Karen Mabon Does Crufts, Cakes & Cowboys in Her Summer 2019 Collection

It wouldn’t be The World of Kitsch without checking in on what the new Karen Mabon silk scarf collection has in store for the season, and for summer 2019 she has added even more variety with umbrellas and shirts adorned with some of her classic designs too.

The shirts, like Karen’s iconic scarves, are 100% silk. The summer collection sees shirts in print favourites like ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’, ‘Garden of Earthly Delights’, ‘Lucky Cat in Olive Green’ and ‘Tiger Blossom’, as worn by Kate Hudson, and seen on screen worn by Elizabeth Gillies in Netflix’s Dynasty.

The postcard mosaic ‘Wish You Were Here’ design has also transformed into a sleek shirt, for sophisticated travellers, as has the very apt ‘Fashion’ print, which was originally a small silk scarf in two colour-ways sold both on Karen’s store and in Anthropologie.

There’s also a brand new print for summer 2019 for the silk shirts, ‘Bookworm’ which has dozens of book covers illustrated in pretty summer tones (below middle photo).

Three fresh scarves for the summer collection, first a silk and wool blend in a long wrap style, ‘Vegetable Plot’ is pastel violet with hopping bunnies. Next is ‘Bake Off’ decorated with busy bakers on a production line making buns, cakes, treats and sweets so very tempting that this scarf is sure to be a sell out.

The last of the early summer 2019 scarves comes in three colour-ways and is on the lower price range for one of Karen’s pieces at only £55. ‘Rodeo’ is a Wild West themed cowboy print available in red, orange or lilac.

There may of course be some surprise pieces added to the summer line as July and August progress, you never know what Karen has up her stylish sleeve. To be in the know it’s best to keep her close at hand by following her on Instagram, where you’ll also be able to catch sneak peaks behind the design process, and follow Miss Mabon on her adventures to fashion shows and exhibitions all over the country, and fashion world!

Lastly, there’s a new addition to the Karen Mabon family, umbrellas! The ‘Tutti Frutti’ umbrella has a tiger print and features Karen’s traditional colourful style. I think it’s my favourite piece out of the new summer collection.

Luxury Silk Scarves With Illustrations of Cats & Dogs in Christmas Fancy Dress Costumes - It’s the Karen Mabon 2018 HolidayCollection! (With Complimentary Worldwide Shipping During November)

If you read The World of Kitsch you will know the scarves of Karen Mabon by now, and if you follow my Instagram you’ve definitely seen me wearing a few in my stories. I’ve actually lost count of how many I have, as I’ve some that I wear, obviously as intended, but I also have a couple I bought to frame. Like the special Freud Museum print trio, and Karen’s special limited edition, annual calendar silk handkerchief, if you’re lucky you can catch a couple of these on the store at the end of the year if you are on her mailing list. 

Two of Karen’s most well known, and I would assume most popular designs, as they tend to always be sold out everywhere, have been Fancy Dress Dogs, and Fancy Dress Cats. (EDIT- Store has been restocked! Fancy Dress Dogs and Fancy Dress Cats both in stock!)

The scarves depict different breeds of cats dressed up, one a shark, a pumpkin, a pirate, a princess. The dog scarf is equally adorable, with a Yorkie jester, a Pug wizard, a Labrador frog prince, a Sausage Dog dressed as Superman, and my favourite, with bias of course because of my relation to ‘Weird Judy’ who you would also know from my Instagram, a Wire Fox Terrier dressed as a lobster.

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Karen’s 2018 Christmas Collection consists of four scarves, and Ms. Mabon has brought back our fancy dress friends in some Holiday costumes and they are just as wonderful as the original scarves.

Christmas Cats (shown above) HAS to be my favourite, the Santa Cat looks a bit like my Mrs Meow, if it was scowling a touch more. I love the candy cane trim too, it would look very smart when worn, even if the design wouldn’t be showing then. I think if I was wearing this scarf I would have it on and off my neck half a dozen times an hour to show people the design! 

More of a Pup Person? The Christmas Dogs Scarf, like the Christmas Cat Scarf is 100% silk and both measure 55cm x 55cm. Look at that pudding Pug. Who knew a day would come when you could buy a luxury Italian silk scarf with a Corgi on it, in the fancy dress costume where it’s made to look like two dogs carrying a box. What a time to be alive. There’s even a Poodle dressed as Santa. 

The Christmas Fancy Dress Scarves are both limited edition, and unlike the original Fancy Dress prints, I would hazard a guess that there won’t ever be reprints on these, and they WILL sell fast. If you want one, buy one now.

Two scarves are more conservative with a classic wreath design, in either Jet Black 100% Italian silk, or beautiful jewel tones of jade and Teal Silk (both shown above beside the original Fancy Dress Dogs Scarf, click on them to enlarge to see the design clearly).

Part of my own collection of Karen Mabon Scarves

They measure 55cm x 55cm so they can be given as a gift to either a man as a pocket square, or a woman as a scarf. You can tie the scarf loosely on your handbag handle to show off the seasonal print. Karen even suggests displaying it in place of a traditional wreath.

Every scarf in the Holiday Collection is priced £75 and during November shipping is completely free, worldwide, so get your present buying completed early! Even if it’s a little something for yourself!

Lavish Silk Scarves Without the Huge Price Tag from Charmchuri.com

Nitsha Shepherd is passionate about silk. With ten years experience in the trade, Nitsha has just launched Charmchuri, an online store with the mission of making luxurious silk scarves available at a more accessible price range for us budget-strapped fashion enthusiasts.

Nitsha models the scarves in the online store and shows you the versatility of ways to wear them

She invited me to browse CharmChuri and pick my favourite design. This was a hard task! There are at least a dozen of the vibrant, bright and beautiful scarves I would love to own. I finally settled on a huge square scarf, in autumnal colours with oceanic blue highlights. 

The print is Native American themed, it's very sweet. It makes me think of Disney's Small, Small World.

I love scarves and have quite a large collection already, but this CharmChuri one is probably the largest size I've owned. The size makes it really versatile, with tonnes of different ways to wear.  

You can see the size in relation to my foot poking in at the bottom of the photo. 

Despite the large size, due to the quality of the silk the scarf isn't bulky when you do fold it to wear. I simply folded mine inwards, twisted it and tied.

It's as well that I'm going to the hairdresser tomorrow!! 

So that was my choice, but here are some of my other favourites, modelled by Nitsha herself. You can see how tricky it was to pick a favourite. All the designs are so vivid and the colour schemes are fab. If I had to pick another scarf I'd probably go for one with the cherry blossom pink hues in its design.

There are also prints with hot pink complemented by turquoise and purple jewel tones.

If you're loving the scarves as much as me, then you'll be pleased to hear that by signing up to the CharmChuri newsletter, you get 20% off the already reasonable price. My scarf was £59, so with the discount it would be £47.20

Also worth noting there is free UK delivery with no minimum purchase price.

These would make lovely Christmas gifts should your family include any fashion lovers.  

You can connect with Nitsha on  the CharmChuri Facebook Page and check out new designs and ways to wear on the Charmchuri Instagram account.