It might sound a little silly to have a post about how to wear a scarf, given that it’s primarily a functional item meant to help you stay warm. Yet there’s an appeal to a scarf worn as an accessory in its own right—whether used simply to add visual appeal to an outfit, or worn functionally to keep your neck warm.
Wearing a scarf simply as an accessory, where neck warmth isn’t the primary reason you put it on, might feel a little fussy, or even pretentious. So in this post I’ll give a few tips to help you feel good about throwing that jaunty scarf on.
First tip: Buy thin scarves made from fabrics like lightweight wool, rayon blends or even linen.
If you want to simply add some color and pattern to your outfit, or replace the role a necktie would play, you’re looking at wearing the scarf all day. Which means it shouldn’t be a thick, warm scarf made from lambswool or cashmere. Drake’s makes lightweight wool scarves (like this beautiful birds of paradise one) that are excellent in this way, as well as other fabrics like modal blends and cottons. Linen scarves add additional visual texture, too, on top of whatever color and pattern they have.
Second tip: When tying your scarf, just go for comfort for whatever situation you’re in. In other words, keep it un-fussy.
If you’re wearing the jaunty scarf-as-accessory, it’s kind of annoying to have it flopping around whenever you get up from your desk or bend over to pick something up. I like doing that funnel-y thing in the image below—where you loosely wrap it around your neck twice and tuck the ends into the front and out the bottom—because it keeps it out of your way.
If you’re wearing it for warmth, don’t worry so much about how it looks, and just tie it to make it warm. Do what makes sense for your circumstances. For instance, if you are going from cold outdoor to warm indoor back and forth a certain amount, it is probably best that it’s easy to take off or put on. The funnel-neck look above is hard to do over and over again. So instead, maybe just throw it over your neck, and loosely tie it in the front like a basic shoelace knot, or fold it in half, wrap it around your neck and put the loose ends through the hole.
Third tip: Do the Sid Mashburn thing and let your outfit have just one “lead singer”
Sid uses that analogy often, and it applies perfectly when thinking about wearing scarves in an un-pretentious way. In the image with the white jeans and navy blazer above, the scarf takes center stage. It’s a complicated pattern in rich autumnal colors that contrast beautifully against the navy blazer. The jeans and blazer (and shirt underneath which you can’t see, but was just a light blue broadcloth shirt) are all doing their part to create a nice backdrop to that scarf, but staying simple.
It’s inverted in the outfit below. The jacket is taking lead there. It’s a gun club with an orange overcheck, so it’s got a lot going on in terms of pattern and color. So the shirt is plain and the five pockets are a neutral olive that pick up a green in the jacket, while the scarf is simply a solid navy cashmere; it’s still making its presence known—it’s darker against the lighter jacket and it’s cool against the warmer tones in the jacket—but it isn’t competing with complex patterns on its own.
If you want to get into pattern mixing, the same rules apply as with pattern mixing the rest of your items. Stick with different scales of patterns—a small check against a large or medium scale motif; a fine stripe with a wider set geometric pattern; etc.
Fourth tip: Stop worrying and just go full-blown #menswear
This is somewhat of a cop-out, I realize, as I know that there are individuals who work in conservative businesses, like maybe law firms where they face clients, or in offices for blue collar industrial settings, and no matter how much they want to wear whatever they want, they’d face some level of legitimate negative consequences if they showed up in a jaunty scarf.
But if you work in a place where there’s no set standard for dress (only maybe a bottom floor for what’s considered unacceptable), just wear what’s cool to you and let people adjust to that. Jaunty scarf and all.
The scarf is another accessory that can help bridge the gap that’s increasingly being left by the necktie. My recommendation is to find a lightweight scarf in a pattern and colorway that will complement the jackets in your wardrobe, and give it a go. You might find it’s not for you. Or you might find it’s an awesome way to accessorize in a slightly more interesting way that feels a little more creative, a little less uptight, and above all, a little jaunty.
Where to buy good scarves + some specific suggestions
Fumagalli 1891 (Disclosure: I featured them and was given free product last year)
A few selections from the makers and shops above (click the images):
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Shop my clothing from this post and every other post on the Shop My Closet page. If you’re just getting into tailored menswear and want a single helpful guide to building a trend-proof wardrobe, buy my eBook. It doesn’t cost that much and covers wardrobe essentials for any guy who wants to look cool, feel cool and make a good impression. Formatted for your phone or computer/iPad so it’s not annoying to read, and it’s full of pretty pictures, not just boring prose. Buy it here.
Sorry for the contrariness but… WHY apologise?
Why begin by conceding that a scarf MIGHT be pretentious? Pretending to be what? A scarf-wearing person?
And in the end, the sort of bitter little man who think scarfs are “pretentious” or “douchy” or whatever would, I am afraid, think the same of the very nice scarves you show in your piece.