Scarves for Underwater

[Mermaid Galene]

Hey, Merfolk ~

I'm venturing into professional mermaiding, and I just got my first tail. It's fabric and quite lovely, but I want to add body fins and a more elaborate dorsal fin. I've been thinking about fashioning long, flowing fins from silk scarves. Scarves move so beautifully underwater, and the selection of artistic designs and colors is endless. The question is: how would silk chiffon hold up with repeated use underwater? And would the level of chlorine in pools just bleach out the colors? The scarves I'm looking at on Etsy are hand painted, and though they are washable, I'm not sure they're practical for swimming.

Does anyone have any experience wearing scarves underwater? Have you found a fabric that holds up well?

Thanks!

[Nicky-Katz]

I'm pretty confident, that dyed fabrics won't hold long. Chlorine destroys color. However, a synthethic fabric might and surely will hold longer.

[Mermaid Galene]

Yeah, that's kind of what I was thinking.

[Echinacea]

I have a scarf with gold metallic threads woven into it that I use for a belt sometimes, and the gold threads have been holding up fine, even though the background fabric is getting lighter. I would not go for any fancy hand-painted scarves, but you could probably re-dye your own if they were simple plain colors, or kind of marbled/streaked.

[AniaR]

Both my mermaids, Mermaid Naida and Mermaid Mimi make use of scarves. Both because the waitlines of their tails are shot. We have a variety of scarves and they look lovely underwater

https://scontent-a-lga.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc3/v/t1.0-9/10154106_586958468067055_5745352343679453222_n.jpg ?oh=4ffad15b08487a7c982c09bccc7d4051&oe=53E19710

https://scontent-a-lga.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc3/t1.0-9/10015653_582333258529576_1918869341_n.jpg

https://scontent-a-lga.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc3/t31.0-8/1658178_570349699727932_942211078_o.jpg

[Mermaid Galene]

Awesome! A scarf belt is a great idea, especially since many of our gigs will probably indoor music programs, and I'll need someplace to clip my mic transmitter and my vocal monitor. (It would look pretty strange to put those things on my tail "skin"!

[Mermaid Lorelei]

I wear scarves almost every time I swim (because I made my tail and accidentally made the waist too big).

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/t1.0-9/996578_514245685325021_686708215_n.jpg
https://scontent-a-dfw.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc1/t1.0-9/1002012_554348341314755_1935330939_n.jpg

So far none of my scarves have lost color or vibrancy. The only thing I've noticed is that some of them stay perpetually wrinkled outside of the water now.

[Mermaid Galene]

Those are lovely, Lorelei! Are they commercially made scarves or hand dyed? I suspect the hand dyed ones are more likely to fade/run. A scarf belt seems very doable. If it faded, it could be easily replaced. For my tail/fin enhancements, I've decided to go with this see through Spandex:

http://www.nyfashioncenterfabrics.com/spandex-sheer-stretch-mesh-fabric-deeppurple.html
http://www.nyfashioncenterfabrics.com/spandex-sheer-stretch-mesh-fabric-skyblue.html

Miami Mermaids uses that on tails, and it looks great in the water:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DE-kyUDmAMs

I do plan to use hand dyed scarves for mermaid tops at dry land gigs, at least until I get a shell top made. A few years ago a friend gave a lovely hand-dyed scarf with a blue ocean theme, and it makes a great halter top.

[Mermaid Lorelei]

Mine are all commercially made. Some of them are cashmere and still haven't shown any wear, even after being worn in chlorine and salt water alike.

[Mermaid Jaffa]

Fishing net scarf? Certain kinds of netting are really soft and flowy in water.

[-Annwyn-]

20365

Mermaid Shelly made this tail for me, and attached a chiffon dorsal fin to the back. I still love it so much and my next fabric tails will he having this attached to them.
Be careful with some synthetic sheer material though (ie: organza) as it can create too much drag and you'll be straining to move anywhere. But chiffon seems to be okay :)

[Ayla of Duluth]

I use a scarf when I swim (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzA1Gmlhut4) because my tail is too short. The coins on it are very hard to care for though, they rust so easily and get bent or ripped off if I'm not very careful.

[Mermaid Galene]

I love the effect of the chiffon dorsal, Annwyn! (I also love your Welsh mermaid name. Such a melodious language.)

[Mermaid Galene]

Ayla, besides the indoor gig mic thing, I need a belt for the opposite reason: my tail is a little too long. When I pull it all the way up, I look like this:

20407

I really enjoyed your video. Such a lovely tail. Is it silicone? Who made it?

BTW, we're practically neighbors! I'm in Hudson, WI, in the Twin Cities area. Hope we Scandy mermaids can all get together sometime.

[Ayla of Duluth]

My tail is full silicone by merbellas. I just sold it to pay for a new tail from Finfolk. We should have a meetup when I get my tail! I've been wanting to meet up with the great lakes pod, but all their meetups are down by michigan. Too far away. :(

[Mertara]

following!

[Mermaid Galene]

Someday I'm definitely going for a FinFolk tail. I wonder if local mers could actually pick up a tail from them when it's done. Would eliminate the hefty shipping charge.

And yes, we should totally do a Minnesota meetup! I too would love to go to the Great Lakes Pod meetup in Detroit, but it's just too far to be practical this summer. I think there are several mers in Minnesota/Twin Cities area. It would be really fun to get together!

[Ayla of Duluth]

I hear a few mers are picking up their tails when they're done. I'm going to be picking mine up to avoid shipping costs. Besides, I really wanna meet these amazing girls who create the works of art tails. :)

[Mermaid Galene]

Cool!

[Mermaid Galene]

A propos Minnesota meetup: there's some new discussion of this in another thread: http://mernetwork.com/index/showthread.php?6612-Mermaids-in-Minnesota&p=124641#post124641