Rapha's $70 Silk Scarf

[MilanoTom]

Rapha has become a parody of itself...

"The Rapha Silk Scarf is hand made in England by Adamley, a renowned producer of luxury silk goods with more than 150 years experience.

The 50cm x 50cm scarf is designed to be worn, neckerchief style, to insulate the neck. The fabric has been treated with Adamley’s bespoke ‘perspiration solution’ to make it sweat and shower resistant and the edges have been hand stitched for a luxury finish. The black scarf has a small, white paisley print and border and a Rapha logo is printed on the bottom right-hand corner."

http://www.rapha.cc/silk-scarf-1?utm_medium=email&utm_source=email&utm_content=782566256&utm_campaign=Rouleur+14+and+the+Rapha+Silk+Scarf+_ +kdiklr&utm_term=http%3a%2f%2fwww.rapha.cc%2fsilk-scarf-1

[false_Aest]

I'm not paying $70 for a scarf unless it holds booooooogies or works 62.23x better than a leaf during those unexpected pit stops.

[William]

That would go great with my silver Rapha shorts!!! Hmm, let me find that photo again......







William ;)

[jlwdm]

I am not a scarf guy.

On the other hand the Rapha bibs (most I have paid for bibs as always get the Assos on sale), club jersey, hat and socks have been well worth the money. I don't mind paying up for good quality - hate paying anything for low quality.

Jeff

[ThomasRZ]

I don't make enough to warrant purchasing that, but I do think it's kinda cool, albeit preposterously so.

Lots of my friends wear Rapha, as do I (knickers and jerseys), and the stuff is pretty awesome. It's not cheap, but it fits great and looks better. There's a market for boutique stuff that's not race-y and a strong one at that. A handkerchief is a little silly, but I guarantee that Rapha is just a little tongue-in-cheek about it. Not saying they don't want to sell them, it's just that they know how inessential it is (but yet, it isn't...) :)

[jpw]

I'll have a dozen ;-)

[R2D2]

I'll stick with a wool neck gaiter.
Silk is cold when wet.

[Pete Serotta]

that is a lot of red for $70 and I can always take one of my wife's scarfs,if she has any :confused:

[false_Aest]

NEWS FLASH: Rapha to release limited edition wool/silk dashiki.

[PaulE]

that is a lot of red for $70 and I can always take one of my wife's scarfs,if she has any :confused:

The Rapha scarf is cycling specific. Make sure your wife's scarf isn't too long. We don't want you to suffer the same fate as Isadora Duncan!

Isadora Duncan's fondness for flowing scarves which trailed behind her was the cause of her death in a freak automobile accident in Nice, France, on the night of September 14, 1927, at the age of 50. The scarf was hand-painted silk from the Russian-born artist Roman Chatov. The accident gave rise to Gertrude Stein's mordant remark that "affectations can be dangerous."
Duncan was a passenger in the Amilcar automobile of a handsome French-Italian mechanic, Benoît Falchetto, whom she had nicknamed "Buggatti" (sic). Before getting into the car, she said to a friend, Mary Desti (mother of 1940s Hollywood writer-director Preston Sturges), and some companions, "Adieu, mes amis. Je vais à la gloire!" ("Goodbye, my friends, I am off to glory!"). However, according to the diaries of the American novelist Glenway Wescott, who was in Nice at the time and visited Duncan's body in the morgue (his diaries are in the Beinecke Library at Yale University), Desti admitted that she had lied about Duncan's last words. Instead, she told Wescott, the dancer actually said, "Je vais à l'amour" ("I am off to love"), which Desti considered too embarrassing to go down in history as the legend's final utterance, especially as it suggested that Duncan hoped that she and Falchetto were going to her hotel for a sexual assignation.
Whatever her actual last words, when Falchetto drove off, Duncan's immense handpainted silk scarf—a gift from Desti that was large enough to wrap around her body and neck and flutter out of the car, became entangled around one of the vehicle's open-spoked wheels and rear axle. As The New York Times noted in its obituary of the dancer on September 15, 1927, "Isadora Duncan, the American dancer, tonight met a tragic death at Nice on the Riviera. According to dispatches from Nice Miss Duncan was hurled in an extraordinary manner from an open automobile in which she was riding and instantly killed by the force of her fall to the stone pavement." Other sources describe her death as resulting from strangulation, noting that she was almost decapitated by the sudden tightening of the scarf around her neck.

[fiamme red]

http://www.flickr.com/groups/1176359@N20/pool/

[54ny77]

is rapha becoming a parody of itself with that thing or what? wouldn't be caught dead wearing that. actually, if i was dead, i wouldn't have much say in the matter, so i'll instruct my heirs to not affix a "bespoke perspiration solution" to my sorry dead ass whilst i sit in a box 10 ft. underground...

[johnnymossville]

When they come out with the matching Cumberbun I'm all over it.

[zap]

IMNSHO, Rapha is for bicyclists, not cyclists.











:D

[TMB]

I really like Rapha clothes.

The Bibs, knickers, jerseys ........

But stuff like $150 gloves and $70 silk scarves just leave me shaking my head.

Really.

[CNY rider]

I don't have a dog in this fight, but bikesnob really cracks me up!

But while the Cross Jersey isn't particularly crossy, I must admit that the "Gentleman's Cap" does indeed seem perfect for the "urban riding dandy:"

Perhaps next year Rapha can simply offer a cap designed for douchebags. They'd better hurry, too, since there's a helmet for douchebags already in the works. Not only that, but pending a commercially available douchebag hat young urbanites are already beginning to improvise:

[Ray]

Perhaps next year Rapha can simply offer a cap designed for douchebags. They'd better hurry, too, since there's a helmet for douchebags already in the works. Not only that, but pending a commercially available douchebag hat young urbanites are already beginning to improvise:[/I]
Holy crap, Batman, I'd LOVE to see what they'd do with their own helmet design! It would cost $524.99 (minimum - retention system extra), would resemble a hairnet, and would require replacement every 2-3 months because the "bespoke perspiration solution" would breakdown the highly proprietary foam. I hate to rattle their chain - I have three of their jerseys and ride in 'em anytime the temp is between 60 and 80 or so (like a large chunk of this season). I like their stuff and would buy more if its in my price range, but they are waaaaay over the top with some of this stuff. Err, excuse me, the elevation of their prose and pricing seems to exceed the maximum possible.

But more power to 'em if they can find a market to sell this stuff to.

Edit - crap, this is viral marketing is what this is. I had to go to the site to see this abomination of a bandana. Whilst there, I happened upon a orange jersey I'd been semi-lusting over at $175, in the clearance section, for $120, which I promptly bought. It's still expensive for a jersey, but not outrageous and not bad at all for wool. They don't actually make or sell any of the neckerchiefs - they just float this stuff to get us talking about 'em knowing we'll buy other ****e. Damn, I'm a victim AGAIN.

-Ray

[torquer]

50 cm x 50 cm? That's pocket square size (or are they sayin' their customers are pencil-necks?)

I'm gonna wait for the scaled-up doo-rag to hit the shelves. The Burburry is getting a bit tatty, don't you know!
http://gallery.photo.net/photo/5354258-lg.jpg

[avalonracing]

I'm just going to wait for the Rapha single-use, chain cleaning wipe priced at $50.

Hmm, maybe that is what this will be when they go on sale.

[gdw]

Their Autumn Winter 2009 range isn't for everyone but the continental team riders certainly appear to be enthusiastic about it in this picture.

[sg8357]

Rapha the brand is funny, Rapha the stuff is pretty good.

Wearing Rapha can seem like wearing a Mugabe FanBoy tshirt,
try to ignore the branding, the stuff is functional and attractive.

Especially since Ibex has hired a crack team of Soviet
era designers to uglify their clothing.

[rugbysecondrow]

that scarf is pretty

[Mr. Squirrel]

Their Autumn Winter 2009 range isn't for everyone but the continental team riders certainly appear to be enthusiastic about it in this picture.

i like them. they're nuts.


mr. squirrel

[Mr. Squirrel]

That would go great with my silver Rapha shorts!!! Hmm, let me find that photo again......







William ;)


http://forums.thepaceline.net/showpost.php?p=679385&postcount=9

oh my goodness, i've lost my appetite for nuts.

mr. squirrel

[William]

http://forums.thepaceline.net/showpost.php?p=679385&postcount=9

oh my goodness, i've lost my appetite for nuts.

mr. squirrel


You just had to actually pull that out didn't you ya furry wheel crunching rodent. :no: Good, I hope you starve...or at least switch to Soy beans. ;)




William