Social media's newest stars: Dr. Birx's scarves

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If there’s one consistent message that came out of President Trump’s task force briefings it’s this: Dr. Deborah Birx likes scarves.

So much so, there are enough to fill an entire Instagram account, found Texas resident Victoria Strout, who created @deborahbirxscarves, shared it with a couple of friends, then watched its number of followers grow.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) @DEBORAHBIRXSCARVES INSTAGRAM ACCOUNT CREATOR, VICTORIA STROUT, SAYING:

"I kept thinking, even when I got to a thousand or 2,000, I thought, surely there's a cap. Like, there's a cap - this is the cap. And then it just kind of continued to grow.”

Tens of thousands of people now follow the account… Birx’s scarves having become something of a cultural phenomenon, with viewers mesmerized by their range of patterns and ways they’re worn.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) WASHINGTON POST FASHION CRITIC, ROBIN GIVHAN, SAYING:

"No one has a collection of scarves like that if they are not already sort of invested in the aesthetics of them.”

That’s Washington Post fashion critic Robin Givhan, who says Birx’s scarves help project a calm, controlled demeanor, without her coming across as “an automaton.”

(SOUNDBITE) (English) WASHINGTON POST FASHION CRITIC, ROBIN GIVHAN, SAYING:

“Some of them exude a kind of patriotism, others I think are, you know, more playful, more about just sort of giving people a sense of that there's a personality behind the resumé, behind the titles."

And for those who think too much attention has been paid to Birx’s fashion sense, Strout says there are plenty of Instagram followers who comment on how the world-renowned medical expert’s best accessory is her brain.