Carry elegance round your neck

A muffler goes with any outfit or fashion. Sarah Thomas tells you how to go trendy with one this winter.

For those of you who thought ‘winter’ meant dull clothing, warm sweaters and stuffy jackets, think again. Winter is a time for fashion, and a small piece of cloth is all you need to give your look that oomph factor. And that small piece of cloth is a ‘muffler’.

Mufflers can be tied around the neck or the head and it would transform a boring attire into a funky one. “You can go all black and just have a bright coloured muffler around your neck. It would enhance and compliment your look,” says Disha Madan, dancer, choreographer and freelance digital designer. Mufflers are not just to keep warm but it also provides a really classy finish, she adds.

They can be worn with a wide range of apparels. Apart from being comfortable, it is a way of making your own style statement. Freelance model, Aleksandra Amaladass airs her views on how a muffler can change one’s appearance, “Even a fitted, high necked, plain, formal dress in a thick fabric would draw eye brows if worn with a thin fluid or a frilly, patterned muffler.

It can be turned into a fashion accessory in disguise.” Sharing the same opinion, Akshay Chopra, ethnic wear designer working under the label ‘Akshay and Abhishek’ says that a muffler is not just a winter wear and that it would go well with any kind of clothing.

Most often there is a misconception, that mufflers can be worn only with western outfits. No doubt, the trend of wearing this elegant piece of cloth was brought to us by the west, but they can be worn in many ways, on different costumes and on different occasions.

“A muffler is literally a piece of style that not only looks good on youngsters but also on the older generation. It can be teamed up with kurtas and salwars as well,” said Smitha P M, Designer Head at Kabana Design Studio. The reason mufflers look great she says, is because it draws the viewer’s attention to the upper part of your body. So if you are a little bulky from the waist down then mufflers are perfect choices.

Talking about men and mufflers, Smitha says, “Mufflers are as popular with men as they are with women. Be it jackets, suits or even formal and casual wear, when worn, it makes the entire attire very attractive. It adds a wow factor to men’s wear.”

Scarves, stoles, shawls and mufflers differ variedly from each other.  Joking about how men would buy a scarf or a stole and wear it like a muffler, she said that they had all got it wrong. Mufflers come in a wide range of fabrics, cotton, linen, silk, satin, chiffon, fleece and most commonly in wool. Every fabric has its own advantages and they must be worn wisely according to the weather and the changing trends.

There are ‘spring mufflers’, which are light weight, made with easy and washable fabrics and have bright prints on them. They are best suited for summer.

With a muffler you would not need any accessory; they can be draped in ways that make them look like necklaces. You could tie the entire muffler around your neck, forming a complete circle or you could fold it into half and pass the frilly end through the loop formed by the fold.

It could be worn as a loose tie, this method of tying the muffler is called the ‘Ascot knot.’  This would help beat the cold, if worn in winter and would give you a fashionable touch.

The ‘twice around Ascot’ is another way of tying the muffler, wherein both the ends of the muffler would fall on either side of the shoulders forming a circle around the neck.

This ensemble has existed for decades and will remain in fashion in the years to come. You could experiment with this piece of style and start your own trend of wearing a muffler. Stay simple and elegant, stay in vogue.