The doctor who became a wrap star

It will come as no surprise that I know absolutely nothing about fashion. However I have been impressed by the stylish scarves warn by Doctor Deborah Birx in those White House coronavirus briefings. Whether draped over her shoulders like a wrap, or tied around her neck, the silk scarves are really quite attractive and look particularly suited to this elegant lady. Dr Birx’s appearances have apparently prompted a considerable boost in sales of these upmarket scarves, especially the Hermes variety frequently worn by the doctor.

The “Scarf Doctor” has certainly caught the eye among the media. The Daily Mail noted her “cultured style and grace” while the New York Post

referred to her “calming demeanour … and refined style.” The Los Angeles Times

described her scarves as “glorious” and the lady herself “a steadying voice of reason in the White House”.

It’s not just the scarves of course. She is a very talented woman. The Washington Post called her “a perfect calibration of comfort and intelligence”.

Another member of the team, Dr Anthony Fauci, has also won many admirers, partly for standing his ground against You Know Who. There are Dr Fauci socks adorned with his face, fancy mugs, prayer candles and Fauci donuts which are hugely popular. Then there’s a best-selling bobblehead doll which is incidentally made in China. As one journalist commented, “he looks like everybody’s grandfather”.

SCHOOL DAYS

The only scarves I have worn were of a very different kind, for weather-related reasons rather than as a fashion statement. At primary school we had a green and yellow woolly thing and at senior school it was much the same, except the colours were an unappealing brown and light blue.

However the college scarf at Kingston was a much better quality and a more appealing dark blue with red and white stripes. It proved very useful keeping me warm while standing on the terraces at London football stadiums in the mid-1960s. Some felt the scarf suggested you might be some kind of scholar, although in my case that would have been way off the mark.

That scarf was even more useful on my overland trip in 1969 as we experienced bitterly cold weather in Turkey and Iran. By the time we got to India, I was broke and as the scarf was not of much use in the searing heat I sold it for a couple of rupees in a New Delhi market. The vendor reckoned he could resell it for a profit in the cooler climes of Kashmir. For all I know it is still up in the mountains, although one suspects it would be a bit moth-eaten by now.

PET SOUNDS

Apparently there has been a big boost in sales of puppies, particularly in the US, as a result of people desperate for companions that don’t argue with them. This is understandable, but as one pet welfare group warned, “A dog is for life, not just the lockdown”.

A lot of people are having fun in these strange times by getting their cats and dogs to do silly things on social media. CNN’s Jeanne Moos had a quirky piece the other day on the canines, including a meme of a “talking dog” which gives its own verdict on the situation with, “I’m fed up, bored, I’ve had enough,” followed by a few doggy expletives. I think the hound was speaking for many people.

The world’s wildlife is continuing to make the most of the unusual quiet nature of towns and cities, although it won’t last much longer. In England a large flock of sheep has taken over the Avington Golf course in the Hampshire city of Winchester. The socially aware sheep, perhaps reacting to reports about ”herd immunity”, have reportedly been quite efficient greenskeepers, especially keeping grass in good trim on the fairways.

PLANE AMAZING

Thanks to readers for pointing out that the flypast for Capt (now colonel) Tom Moore, featured a Spitfire and a

Hurricane and not two Spitfires as I incorrectly wrote. I should have known that considering my late father served in the RAF during the war, although not as a pilot. He would have been most upset at me getting that wrong as the Spitfire was his favourite plane. There was incidentally a Spitfire flypast on Friday to mark VE Day, the end of World War II 75 years ago.

VE Day also happened to be my father’s birthday and he was quite proud that it should fall on such an auspicious day. In his later years, his birthday celebrations inevitably led to him relating fascinating wartime memories.

BEDROOM WARFARE

As a kid some years after the war, I began to assemble Airfix plastic kits of the World War II planes. The first was the Spitfire, almost certainly influenced by my dad. Then came the Hurricane and Mosquito, followed by the heavy bombers, the Wellington and Lancaster. The bombers were more of a challenge as they had a few fiddly bits like the rear-gunner’s setup. I went on to the German planes, the Messerschmitt fighter and Stuka dive bomber, plus the heavyweight Dornier and Junkers. They all eventually hung from the bedroom ceiling and many nights I fought the Battle of Britain about 15 years after the actual event.