Sartorially Incorrect

Looking informed about Palestinian solidarity has never been so easy. Combining style with global enlightenment, a new contender has emerged to replace the Che Guevara T-shirt: the kaffiyeh (pronounced kuh-FEE-yeh), a multipurpose traditional Arabic head scarf.

“The new it accessory—a breezy, global-chic scarf,” Teen Vogue raves. Not quite. As a Cambridge fall fashion item, the kaffiyeh is neither breezy nor global-chic. It’s just ugly.

Some of Harvard’s most fashion-inclined wrap it around their necks like a glorified scarf rather than don it properly as headwear. Unfortunately, the result is less than hip. We have since added the kaffiyeh to the anti-neck accessory list, which includes superstar fashions of the past (including poufy goose down vests to spiked dog collars).

The light cottony material is great for protecting eyes and ears from desert sand, but pointless for New England’s bone-chilling autumn breeze. No matter how tightly those hippie-philosophy types clasp their newly purchased kaffiyeh around their necks, the fact remains: despite that cool devil-may-care demeanor, they’re freakin’ cold, and the organic nonfat soy sugar-free vanilla latte they’re clutching in the other hand doesn’t help.

Whatever happened to the fluffy woolen winter scarves that actually man the front-lines against frostbite and wind-chafed skin? Unless global warming turns Cambridge into a desert and the Square into a sandstorm, let’s keep our kaffiyehs where they belong: in the drawers next to our granny panties and hot pink leg warmers.