Feeling chilly? Wrap up in a super-sized summer scarf
AFTER the hellish rains of June, I’ve been tentatively checking the weather forecast for July for a bit of an uplift and concluded — well, I don’t know. Which of us can be certain which way anything’s going this year? Best to take the sensible, time- honoured British position: hedge against the worst, hope for the best and sally forth with a scarf.
While my daughters would refer to this style solution as ‘grannyish’, I really don’t care. I’m delighted to be past those years (which we must all go through) of freezing in the name of fashion.
It is true, however, that scarves — and particularly summer scarves — can threaten to be grannyish unless handled very carefully. The key is to make sure the scarf in question speaks of hugely intelligent style over the desperate need to feel cosy.
Among the scarf- wearing micro-trends I have observed swirling around the fashion ether recently is a thing for an extra-big rectangle (I’m talking about almost picnic blanket size) to wrap yourself in.
I’ve been on a couple of flights recently where some very inthe-know fashion woman has suddenly whipped out an enormous scarf and swathed herself in it, shoulders and all.
Think of it as the high-fashion equivalent of football fans with flags on their backs.
Now I’m not suggesting we should all go that far, but if I know anything about fashion, the super- sizing of the scarf will continue for the rest of the year. By winter, if you want a flash-forward, I’m sure we’ll be up to the point of reconsidering ‘serapes’ again — those knitted things we used to wear over our power-shoulder jackets in the Eighties, because a coat wouldn’t fit. Back in the day, this particular scarf incarnation was referred to as the ‘Throw’ or the ‘Fling’. DO
NOT be alarmed if you can visualise Patsy and Edina throwing and flinging their way through the first series of Ab Fab because we’re not about to go down that road again. This summer’s scarf is a large, fine- cotton square to wear scrunched up — one of those things you put on back-to-front, wind around to cross at the back of the neck, and bring forward so that both ends dangle in front.
Trawling the internet, I’ve found lots that I like — and this time of year they often have up to 50 or 60 per cent off.
J Crew is always a good, source, and innovative in that clean, preppy way that makes you feel one step closer to living the all-American outdoors fantasy.
Their ranges cleverly pick up colour, pattern and trimmings from this summer’s more extreme trends, and turn them into a more mainstream form.
I particularly like their plaid square scarf and their block stripe scarf, both reduced from £59.50 to £29 in the sale. The other point about the well-chosen scarf, of course, is that you can use it to nod to a trend that you wouldn’t dream of entering into with actual clothing.
I, for example, can’t see myself committing to a whole sweater in this summer’s high-fashion bright yellow, but on a scarf, it could spark up existing outfits nicely. Try Hobbs’ Sienna scarf — it was £39 but is now £14.
Similarly, I’ve been humming and hawing over this summer’s trend for pom-poms. To my eye, they’re bit silly on an actual garment, but as a trim on a scarf, I could go for that.
On the High Street, look out for Jigsaw’s contrast pom-pom scarf, was £49 now £34. Other things to snap up are anything with fringes or tassels or madras checks.
Finally, a printed silk scarf, just like the Queen’s — and worn knotted under the chin — has also reared its head in fashion this year. Zara has a good multi- coloured stripe bandana- style scarf, reduced to £3.99, if you want to experiment with the look.
Personally, it’s not a look I’ll be troubling. It’s something only a very young girl could pull off as a kind of ironic point of style. I think I might suggest it to my daughters, to see how it goes down. I’m just longing to be able to say to them: ‘Who’s ‘granny’ now?’