FASHION AND NURSING SCARF/SHAWL
A scarf/shawl useful for general fashion wear and also useful to give a mother and baby privacy during nursing. The scarf may be a flat piece of semi-transparent or “semi-sheer” lightweight fabric, with a slit for the woman's head formed between the middle and a rear edge of the scarf. The fabric may have a non-sheer pattern on the outside surface that permits the mother to view a nursing baby through the scarf, but that obscures the details of baby and breast to nearby people. In a preferred form the scarf is an oval with the slit formed on the longitudinal axis. The scarf may also be used as apparel for the upper shoulders and breast area when not nursing, and rotated from a back fashion position to a front nursing position if it is desired to leave the scarf on for different uses.
This application is a continuation-in-part of, and claims priority to, U.S. provisional patent application 61/233,726 filed Aug. 13, 2009, the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference.
FIELD OF THE INVENTIVE SUBJECT MATTERThe subject matter of the present application is in the field of shoulder and upper back coverings used for fashion, such as scarves or shawls, and further in the field of coverings that give privacy to nursing mothers and their babies.
BACKGROUNDScarves and shawls (hereafter referred to as “scarves” for convenience) are known fashion accessories for a woman's shoulders and upper torso, but each particular style or kind seems to be limited to one or at most a few different fashion uses. Various nursing garments are also known. They generally comprise shirts or other top garments with hidden openings to allow a mother to conveniently nurse an infant. Nevertheless, mothers often use additional items at hand to cover themselves and the baby, whether for additional privacy, or so as not to draw attention, or to avoid offending people nearby who might not be comfortable with the sight of the mother feeding her infant in this manner.
Using whatever items might be handy for privacy, however, has drawbacks. The items are often not large enough or shaped properly to give good privacy; or they might be hot and uncomfortable for mother and baby, and cover the baby to the point where the mother cannot observe him; or they might be awkward to use, since the mother will have at least one hand, and preferably both, supporting the nursing baby. Furthermore, mothers are often fashion-conscious, even while nursing, and might find it objectionable (albeit necessary) to wrap or cover up with baby blankets, newspapers, accessory bags and such around themselves while sitting in public places.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIVE SUBJECT MATTERI have accordingly invented a scarf that fits securely, fashionably, and comfortably over both mother and nursing baby, and that also gives good privacy, convenience, and portability. The scarf also has great fashion utility when not used for nursing, with multiple fashion configurations possible from the same scarf structure that makes it useful for nursing privacy.
The scarf comprises a flat piece of fabric with a slit placed between the middle and “rear” of the scarf, the slit sized to permit a woman's head to go through, so that at least a “front” half and preferably more of the scarf fabric falls forward over the woman's shoulders and breasts in a basic wearing position, and, if used for nursing, also over the head of a nursing baby. The slit is generally aligned with or parallel to the longest axis of the scarf geometry. In the preferred form the scarf is an oval or diamond shape with a slit arranged along or generally parallel to the long axis of the scarf. The elongated shape of the scarf, along with the slit opening aligned with its long axis, allows the scarf to be uniquely configured in multiple ways for fashion use, as well as providing optimal coverage for a nursing baby if used for that purpose.
The fabric choice can be varied for fashion use and for different seasons, including but not limited to georgette, chiffon, jersey, woven wool, silk, and cashmere, in prints and solid colors. The fabric may be semi-sheer if used for nursing, and a non-sheer pattern may be applied in a scattered or discontinuous manner to a portion of the surface area of the nursing scarf fabric, leaving a broken pattern of semi-sheer fabric that the nursing mother, whose eyes are only inches away from the infant covered by the scarf, can see through well enough to monitor the baby. To an observer at ordinary and greater distances, however, the pattern is sufficient to break up or camouflage the details of both baby and breast for a reasonable degree of privacy. Alternately, instead of a pattern, the degree of semi-sheer translucency may be selected to allow close-up observation of the baby by the mother during nursing, but still obscure enough detail of baby and breast to prevent observation by people nearby.
The term “semi-sheer” is used herein to mean fabric that is semi-transparent, such that not only light but also some detail of what's underneath can be seen from the exterior. The term “pattern” is used herein to mean any decorative pattern or drawing applied to at least the outside surface of the fabric in a discontinuous manner, and includes both regular and irregular patterns. “Non-sheer” is used to mean less than semi-sheer—at most translucent, and optionally opaque, to an observer trying to see what's underneath the fabric, such that visual detail of the breast and nursing baby is obscured.
These and other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the detailed description below, in light of the accompanying drawings.
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It should be understood that not every semi-sheer portion 12 of scarf 10 in the drawings has been designated with a reference numeral, for convenience and to avoid unnecessarily cluttering the drawing. It should also be understood that not every portion of pattern 14 applied to scarf 10 in the drawings has been designated with a reference numeral, for the same reasons.
The scarf may be cut in a bias fashion to improve the fabric's flow and flattering appearance when worn over the woman's shoulders and breast.
Scarf 10 has a “front” edge 16 and a “rear” edge 18, defined relative to a longitudinal slit 20 formed in the interior region of the scarf 10. The slit 20 is placed in the scarf 10 in general alignment with (solid lines), or generally parallel to (phantom lines), the longest axis A that can be drawn through the shape of the scarf 10. Slit 20 is additionally located somewhere between the middle of the scarf (along long axis A in the oval shape of
Scarf 10 may be lightweight, in part due to the use of a light semi-sheer fabric, but also due to the minimal amount of fabric needed to provide adequate coverage of mother and baby using the unique combination of slit placement and scarf geometry described above. The oval shape in particular has been found extremely efficient for this purpose, and is preferred. However, other shapes are possible, including the examples shown in
The light weight and low volume of fabric used for scarf 10 also allow scarf 10 to be used easily as a lightweight decorative accessory, as shown for example in
The scarf 10 may also be used for normal use as a scarf for the everyday woman, for example to cover bare shoulders or to complement a blouse or shirt or dress worn underneath. The shape which works so well to cover a nursing baby also works to help it stay put on a woman's shoulders and breast, taking the chill off in a restaurant, for example. In this respect the size and function of the scarf is more like that of a shawl, but better because it does not require the use of separate fasteners to keep it from slipping off the shoulder(s) when worn by a woman. When not nursing a baby, or depending on the position of a nursing baby, the woman may also rotate the scarf so that the majority of material defining the “front” of the scarf is moved around to cover more of an upper part of her back.
In operation, the scarf 10 is used by removing the scarf from its storage location, whether in a pocket or bag or purse, or from an accessorizing location such as the neck, bag-handle, and head decorating options shown in
If used for nursing, baby 26 is then placed under the scarf in a comfortable nursing position, with at least the baby's head and the mother's breast covered by the scarf 10.
Because scarf 10 leaves a woman's hands free once she has placed her head through the slit opening, unlike prior scarves, it has utility as an article of clothing or a clothing accessory apart from its usefulness in covering a nursing baby. For this purpose rotating the scarf around the neck to put the front of the scarf (normally used for nursing) over the woman's back creates a new fashion or look. Even for a nursing mother this rotatable change in function or mode is useful: a mother can wear the scarf reversed, with the “front” over her back (
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It will finally be understood that the disclosed embodiments are representative of presently preferred examples of how to make and use the claimed invention, but are intended to be explanatory rather than limiting of the scope of the invention as defined by the claims below. Reasonable variations and modifications of the illustrated examples in the foregoing written specification and drawings are possible without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the claims below. It should further be understood that to the extent the term “invention” is used in the written specification, it is not to be construed as a limiting term as to number of claimed or disclosed inventions or the scope of any such invention, but as a term which has long been conveniently and widely used to describe new and useful improvements in technology. The scope of the invention is accordingly defined by the following claims.
Claims
1. A scarf, comprising:
- a flat piece of fabric, and a substantially straight slit opening placed between a middle and a rear edge of the scarf, the slit being sized to admit a woman's head, a portion of the scarf between the middle and a front edge being sufficient in surface area to cover the woman's shoulders and at least a portion of the torso area between shoulders and breasts.
2. A scarf according to claim 1 wherein the slit is generally aligned with a longitudinal axis of the scarf.
3. A scarf according to claim 1 wherein the slit is generally parallel to a longitudinal axis of the scarf.
4. A scarf according to claim 1 wherein the scarf has an oval shape when laid flat.
5. A scarf according to claim 1, wherein the fabric comprises a semi-sheer fabric, the semi-sheer nature of the fabric allowing a mother to view a baby at her breast under the scarf, yet sufficiently obscuring the outline of the baby at the mother's breast such that people other than the mother cannot clearly view the baby at her breast
6. A scarf according to claim 5 wherein the scarf has a non-sheer pattern over at least the exterior surface, the pattern leaving sufficient semi-sheer fabric unobscured so that a mother can view a baby at her breast under the scarf through the unobscured semi-sheer fabric.
7. A method of using the scarf of claim 1, comprising placing the scarf over the head of a woman via the slit opening, rotating the scarf around the neck of the woman to alternately cover one or the other of her breasts with a larger portion of scarf fabric, and then nursing a baby on the breast so covered.
8. A method of using the scarf of claim 1, comprising placing the scarf over the head of a woman via the slit opening, and then configuring and wearing the scarf in one of a plurality of fashion configurations.
9. A method of using the scarf of claim 1, comprising placing the scarf around the neck of a woman without using the slit opening, and then configuring and wearing the scarf in one of a plurality of fashion configurations.
10. A scarf according to claim 1, wherein the portion of the scarf between the middle and front edge is sufficient to cover both breasts.
11. A scarf according to claim 1, wherein the portion of the scarf between the middle and front edge is sufficient to cover at least the head of a nursing baby if the woman is nursing a baby.
Type: Application
Filed: Aug 13, 2010
Publication Date: May 31, 2012
Applicant: RENO ROSE, INC. (Jacksonville, FL)
Inventor: Rino Greenwood (Jacksonville, FL)
Application Number: 13/388,422