How Many Headcoverings Do You Own?

summer-hat-sepia 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:

Tzniut Restrictions

A Clean City with Lots of Shoe Stores

Bloggers on Tzniut (Modesty)

Comments

  1. I have 2 shaitels, 3 pre-tied bandanas, and 10 regular bandanas. The 10 regular bandanas are all the same, plain black.

  2. 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

  3. 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.

  4. 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?

  5. 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.

  6. 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.

  7. 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.

  8. 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?

  9. 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.

  10. Yonit–

    sleeping snoods?

  11. 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!

  12. 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

  13. I have 6 – 2 for shabbos, 4 for regular. All pre-tieds. 🙂

  14. 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.

  15. Mrs Belogski says

    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!

  16. 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.

  17. Oh dear. I have an awful lot. I’ve not counted them, but this holiday, I just bought another 6…

  18. 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.

  19. 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)

  20. 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.

  21. 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.

  22. 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.

  23. 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

  24. 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.

  25. 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?

  26. 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.