Borgen's scarf-savvy stars

Tough as a box of rocks, with a striking, lived-in face, tart and smart: that's the Danish political drama series "Borgen" character, journalist Hanne Holm, played by Danish actor Benedikte Hansen. The series aired years ago in Europe but is available now to North American audiences, via Netflix.

When she's on screen, the scene is stolen not just by her shrewdness, but by her scarves. She owns the long rectangular style, though there have been sightings of a shoulder-knotted triangle and the occasional small neckerchief. 

Hanne Holm's scarves are loosely circled around the throat or aviator-knotted rather than subjected to laborious "interesting" ties, and permitted to rumple after a long day, just like her. They are not at all 'haute professional'—Holm isn't Dr. Birx.

The rest of her outfit is always fitted: blazer, shirt or jacket with slim, dark jeans or neat trousers— except for one comic segment where she is dressed, in her words, "like a clapped-out Soviet air hostess". That trim silhouette reduces visual bulk, especially desired on screen. Hanne Holm, besides suffering no fools, is pretty hot.  

Many Holm fans have compared her scarves to those of her younger newsroom colleague, Katrine Fønsmark (Birgitte Hjorte Sørensen). Fønsmark, young enough to be Holm's daughter, gets the earth-tones, while Holm wears pungent fuchsia or a colour I can only call electric mint. 

In a Danish trifecta, the lead character, Birgitte Nyborg (Sidse Babett Knudsen) is also costumed in mufflers with trim wool coats, as befits a Prime Minister:

Holm's long rectangles worn indoors, and look like lightweight silk or modal. I like Thai silk, which is soft but has enough hand to drape nicely, handwashes well, and isn't expensive. The gold scarf below is from YorkSilk on Etsy, a fair-trade vendor. (Skip the $10 ones, which snag quickly.)

Photo: YorkSilk, Etsy 

Scarf shopping à la Hanne  

Holm usually wears solids, sometimes with textural or ombré effects. We see some unusual tonal mixes, such as a freesia-pink scarf with a burgundy sweater. Patterns are rare, but I've spotted at least one of the jamavar-type Indians. Her scarves don't venture into menswear tattersalls or plaids, and at the other end of the range, no ditsy florals or hearts. 

In the windows today, strong colour for a strong woman. 

Upper left: Fraas "Berlin" map-print modal stole; price, €70.

Lower left: Valezhki (on Etsy) "Mint Storm" hand-dyed 75x180cm silk scarf; price, $CDN 58. Check this seller for a mind-blowing array of unusual colour combinations.

Centre: Efurt, a Danish brand, make this lively cotton voile double-print scarf, a good choice if you overheat indoors. Sale price, €20.

Upper right: StarfishStudiobyLisa (on Etsy) Shibori indigo hand-dyed silk, 65x200 cm; price, $CDN 79.

Lower right: Hand-dyed oversized ultrafine 70x200cm cashmere scarf in ombré-dyed ochre and pink, by Kopé London; price, £135.

Skilled costumers know exactly what they're doing; the first season hadn't ended before women started noting how scarves boosted the presence of already-striking women. Holm's scarves are in part used to soften her, but not too much. At a low point, impaired and immobile on a washroom floor, the vibrant colours are nowhere in sight.

She rises, though. One of Borgen's themes is that real change is driven by women—women, it seems, in scarves, including Denmark's real-life Prime Minister, Mette Fredericksen: