The aviator scarf has been a well known fashion item for the past century.
Made popular by motion picture films that featured war heroes blazing the skies in open cockpit planes with long white scarves trailing behind them, the accessory is still as popular today as it has been in the past. However, many people 
wonder how the aviator scarf came into being and why it is still worn by pilots even today.
The aviator scarf actually started out as a gentleman’s silk opera scarf. In the early history of flight, it was extremely expensive to take up the skill of flying an airplane. As such, the majority of early pilots were primarily upper class men who had the money to spend on aircraft, lessons, and gasoline.
Even Amelia Earhart was the daughter of a wealthy lawyer and granddaughter to a former federal judge. Her scarves are some of the most famous, having traveled around the world 179 times and even being brought by astronauts into space during a flight in the fall of 2009. The fabric of choice for an aviator scarf for the early and wealthy early pilots was then, a very expensive and fine silk.
Early aviators had several reasons for wearing an aviator scarf. The main reason was to keep warm while flying at high altitudes. Because the early airplanes all had open cockpits, pilots experienced a lot of wind at cool temperatures. Chilling winds even blew down their necks and into their jackets, making the coats pretty much useless.
Silk is a very warm fabric, with its tight weave not being very breathable, so it was very natural for the upper-class pilots to use the white silk opera scarves that they already had sitting in their closets. An added bonus was that the material’s super soft texture is also great for preventing chaffing from the collars of the pilot’s jacket. Thus, the opera scarf became transformed into the aviator scarf.
One unusual aspect of the aviator scarf is its length. Traditional scarves measure between five and six feet long. No wonder they were so expensive one hundred years ago. The reason an aviator scarf is so long is that it must be wrapped around the pilot’s neck several times to avoid losing it to the high speed winds. Also, due to the position of the cockpit being open and directly behind the propeller and engine, many pilots used the scarves to also wipe off the debris and engine oil that dripped onto their goggles during flight. The longer length was needed so that the pilot could easily accomplish this mid-air feat. Plus, when they were done flying, they still looked stylishly ready to attend an upscale event.
Go here to see the different aviator scarves >> Aviator Scarf
