For those of you who admire and collect vintage Vera scarves, this listing offers the opportunity to own 2 different vintage Vera scarves, each recognizable immediately for the coveted Vera style. Both scarves will be sent to the new owner, along with several bonus Scarf Donuts. Both scarves are signed Vera and both have the original Vera fabric tags.
In the first photo both are shown together and the other pictures are of individual scarves, which are also described below.
Silk and Made in Italy, the first is a bright nautical design, with a variety of flags, including the US flag, ropes, a ship's wheel, anchor, life raft and other nautical items.
It is a 54 by 11 inch oblong, with folded and sewn edges.
This brightly colored scarf has been worn by the original owner, however, it is a vintage Vera that is in Good Condition, collectible and remains very wearable.
Second is another striking Vera design, this time with bright cobalt blue polka dots on a white background in the center and white dots on blue for the border.
The fabric tag shows it is acetate, Made in Italy and there are machine rolled and hemmed edges.
In size it is 26 inch square.
The condition is still Good Vintage, with some minor stained areas and a pull or two in the acetate fabric. When you fold this scarf to wear it, you can easily do so to make that area not visible.
As a bonus to the new owner these scarves will arrive with several complimentary Scarf Donuts that make it easy to wear scarves without the need to even tie them.
This scarf lot of 2 vintage Vera scarves comes from a smoke-free, pet-free home.
Despite signs of prior ownership, each of them is in Good Vintage and totally wearable condition, with the specific issues for each described above.
Vera Neumann was an artist who began designing textiles in 1946 when she and her husband formed a company they called Printex. Her first products were silk-screened placemats they made by hand in their New York city apartment. After World War II, when army surplus silk that had been made for parachutes became readily available, she turned her talents to designing scarves.
The "vera" trademark was first used in 1947. By the 1950s Vera brought on other designers to assist her once she had the original design concept. Records show that as many as 600 different designs were developed by the team each year. The company made it standard policy to copyright each of their designs, which was very unusual for that time.
I love the way her signature is generally incorporated as part of the design. Her logo will repeat one of the main colors in the scarf and sometimes you need to look closely to even see the signature in the pattern.
As you look at other Vera scarves over the years you will notice a real difference in the signatures/logos used.
Vera scarves have some obvious changes in her signature through the years. Of course, there are exceptions to that too. In general, however from 1947 through the mid 1950's those earliest scarves were signed "vera" in a very small print. All the letters were lower case. By the late 1950s, the "Vera" signature had a capital V. During the early 1960s the ladybug symbol and © copyright symbol (registered in 1959) were added to the Vera. The signature and the bug were about the same size. The legend is that Vera used the ladybug because she saw it as a symbol of good luck. By the late 1960's the ladybug was used less and less, and the signature got larger. The ladybug became much smaller than signature. By the early 1970's the Vera signature continued to get larger and bolder, usually without a ladybug symbol. By the mid 1970's the ladybug was present sometimes, but it did not appear on scarves after 1976. By the late 1970's her signature started to slightly shrink and by the 1980's there was consistently only a smaller signature with the © copyright symbol.
Geometric designs, especially polka dots in all sizes, were extremely popular with the women who wore Vera scarves. Bold florals and butterflies also became a staple. Most of the prints were done in colors, although there are some that feature black and white patterns.
From the beginning the scarves were actually printed in Japan, based on the prototype samples that were made up by the New York factory. Later polyester, cotton and acetate scarves were added in addition to the standard silk as part of the line's offerings.
Vera worked consistently up to the time of her death in 1993 and the company remained a recognized fashion leader for all of those decades. Her design work is highly coveted by style-savvy women, many of whom collect, exhibit and proudly wear Vera. Over the years I have had a personal collection of several hundred Vera scarves, many of which I am now selling on my Etsy site so that others may enjoy them too.
This item is sold from a vintage boutique in Bradenton, FL.
