Introduction

This is a special Scarf of the Moment post in that it includes two amazing formats of one design. I have done this before, with the 90cm and twilly versions of Dans un Jardin Anglais and also with the 90cm and cashmere/silk shawl versions of Plumes en Fête and Tulipomanie. Here are the 90cm silk twill double face scarf and the cashmere/silk shawl versions of the gorgeous Sous le Charme d’Orphée designed by Alice Shirley. Information about both will be interspersed throughout this post.

The silk twill double face scarf

As the first photographs started to appear online for Hermès Autumn/Winter 2022 scarf season, I couldn’t see any that really attracted me. OK, I thought, perhaps I will save my money this time…

Perhaps not! One of the new scarves suddenly caught my attention. It had all of the attributes and elements that I love in a scarf: gorgeous colours, a meaningful design (more about that later), and something about it that sang out to me. And it was designed by one of my favourite artists, Alice Shirley. There was just one problem: the cost. Hermès 90cm silk scarves are expensive enough, but this one is a double face, which means that it is printed on both sides. The price seemed prohibitive for me.

But I talked myself into it anyway! Here it is: Sous le Charme d’Orphée by Alice Shirley, a 90cm double face, colourway #05 rouge/rose poudre/bleu gris, purchase code H903702S 05.

Description of the silk twill double face scarf

These are my own comments about the design. Lower down this post, you will find the artist’s own thoughts that I was able to find on Instagram. Her writing is detailed and very insightful.

To begin: Sous le Charme d’Orphée translates into English as “Under the spell of Orpheus”. Looking at the scarf, you can see a circles of beasts, creatures, plants and figures from Ancient Greek mythology sitting or dancing and moving around. In the four corners of the scarf are trees which appear to bend in the wind as the dance swirls before them.

Orpheus himself sits and plays a harp. Hermes can be seen and also Pegasus, a snake, a centaur and numerous animals and fish. All of these creatures, gods and goddesses circle around the great tree of life. The effect is joyous and celebratory.

Looking at my scarf, the front has rich autumnal feel with the use of a warm red shade, pink, orange and subtle blueish grey. The design is beautifully framed by the rolled contrast hem in a shade of blue-grey. The scarf looks lovely with grey clothing. The reverse is a study in a range of grey tones against a pretty pale pink background with the surprise appearance of touches of orange on some of the trees.

Colourways for the silk twill double face scarf

These are the colourways for the Autumn/Winter 2022 double face silk twill 90cm scarves. I have added in the codes to help those of you who wish to purchase this scarf. As this is a double face design, I have included both sides of each scarf, plus the Hermès modelling photos.

Here we have the twillies of this design from the Autumn/Winter 2022 season:

The cashmere/silk shawl

When I looked at the new designs emerging for the Autumn/Winter 2024 season, I immediately fell for the cashmere/silk versions of Sous le Charme d’Orphée. As I have already said, this pattern calls to me with my love of Classical Greek art and mythology. I thought that owning the 90cm version would be enough, but I couldn’t stop visiting the Hermès site to look at the colourways.

I eventually bought the Tulipomanie giant triangle in an attempt to distract myself from my yearning, but this gorgeous shawl wouldn’t stop popping up in my brain! In the end, I simply couldn’t resist it. I knew straight away which colours called to me, so I took the plunge…

I decided on the one below. The purchasing code is H244177SF 09, the dimensions are 140×140 cm, and the colours are Gris Chiné / Bleu Électrique.

Description of the cashmere/silk shawl

The elements of this lovely artistic piece have already been described above. It is also worth reading Alice Shirley’s own words which I have taken as screenshots from Instagram and pasted on this post.

The design has transferred very well onto the larger size (140 cm versus 90cm) and the different fabric (cashmere/silk versus silk twill). The swirling dance of mythological creatures, birds, insects, plants and deities, interspersed with stylised curling fronds and other design elements is really beautiful on the larger size. This colourway has a light grey background and several shades of blue are used for the people, animals and plants: navy blue, very dark blue, sky blue and teal. Some of the dark blue appears to be almost black, or it may actually be black!  I cannot quite decide! For example the contrast hem looks black in some lights and dark blue in others.

The shawl will work so well with my wardrobe and accessories as I wear a lot of blues as well as greys. I might look for some suitable earrings to wear with it – Pegasus in silver? Or perhaps a silver tone shawl ring.

Colourways for the cashmere/silk shawl

These are the gorgeous cashmere/silk shawl versions of Sous le Charme d’Orphée , produced for the Autumn/Winter 2024 season, together with their purchasing codes:

In December 2025, for the Spring/Summer 2026 season, Hermès reissued the design as a 45cm gavroche. I will add images of the scarves as they appear online.

This lovely design is also available as an Hermès bangle. Here are a few that I found…

Design story

This has been taken from the Hermès website:

“A tiger, a peacock, a bull, and a python, along with a centaur and winged horse… all the animals of Greek mythology form a joyful ring around five ancient trees: an olive tree, bay tree, pomegranate, apple and Aleppo pine—each one charged with symbolism. Some dance, while others sleep under a starry sky. Orpheus, a disciple of both Dionysus and Apollo, also the protagonist of this scarf, is a master of extravagance, as well as wine, wisdom, music and rhythm. He is the poets’ poet, a shaman and magician who can bewitch the world with his lyre and move with the gods of the underworld.”

Artist’s thoughts

I have added some screenshots of Alice Shirley’s own comments about her design, from her Instagram account:

Details of the silk twill double face scarf

Here are some closeups of my scarf in a slideshow format:

Details of the cashmere/silk shawl

Here are some close-ups of my shawl in a slideshow format:

How I wear the scarf and shawl

The warm, rich colourway of the scarf suits my grey clothing beautifully and I can see that I will mainly wear it during Autumn and Winter. Here are a few photos and collages…

In these photos, I am wearing the scarf with a Lands’ End short sleeved cotton mix top in grey and Swarovski grey crystal earrings.

I have only recently purchased the cashmere/silk shawl and, as yet, the weather is still too warm for me to wear it properly. Despite this, I did take some modelling photos for last week’s post, so here they are…

Scarf ties

I have tried on the scarf in a variety of ways. At the moment, as it is so new, the silk fabric is very crisp and stiff so doesn’t fall easily into soft folds. Anyway, you can get the general idea of how it looks when worn. This double face scarf really needs to be tied in ways that make the most of the two sides, although it will be nice, occasionally, to highlight one side or the other. The scarf rings are by MaiTai.

I am still very new to Hermès shawls and I am struggling a bit to make some of the shawl knots that I have seen online. Anyway, these are photos which focus on the shawl rather than on my face!

Background information

The best explanation of this scarf comes, naturally, from its designer, Alice Shirley, and I have copied her Instagram posts further up.

This is her website:

Alice Shirley
https://aliceshirley.com/
Alice is also on Instagram and Twitter.

Here are a couple of YouTube videos from a few years ago featuring her:

Information about Orpheus himself:

Wikipedia
Orpheus
Very detailed article.

Greeka
Myth of Orpheus and Eurydice
Clear article about the character and this particular myth.

Mythopedia
Orpheus
Article with images from art.

And here’s a quick video version of the famous Orpheus and Eurydice story:

If you are interested in finding out more about the wonderful tales of Greek mythology, there are thousands of websites available!

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I hope readers have found this exploration of Sous Le Charme d’Orphée both interesting and useful. Once again, if you find any errors or have any additional information that I could add, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Love and best wishes,

Anne

Updated 31/10/24 to add information about the cashmere/silk shawl plus some general stuff!

Updating December 2025 to add the designs and colourways of the 45cm gavroche size.