Steaming Wrinkles from Silk Scarves & Two New Pairs of Shoes

A while back I shared some outfits I love to wear come summertime. With this outfit below, I shared a favorite pink wicker bag that unfortunately has canvas handles. I don’t know why they chose to put canvas handles on a bag because they are inevitably going to get dirty.

French Rose Jeans, Lilly Pulitzer Shirt, Prada Wicker Bag

 

In an attempt to avoid getting the handles dirty, I purchased these handle-covers on Etsy. They worked well except I’ve always wished they were a bit longer since they don’t fully cover the area my hand touches when carrying the bag.

Protect Handbag Handles from lotion, skin oils, dirt

 

I’ve attempted in the past to use a Hermes Twilly silk scarf on the handles because that’s a popular solution among handbag enthusiasts for protecting the handles of handbags from lotion, skin oils, and sweat. Twilly scarves are very small scarves that can be worn in the hair, around the neck, on the wrist, or on the handle of a handbag as a decoration or to protect the handle from sweat, lotion, or skin oils.

The last time I tried a Twilly on the handles, it would not stay on properly. I had been trying to make it cover the entire handle, which really wasn’t necessary. I finally realized it didn’t need to cover the lower portion of the handle where it widens out and attaches to the bag. Luckily, I didn’t need to buy new Twillys since I already had two that were a great match for the bag.

Hermes Twilly Scarves for Handles of Prada Wicker Basket Bag

 

Last summer (or was it the summer before–I’m terrible with time) my friend, Teresa, purchased this beautiful Louis Vuitton Croisette bag. I really love this bag in this pretty Damier Azur print that’s perfect for summer! Teresa took care to protect the untreated Vachetta leather on the handle and the strap. (Read more about how she did that in this previous post: How Teresa Protected the Vachetta Leather on Her LV Croisette Bag.)

After Photo, Vachetta Leather on Croisette Bag Protected from Rain-Water Spots and Stains

 

Last summer Teresa added a pretty Twilly for decoration and extra protection. The Twilly below is the Bingata Twilly from Hermes. It comes in several colors but this pink is my favorite. Love it!

Hermes Bingata Twilly Protects Handle of Louis Vuitton Croisette Bag

 

I loved how this twilly looked on Teresa’s bag so much, I ended up buying a couple for a handbag I have with leather handles. I don’t worry about my crossbody bags but I do like to protect the handles on my nicer bags that are strictly hand-carry and not crossbody. (See the many other ways Twillys can be worn here: Hermes Twilly.)

Hermes Bingata Twilly, Louis Vuitton Croisette Bag

 

Storage Ideas

I’ve always stored my silk twilly scarves in a small, craft storage type container. Yesterday, I was trying to think of a better way to store them, a way where they could hang instead of having to be rolled up. I think I’ve come up with a better system, I’ll know tomorrow after something I’ve ordered arrives.

Storage for Hermes Twilly and Dior Mitzah Scarf

 

In the meantime, several of my silk Twilly scarves are really wrinkled from having been tied on bags as a decoration or from being wound around the handles of bags.

Best Way to Remove Wrinkles from Hermes Silk Twilly

 

I decided to de-wrinkle them before their new storage device arrives tomorrow. I didn’t want to risk ironing them, scares me to think of ironing silk, so I decided to steam the wrinkles out.

Removing Wrinkles from Silk

 

This is the steamer I use–purchased it a few years back here: Professional Style Steamer. I have a hand-held steamer but I prefer this one since there’s a place to hang whatever I’m steaming which is more convenient and just feels safer.

Best Clothes Steamer for removing wrinkles

 

I’m always amazed when I steam anything because the wrinkles literally fall out in a matter of seconds. Each twilly only took about 5 seconds to steam and they turned out beautifully!

Steaming Wrinkles from Silk, Hermes Silk Twilly

 

Here’s how this one looked prior to steaming.

Hermes Silk Twilly, Steaming Out Wrinkles

 

And here’s how it looked a few seconds later. Steaming definitely seems the way to go for getting the wrinkles out of silk.

Hermes Silk Twilly After Steaming

 

New Sperry Boat Shoes

I love Sperry boat shoes and have quite a few pairs, but I noticed this fall/winter that the ones I wear during the wintertime are a bit tight when wearing them with my favorite merino wool socks. So I started searching for shoes in colors that would work for winter and found these for only $49.95. That’s a steal for Sperry boat shoes! I purchased them a half size up for wearing with thick socks. I know the temps are warming up now but wanted to share these in case you wanted to catch a deal for next fall/winter–or in case you live in Australia where you’re just going into winter. I purchased these here: Sperry Boat Shoes.

Sperry Topsiders, On Sale

 

This was the other style I purchased–they should arrive next week. I bought them 1/2 size up too, again so I can wear them with heavier winter socks. They are available for a great price here: Sperry Boat Shoes. They come in several styles at that link, some of which would be cute for summer.

Sperry Topside, Plaid and Leather

Note: If you’ve never worn Sperry Topsiders/Boat Shoes, one thing to know is since they are typically made of leather (or sometimes leather and canvas) they usually feel a bit snug when you first get them. But once you start wearing them, they loosen up as the leather stretches.

If you order a pair and they feel snug when you first try them on, wear them around on carpet a bit to stretch them out. When I first got this pair below, they felt a little stiff and a bit snug, but after wearing them out on a few quick errands yesterday, they feel perfect now.

Sperry Topsiders, On Sale

 

Happy Weekend! Hope you’re seeing pretty weather and if you live in a snowy climate, hope it’s starting to melt!

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Comments

  1. franki Parde says

    CUTE SHOES!!!! franki

  2. I love the steamer. And I can’t wait to find out how you’re going to store your twillys. Thanks for the fun tips today – happy weekend!

  3. Ok! But admitting complete ignorance here, I had no idea what a twilly is so I googled Hermes twilly. Ok, so it is a scarf. A very cute almost tie shaped scarf. But do you really pay nearly two hundred dollars for a scarf for your handles on your bags? Of course, you will need two. Do you have a source for these items that you will share? I love the idea but the price? Even if I could, I wouldn’t! I love your blog and look forward to your post. I re-read them all many times .

    • Thanks, Claire! They are expensive but it’s because of the hand-screening process and of course, being Hermes. The nice thing is, they hold their value pretty well. I purchased two in blue and yellow once but they didn’t work with a bag I had in mind. I was able to sell them to Fashionphile for a decent price. That’s the thing about Hermes products, they keep a lot of their value, sometimes all of their value, depending on what you’re buying.
      You can sometimes find twillys on eBay for less, but not for a lot less, because again, they tend to hold their value. You just don’t see brands like Hermes, Chanel, Louis Vuitton discounted very often–it’s very rare. The twillys do last, though–I’ve been using the same ones for several years and just wash them when they need it.
      There are plenty of dupes or similar scarves out there, though. So you don’t have to buy name brand if you don’t want to spend that much. Dior calls their little scarves, Mitzahs, and they are even more expensive.

    • One more thing to know about them, once a pattern or design is no longer in production, the price can go up on certain Twillys on the preloved market. Just depends on the pattern and how popular it was. So yeah, they cost a good bit but do hold a lot of their value. There are not too many brands where you can sell the product after using it for years and still recoup back 1/2 to 2/3rds of the cost. So that’s what you’re paying for…the brand recognition, the quality of the silk and the product itself, the incredible customer service and after service and the fact it retains some of its value in case you do wish to sell it one day.

    • Okay, since we are talking about the Twilly–I should do a post on them–lol A Twilly can be used for a lot more than just protecting the handles of expensive bags. They are often worn in the hair, around the head or around a ponytail, they can be tied on the wrist and they can be worn tied around the neck. If you go to the Hermes website and search for Twilly, they show them being used a bunch of different ways. I don’t think they even show them used on handbag handles but handbag lovers do love to use them that way.

    • Claire, here’s an interesting article about the history of Hermes scarves. Entire books have been written about their iconic scarves but this article will give you a quick overview: https://www.sothebys.com/en/articles/the-iconic-timeless-elegance-of-the-hermes-scarf
      Actually their 90 cm x 90 cm scarves and their men’s ties are pretty reasonably priced and make wonderful gifts. The silk they use for their scarves and ties is really beautiful! Here’s a video demonstrating how the scarves are made: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRs-4mxOGL8&ab_channel=_RTARK

  4. Thank you for this info. I will definitely be looking for this article. After years of raising kids, I feel like it’s my turn for some nice things. I think I will treat myself every now and then. In fact, I have a bag that would look great with a little added “something”. I have a 9 yr old granddaughter who knows more than I can even imagine about Chanel. I may just surprise her with knowledge of Hermes! Looking forward to your next post!

  5. I love the outfits, Susan. Such pretty pinks. And your little twilly cubby container looks ideal. I’m curious to learn what you think will be even better. That second twilly you steamed, with the browns and russets – so pretty! And I really like those topsiders, too. I wonder if they have good arch support. So many of the ‘comfy’ shoes I see have poor support. Fortunately, you can buy reasonably priced arch supports these days. I can’t tell what’s sitting on the long sleeved T – right on top of the big pink flower. It’s probably a bracelet, but it also looks like it could be makeup, lol. Whatever it is, it’s a great outfit.

    • It’s a bracelet…you can see it better in this previous post: https://betweennapsontheporch.net/4-of-my-favorite-cheerful-ensembles-for-spring-and-summer/
      Looking at it makes me eager for summer!
      Some of my topsiders/boat shoes have better support than others. The last few pairs I’ve purchased have had great arch support, not like the topsiders we wore in college that really didn’t have any. I think Sperry has gotten better at that over the years because boat shoes I’ve purchased over the past 2-to 3 years have had pretty great arch support.

      • That’s good to know about Topsiders. And thanks for that link. I can now see it’s a bracelet! Lol. Two, actually. I couldn’t make out the H. You put together some great outfits. You should model them for us sometime! That would be fun. I do love seeing the happy and bright Spring and Summer clothes. You’ll be wearing them in no time. Today is already beautiful.

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