on.
I also have a whole bunch (can’t go in that room now to count) of hats for Shabbat or for simchas. Stacked one on top of the other they take up a whole large closet shelf. The best ones are in boxes (sometimes more than one to a box)
Hats no longer in fancy enough condition to go to shul or to a wedding get handed down to the kids for dress up play. They have long second lives there.
Maybe it’s a little off-topic but this video with comments from several women about how they feel about covering their hair seems relevant
http://chanaweisberg.websitetoolbox.com/post?id=3000786
Anyone wanna talk about shoes?
Ooooo, you’re gonna make me count? I might beat Dass! Here goes:
3 sheitels (one from a gemach & one hand me down)
6 snoods (including sleeping ones)
12 berets
10 pretieds
30 scarves
17 headbands
They are pretty organized at the moment, but I have a feeling I’m missing a couple. *sigh* I am a bit of a fashionista so it makes sense. I like to match or coordinate. I also mix n match sheitel w/ headband or hat, scarf with headband, whatever. I consider them accessories and much, much cheaper than buying a fancy sheitel.
Yonit–
sleeping snoods?
Oh dear my internet died,
so here goes again
10 from this trip to Israel
6 from 2006 trip
4 found here in Canada (any one know a good place to get them in Ontario….)
so 20, and I’d love some ideas on how to organize them. I’ve tried a drawer, a box, a hanger…and nothing seems to stop them from taking over the house!
Sleeping snoods for when we’re sleeping away from home cuz you never know when you’ll have to dash out ! Or more usual for when I’m nidda
I have 6 – 2 for shabbos, 4 for regular. All pre-tieds. 🙂
Ooh. I recently downsized my collection when I went from completely-covering to partially-covering. I kept some scarves for decorative wear but now in my hair-covering collection have:
4 everyday hats
1 sun hat
2 go-to-shul hats
3 winter hats (heavier knit)
I still have my expensive sheitel and am working up the gumption to donate it as it is lovely and I have worn it about 10 times in the 4.5 years I’ve been married.
OK – 1 sheitel that i wear sometimes, 2 or 3 sheitels that i don’t ever wear, but could in theory if they were done properly. about 4 good hats, for shul etc, 3 comfortable but still smart hats, 3/4 soft hats, 6 berets in different colours, but i really only wear the black one, 4 snoods and 2 drawers of scarves, which i don’t really want to count, but i wear about 1/2 of them regularly! retired sheitels go for dressing up, and the kids raid my scarf drawers for dressing up too, so I don’t feel too bad about it. Hats and sheitels contained on 1 high shelf inside a cupboard, so they haven’t taken over the bedroom. Probably time to get rid of berets i don’t wear!
I’m somewhere in the middle. I have 4 wigs and a fall I need to donate because I don’t wear them. A few (6 or 7) fancy hats that I also don’t wear so those should go, too. A dozen soft hats, 3 snoods and quite a few pretieds and scarves.
A while ago I got an organizer from Ikea for my scarves that I like though my girls can get to them. Soft hats are in baskets up high. Fancy hats and wigs are in boxes up high. Though come to think about it I noticed a stool in the closet yesterday so I should re-think this arrangement.
I wash my coverings a lot and am slow on getting to the laundry so a nice selection helps especially when we get to periods where I can’t or don’t do laundry.
Oh dear. I have an awful lot. I’ve not counted them, but this holiday, I just bought another 6…
I didn’t count. This summer I’ve worn my black straw hat, my white fabric sun hat in combination with my black pre-tied and my blue pre-tied. I haven’t worn a sheitel or fall at all this season. I only have one of each that I’ve worn in the past three years or so. I do have some hats and sheitels in my closet that I acquired 5, 7, 10, or more years ago and haven’t worn in a long time. But they come in handy for costumes one day.
I’m kind of embarrassed to count how many I have, but I really like to match (and “go”) and I need a lot of options for that. I have a medical condition, so I can’t wear the same kind of covering in all weather (or sheitels), and also I’ve switched from a corporate dress code to casual.
47 scarves (!) – 20 silk, 27 cotton
12 berets
3 sleep snoods
3 sleep caps I wear in winter
2 swim pre-tieds
I didn’t buy any of them at full price, and there aren’t any I don’t wear. So what do I win…or lose? (Only 7 pm here)
I could never count them all. I have lots of scarves ranging from old cheap cotton ones to fancy silk. Some I took from my mother’s drawer when she said “take what you want.” I also have hats ranging from old cheap straw I haven’t worn for years to big expensive felt I haven’t worn for years to comfy cloth and crocheted of various prices and styles. Acutally, I crocheted a lot of hats. For years I avoided crocheting, because I knew I’d have too many.
ps I have gotten rid of some…
pps I’ve been married 40 years and cover my hair all day, home, too.
I own mostly simple cotton scarves, triangular and long ones. With hair as long as mine (before I was married people sitting next to me often *sat* on my hair by accident, and it has grown since!) pretty much the easiest way to go is put it up in a bun and tie a scarf around it. And in this heat I think nothing is as good as a simple cotton scarf. I do own some dressier scarves for special occasions. I think I have about 20 in total. The really cheap kind of cotton scarves get worn out quickly and I replace them with new ones. I can get them for 5-10 shekels in the right places.
PS: And I think nothing can beat scarves for easy storage: I don’t even fold mine, just stuff them in a bag that sits inside the drawer and even if they get a few wrinkles no one notices after they are tied in place.
Oh boy. 20 scarves, 6 berets, one really disgusting shaitel named “Pelty,” a handful of bandanas, a couple snoods, and I think that’s it.
I strongly recommend one of these to organize it all – http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/70108912
What are you saving that sheitel for, Kelli, Purim?
I sell Israeli head scarves so I have a fairly large collection. Also have a few berets and snoods for when I don’t feel like wearing something tied on my head.
I have several dozen scarves (at least 30-40) plus numerous hats, hand-crochet berets, pre-tied, etc).
Here is the ultimate solution for scarves (I picked it up by accident from an online hijab store – our Arab cousins have the same scarf-storage problem we have). It’s a hanger with 8-10 loops. Keeps everything organized and in view. http://www.organizeit.com/poscarfhan.asp
Actually, I’ve been toying with the idea of importing them to Israel. What do you think? Is there a market?
Leah, I’m sure there’s a market, but I understand it’s tough to import goods legally unless you already have paperwork in place.
I have ten in total. One is AWOL, and there are a few others that I hardly wear. It boils down to four on a regular basis (including AWOL), two sometimes, and the rest rarely.