The following was written by Devora Sara Alon, Rabbanit of Kehilat Kol Yisrael Achim, after she hosted a beautiful Wrapunzel event in Great Neck.

 

“I originally became interested in Wrapunzel as simply another tool in the hair-covering toolbox.  I had not known how practically to keep all my hair covered securely in (nor thought that I had the features for)  anything other than a sheitel.

Upon revisiting your site, I was struck by how Wrapunzel is reclaiming beauty.  Society dictates that beauty means being young, skinny, have long flowing hair, etc. yet, we as Jews are supposed to be a light unto the nations. We should not be taking our cues from society at large. We know that aging is actually a gift (after all, Avraham Avinu asked for it), and older people are to be respected and venerated.  We know that our bodies are a vessel for our most essential selves: our neshamot.  We know that Hakadosh Boruch Hu created each woman’s body with intrinsic beauty, so much so, that we cover our bodies lest they detract ourselves and others from recognizing our true essence.  [Andrea’s] analogy of an orchestra really struck a chord with me: each instrument plays its unique part and together we have a symphony. Had we only recognized a single melody, without all the different and unique harmonic lines, our musical traditions would have missed out on a whole world of polyphonic possibility.  As a former amateur singer, (way back in high school) I loved singing in large choirs.  I loved having my voice blend with the other singers.  I vividly recall how on occasion, “diva” singers could completely throw off an entire section or choir simply because a singer was more intent on standing out than allowing her (or his) voice to be part of something bigger.  Yet, it is still each singer’s unique voice that creates the stunning quality heard in choral pieces.

I likewise like to use the analogy of a circle: each point on the circumference is unique, though equidistant from the center.  It is only when we have all the different points on that circumference that the circle is complete. We never, chas v’shalom, ultimately gain from trying to stand out alone at others’ expense.  When we recognize that everyone has intrinsic value and beauty, including ourselves, that is when we can begin to appreciate the artistry of Ribbonu Shel Olam.

When browsing through Wrapunzel’s website, one sees models of every size, color, and age.  Strikingly, every model exudes her unique beauty.  How do they do that?  Is there some special filter being used on the cameras?  No, there is no chicanery occurring.  Each woman is beautiful and in dressing modestly with joy, and her true beauty just radiates!   Thank you for reminding us what we should be realizing all along, for truly being a light unto the nations, and standing well above what society dictates as their  (false) version of what a woman should look like. This has undoubtedly led to unhealthy self-image in countless women and girls throughout the world, but Gd willing with all of our personal efforts towards change we will merit the coming of Moshiach and experience the joy of finally singing our unique melodies together in harmony.”

YES! Yes, they do!!

Wrapunzel recently had an email from a woman who was feeling discouraged. “I am a grandmother, and I would really love to see some older women wear a tichel. I‘m starting to feel like the only 61-year-old woman who wraps,” she wrote. Well, we knew she wasn’t alone, but we we really wanted her to FEEL it! So we reached out to the wider Wrapunzel community to ask wrapping women over 60 to contribute photos and quotes to send to her. We were so inspired by the results that we had to share them with you!!

 

Annette: “Hello, I am 65 years old (last Sunday) and love wearing Wrapunzel wraps. I feel more beautiful in a wrap and cosy in the cold weather. I don’t often wear make-up so a beautiful wrap I think makes my face look better… and the bonus is that I don’t have to fiddle around every day trying to get my hair to do the right thing.”

 

 

 

 

 

Susie: “I’m 61, too! Wrapping makes me feel settled in my age, rooted. Dignified. (Even in tie-dye!) Beautiful in a way that has nothing to do with our culture’s obsession with youthful perfection—which doesn’t exist, anyway. Wrap on!”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jocelyn: “I’ll be on Medicare in a couple months which makes me 64 right now. I don’t do the big fancy wraps but I wrap almost every day (other days I wear hats).”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LC: “I’m 66 and love wrapping.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tzipporah: “I’m also 61 – here’s a very casual shot from the cottage last summer. Wrapping is not the norm in my community for women of any age – sheitels, sheitels, sheitels (wigs) !!! I was wrapped at the largest local kosher grocery and there was a “woman of a certain age” (i.e. mine) who kept looking at me. I thought – uh oh – she doesn’t approve or whatever. Five minutes later, she approached me, told me how gorgeous my wrap was and confided that she wraps too, but only when in Israel. That she really admired me for wrapping in oh so conservative Toronto! For me, a great example of how we can absolutely never judge what’s going on inside someone else’s mind!”

 

 

 

 

 

Maya: “67 years old here!”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nancy: “Hi, I’m a 64 year old woman and wrap everyday. There are so many beautiful women here inside and out. My advise to woman of any age is ‘wrap your pretty little head!'”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mindy: “I’m 62 plus years old. I began wrapping every day a little over a year ago in order to fulfill the mitzvah. It was a decision that took time until I was ready to fully commit myself. Until I began wrapping and joined this group I hated having my photo taken and my family insisted that future generations would think that I disappeared at age 39.

[Don’t] be discouraged and please don’t believe that everyone in the Wrapunzel Fangroup, or who wraps her hair is chronologically young and fabulous…though many of us ARE young at heart. G-d created all of us and loves us all.”

 

 

 

 

 

Loraleigh: “Here I am, 61! This was in the fall of last year; I recently had a birthday and still wrap.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shush: “Making apple butter last October. I’m 62.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Judith: “I started wrapping around 65 yrs old.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bonnie: “I reached my 64th year last Friday. I don’t wrap full time but I love the flexibility.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Evelyn: “60 and counting.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nurit: “I’m 63 and I have given up wigs in favor of tichels. I live in a community where wigs are more the norm, but tichels have made me feel more like my genuine self. Age has nothing to do with it – you can be as flamboyant or as sedate as you want in terms of colors and styles. Don’t pass up this opportunity to give yourself new possibilities – and make sure to share the results with the rest of us! We’re all here for each other!”

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you ladies for sharing your beautiful pictures and inspiring words of wisdom!!! Are you an older woman who wraps, or do you have an inspiring woman in your life who does? Tell us about it in the comments! We’d love to hear more from you!

I am happy to finally introduce you to Danielle!   She is such an inspiring person – an “Aishet Chayil” (woman of valor) in all ways.  She has true grace and really exudes the balance of looking beautiful, treating her family and herself like royalty (because they are!) yet being humble, modest, and giving.  I’ve learned so much from her over the years by just looking at her beautiful tichel creations, and I’m so glad that we all get a chance to read what she has to say as well!  Without further ado, meet Danielle!

“Hi Wrapunzel Ladies! Firstly, I want to say what an honour it is to be featured as a Lady Wrap Star.  The Wrapunzel blog and the amazing ladies of the Wrapunzel fangroup have been an endless source  of inspiration for me and I am so grateful to have discovered this amazing wellspring of beauty and creativity.

I live in Johannesburg, South Africa and was raised in a very traditional Jewish home but we weren’t religious at all. When I was 21 years old, we moved to Sydney, Australia where I met so many young people discovering their Jewish roots and moving towards becoming religious Jews. It was there that I experienced a very powerful Shabbos which ignited a spark in me to become more observant.

Australia turned out not to be the best place for us and so we returned to South Africa where I met my husband. When we got engaged, I always knew I would cover my hair. It was never a difficult choice for me, and it was always a mitzvah that I found easy to keep. I bought a sheitel and a few hats and I reckoned that these would be my main mode of covering my hair.

Once I became a mother my sheitel became a nuisance. Little hands were always grabbing at it, I felt like it was constantly in my face, and it drove me crazy! I had wrapped with tichels before, but I had never seen it as an art or a way to become creative. I always just tied the scarf on and wrapped it around my bun.

One day, friends of ours surprised us saying that their connecting flight from Israel to Knysna was delayed and so they would have to spend Shabbos in Johannesburg. They came to us for Shabbos, and I could not take my eyes off my friend’s wrap. It had so much volume, and she looked so incredibly regal. That was when I first discovered volumisers, and I started watching tutorials on hair wrapping and eventually discovering Wrapunzel 10 years after my hair covering journey had begun! I had never even thought to layer scarves together, or add a colourful sash, headbands, pins, buckles, clips. A whole new world was opened to me.

I have had very mixed reactions to my wraps. The African ladies love them and always stop me to tell me how beautiful my “doek” (head covering) is. I’ve even been asked if I was married to a Xhosa man because they had never seen a white lady with a “doek”!

I now live in a religious community where most of the women cover their hair, but most of them cover with sheitels and only a very few will try more elaborate wraps.

Someone once said to me that they used to wear colourful scarves but they decided that it was drawing too much attention to themselves so they took to wearing a sheitel full time. This initially bothered me as I thought that perhaps I was drawing too much attention to myself. But then I remembered a something I came across when I was learning about modest dress. G-d is the King of the universe, and I am his daughter. I should therefore dress in a way that says that I am a princess.

As a result, my head covering has become my crown, and I am proud to wear it as a daughter of the King.”

I firmly believe that every woman needs a “go-to” color combination that will make her feel fabulous no matter what.  My “go-to” is teal and brown.  What’s yours?

Today I’m wearing a teal shiny licious and dark brown lakeshore bliss – my outfit is just a comfy loose top (perfect for nursing), a turquoise pin skirt and boots.  I feel so fantastically comfortable and am really able to move and do everything I need to do!

Can’t wait to hear your go-to color combinations!  Who knows?  Maybe your “go-to” will inspire something new in someone else!

Sending you all lots of love, Wrapunzelistas!
Love, Andrea

Black and blue, red, orange, and pink, black and brown… these are all color combos that I grew up thinking were a “no-no” to wear together.  Well, time has taught me the error in my ways, and currently I LOVE turning these no-nos into YES-YESSES!!  Who says you can’t wear brown and black together?  Not I!   I’m loving it!

I’m wearing a black Shimmery and a brown Lakeshore Bliss!  Perfect for a chilly day!

What are some “no-no” combinations you’ve been brave enough to try?

Love, Andrea

If you’re anything like me, you’ll have a few shimmeries in your collection that are starting to get holes from their much-loved constant use!  Thrifty solution: rip them up to make sashes!  I love incorporating these sashes into wraps where a whole shimmery might cause too much bulk!

Here is a tutorial I made about it:

Love this double braid style I’m wearing today!  The different widths create almost a medieval feel.

Would you rip up your shimmeries to try this?  Happy wrapping y’all!

Love, Andrea

you

Hi there, Wrapunzelistas. It’s time for another Wrapunzel Challenge wrap-up post! The past theme we had going was tichels using the color white. Whether you wear white for Shabbat or wearing it just because, you’re sure to appreciate today’s gallery, which is FULL of beauty and inspiration.

Also, be sure to scroll down to the bottom of this post for the reveal of next week’s theme. Enjoy!

#wrapunzeledinwhite

As the temperatures begin to drop, many of us are starting to think about ways to stay warm. One’s tichel-wardrobe is no exception! In honor of the current season (and the weather that’s sure to come), our next challenge theme revolves around a type of scarf that will keep you comfortable, even in the most frigid of temperatures. The theme is… PASHMINAS! We want to see your wraps with pashminas, ladies and know that you won’t disappoint! Need a little inspiration for how to wrap these wonderfully thick and luxurious scarves? Check out our pashmina tutorial playlist, HERE!

Would you like to participate in the next Wrapunzel Challenge? Head on over to the Wrapunzel Fangroupand share your pictures using the hashtag #wrapunzeledinpashminas. If you would also like them featured on the next bi-weekly blog post, make sure to also post them in the comments on the pinned post at the top of the Fangroup page, so we know to share them. If you’re not on Facebook, you can also email your pictures to us at wrapunzelthestore@gmail.com with the subject line “Wrapunzel Challenge“. Instagram users can DM them to us, too at our Wrapunzel_Ladies account! We can accept up to 2 headshot-style photos per person– no collages, please. Deadline for submissions is Friday, October, 28th. Can’t wait to see what you create!!

It takes guts to be the only lady with her hair covered – lots of our fans can attest to the challenge of being the lone wrapper in a community where no one’s familiar with the concept. Rahaf Khatib (above) lives this challenge every day! You may recognize her from our feature of her on the Wrapunzel store Facebook page. Rahaf is making history as the first covered runner to appear on the cover of Women’s Running Magazine! Check out this article to see the cover photo and read more about the reactions she got!

The Wrapunzel staff loves to exercise covered, too! Check out Naomi Herzog’s tutorial for a running tichel, and Andrea’s blog post of tichel solutions for bicyclists. Covering your hair and staying in shape can definitely go hand-in-hand!

Naomi Rose running covered!

Wrapunzelistas, do you exercise with your head covered? What are your favorite tips and tricks? We’d love to hear from you!

Well, I’m a little late for last week’s #thewrapunzelblues challenge, but I’ve been so inspired by all of you that I haven’t stopped wearing blue all week!  Here I’m wearing a blue and purple Sari Scarf and a blue denim Lakeshore Bliss.  I tied it in a “Do the Twist” style… this is a super classic Wrapunzel tutorial and I haven’t done it for ages!  So glad to revisit it!

How are YOU doing lately?  Any new/old styles that you’ve revisited?

Love, Andrea

We have a very special Lady Wrap Star for you today. She is a writer, clinical herbalist and botanical sanctuary caretaker, who has written us a beautiful piece about her journey with head-covering and how wrapping helps her connect with her maternal lineage. Tons of wrapping photos included!

Without further ado, we will now present to you… Kiva Rose:

“I make my home in a riparian canyon in the wilderness of southern New Mexico where my family cares for a botanical sanctuary. Our cabin is perched atop a mesa that overlooks the San Francisco River. The colors of the cliffs, woodlands, and wildflowers are dramatically colorful, and certainly inspire many of my daily scarf choices! The flaming orange of the Globemallow flowers, the turquoise skies, and the earthy greens of the Pines all show up quite regularly in my wardrobe.

I’m a clinical herbalist, folklorist, and writer. Alongside my clinical work, I also co-direct an international herbal conference in the American Southwest, co-edit and publish Plant Healer Magazine, and write incessantly about flowers and fairy tales! Basically, my work revolves around helping people reconnect to wellness, nature, and story, and includes a great deal of emphasis on accessible healthcare.

I’ve been wrapping intermittently since I was a little girl, in part because my mom did. She worked for a Rabbi when we lived in south Florida and had lived in various parts of the world where covering was important, and then kept it up off and on over the years. Where I grew up it wasn’t uncommon for women to wear scarves when they went out in public, attended religious services, or got dressed up for any celebration, so I didn’t really understand it was an unusual choice until I was in my teens. The realization that wrapping was odd in most US communities didn’t change my feelings about the subject, and I continued to collect and wear my scarves. I frequently wore large printed wraps in college, and got called “Babushka” a whole lot.

More recently, I’ve been thinking a lot about my family, ancestry, and how many traditions have been lost or eroded over the years. And about what I’m passing down to my daughter (and only child) who just turned sixteen this past month…. so I guess I’m very deeply pondering and reconsidering aspects of my religious/spiritual and cultural/social perspective in ways that have led me to feel that covering my hair is an important part of how I interface with people, the natural world, and G-d, if that makes sense.

My family has been splintered by religious and mental health issues, and I find that wrapping helps me maintain some connection to my maternal lineage. I first learned wrapping from my mother, and she gave me my first scarves. Now I’m teaching my teenage daughter to wrap and this year her birthday presents were mostly scarves, so this feels like a joyful way of passing on beauty and meaning.

I’ve loved folklore and fairy tales since I was a child, so when I stumbled across the Wrapunzel tutorials while looking up wrapping on YouTube, I couldn’t resist checking the whole site out. What a magical rabbit hole to fall down! There’s something truly enchanted about how Wrapunzel is woven together, a vibrant tapestry of colors, textures, women, and an undeniable warmth that draws the viewer in.

I’ve always adored how wrapping looks, so there’s definitely some purely aesthetic joy happening here. I love the colors, the textures, the way it looks, and the ways it brings women together in such a special way. They way such a simple garment can bridge cultures, ethnicities, religions, borders, and politics to bring women back together into a beautifully diverse circle of shared delight. I’m fascinated by how much about a woman is reflected in the wraps she chooses, and how the nuanced spectrum of the feminine is expressed. From turban to veil, brilliant ruby to deepest blue, braid to fringe, fairy princess to tribal queen…. we’re a living testament to the immensity of what links us all together as women.

For many years of my life, I dressed, quite literally, in camouflage colors. Whether that was the green shades of the forest or the black uniform of urban centers, I tried hard not to stand out. I’m strange enough that this has always been something of a fail for me, but choosing to wrap was also a choice to embrace who I am and to stop apologizing for it. Choosing to wrap in shades of brilliant color took this yet a step further. At first, I had to make a concerted effort to hold my head up high when I stepped into public instead of pulling into myself in wary self-consciousness. It’s grown easier with each day of wrapping, and I now actually find myself looking forward to smiling back at people when they look my way.

Part of why I only wrapped off and on before was because I didn’t know there were wonderful things like velvet headbands and shapers that made wrapping so much easier to sustain without everything attempting to fall off my head (the punchline of many embarrassing stories from when I was younger) or pull my hair or give me headaches. Now, thanks to watching countless Wrapunzel tutorials, I can literally hang upside off of tree branches (and I do) in my wraps without them getting in my way or falling off. My long skirts are another matter entirely, heh….

The internet is certainly filled with many places to purchase beautiful clothing or accessories, but the search for community is a more challenging one. I certainly didn’t expect to find a whole group of new friends while learning how to keep my scarf on my head, but I somehow did! There’s no way to spend time on the Wrapunzel blog, Facebook page, or website without getting a sense of the enthusiasm and caring that’s at the heart of the Wrapunzel community!

I have very much appreciated Andrea’s willingness to speak about her own story, to share so much joy so generously with others, and to so kindly teach people how wrap easily and confidently, that’s a pretty big deal in what is sometimes considered a curious  or contentious topic. I’m grateful for how many women she’s brought together, and how she opens her circle wide for everyone with compassion and respect.

It’s become a morning ritual for me to check in with the Wrapunzel Facebook Group, look through all the new pictures of women in their gorgeous wraps, and try to let as many as possible know how beautiful they are. I find this a fantastic way to start my day and it puts me in a great mood for work. I know that, regardless of what else is happening in the world, there will be a circle of well-wrapped women showing off their crowns while supporting each other through this journey we call life.”

~Kiva Rose

 

 

I have this new dress that I absolutely love… and it has the most unexpected colors on it!  Most dominant are purple, black, and red… but there are also different shades of lilac, light blue, and cream.  You can probably predict that I got excited about the possibilities this presented for my tichel!

When wearing it last week I did a single braid wrap with a dark red 2 in 1 and mulberry Shiny Licious.  (There are few photos that look cropped there because I was holding my son!)

I loved it so much that I reached for the dress again today and the same tichels!  But this time added a rainbow/black Israeli Tichel to the mix in order to get a double braid goin’ on 🙂

For the double braid wrap, I just tucked the ends into the headband/other braid instead of tucking under!

I am alllllll for this color scheme and I never would have tried it if not for this dress!  It’s a pretty bold look for me, but having the purple by my face softens it enough that I think I can pull it off!  What do you think?

Wishing you all lots of joy, surprises, and successful new beginnings (it’s that time of year!)

Love, Andrea

Hi Everyone!!

Long time no see!  It actually feels a bit strange for me to post my daily tichel looks on here, with the fangroup being so active, the facebook pages and instagram being so easy to post on etc., but some of you have told me that you really miss my blogging here so I will make sure to do it here once in a while!  It’s so wonderful to see how far Wrapunzel has come – and to remember that I used to post my tichel looks on here daily back when it seemed like I was the only one wrapping!  Wow!

Today I wore a Shimmery (the light teal) and Shiny Licious (bronze) together.  One of our most asked questions is what the difference is between these two scarves… and because they go so beautifully together (and sound similar) often it can be confusing!  Rachel answers this question here, but you can also see on my head the difference between the two 🙂

I absolutely loved this color combination.  These are both colors that I wear (brown and teal) but in shades that I normally don’t wear – aka lighter.  I’m really glad I decided to try it out and these colors called to me this morning!  I have no idea what kind of wrap this is… it just kinda happened!

Hope you are all doing well and enjoyed this post!  It’s certainly nice to be posting on the blog again.  Sending love to you and yours, wherever you are!

Love, Andrea

Hi, ladies! Thank you SO much for your participation in #wrapunzeledallup! We’ve got an amazing collage full of wraps without tails and had an absolute blast going through all of your submissions – you rock!

Want to take part in our next Wrapunzel Challenge and have your own photos featured on our blog? Scroll down to the bottom of this post for our next challenge reveal and to learn how to participate!

 

For our next challenge, we’ve decided to focus on the UNEXPECTED. Pairs of head coverings that you might not normally think to combine, yet seem to work well, anyway! This might be a duo of colors that are not usually worn together, yet work surprisingly well. Perhaps, it’s a mixing of patterns or even textures. I (Rachel), for one, am looking forward to experimenting with black and brown, which fashion rules have always dictated should not be worn together. The possibilities are endless, ladies!!!

Would you like to participate in the next Wrapunzel Challenge? Head on over to the Wrapunzel Fangroup and share your pictures using the hashtag #wrapunzelunexpected. If you would also like them featured on the next bi-weekly blog post, make sure to also post them in the comments on the pinned post at the top of the Fangroup page, so we know to share them. We can accept up to 2 headshot-style photos per person– no collages, please! If you’re not on Facebook, you can also email your pictures to us at wrapunzelthestore@gmail.com with the subject line “Challenge of the Week. Instagram users can DM them to us, too at our Wrapunzel_Ladies account! Can’t wait to see what you create!!