How NOT to wear a scarf and look like a 100-year-old grandma! Now don’t get me wrong. Grandmas are wonderful and many of you love being one. Yet there are ways to tie our scarves that can be seen as old-fashioned and frumpy. And that is the last thing we strive for.
Quote of the day: “You cannot remove struggle from life, but you can improve your ability to handle challenge.” James Clear
I’m not one to concentrate on the negative aspect for any kind of styling, yet wearing scarves is something many women struggle with and ask me about.
And my usual response is to not stress about how to tie a scarf, but instead concentrate on showing off the beautiful material of the piece.
This is all fine and good if you have time to play with your clothes. Yet many of you don’t enjoy doing that, so I thought I would give 4 examples of how not to wear a scarf and then take that same scarf and use it in a better way.
Plus, I also included a couple of options for getting creative with those magical pieces of material. There’s no reason you shouldn’t pull out one or two of yours and style them.
Scarf Challenge
Writing this post made me think I should have a scarf challenge. For the last two weeks of March 2023, I hope you will wear a scarf and share it on my FB page (there will be a pinned post, and just add your photo to the comment section).
I will share photos of the participants in my Daily Outfit posts on those Saturdays.
Don’t let this small piece of material get the best of you. Remember, you are the boss of your clothes!
Insider tip: I have a hard time spending lots of money on scarves because you can find them on sale as well as at thrift stores. I think it’s nice to have a variety of cotton scarves and silky scarves as well as all shapes and sizes.
I’ve written many articles about wearing scarves that may give you other ideas
You should definitely sign up for the emails below. Besides the free accessory eBook (which includes ideas for styling scarves), my email family gets personal tidbits of what’s going on in my life along with other happenings, sales, information, giveaways, extra photos, and interesting articles.
1-How Not to Wear a Scarf Around Your Shoulders
This is a medium size rectangle scarf that is quite beautiful. In fact, it used to be Rob’s mother’s scarf and it even has sequins and baubles on it.
I’ve worn it on the blog with a black dress years ago but truthfully, I don’t really like how I wore it at that time.
While my first thought was to show off the extra details of the scarf by keeping it open, I think it would work better with the example below where you make it part of the clothing.
Wrapping it around your shoulders in the photos above is easy and it’s not the worst thing ever. But I am including it as how not to wear your scarf because it seems too old-fashioned.
How to Style the Same Scarf Instead
Creating a fabric necklace is more modern with this scarf. Heck, even layering it with a necklace gives it more personality and looks fabulous.
2-How Not to Wear a Scarf on your Head
I’m all about headscarves especially when you have a bad hair day. Wearing a scarf over your head and tying it under your chin reminded my husband of a babushka. This is exactly the definition of babushka and brings to mind those 100-year-old grandmas.
Related post: How to wear a headscarf
How to Style the Same Scarf Instead
Use the scarf as a headband. Headbands are very popular right now, and the advantage of a scarf is you can make it to fit the size of your head.
Insider tip: To get the silky scarves to stay put, I use 2 bobby pins in the back. Feel free to use more to make it feel secure.
Another option if you wanted to cover more of your hair would be to wear it like the babushka option but tie the ends in the back instead. Either that or tie the ends up over the triangle of material if it’s a larger scarf.
3-How Not to Wear a Scarf with a T-Shirt
Here is both the how not to wear this skinny scarf and the way I liked it better.
It’s easy to just throw the scarf around your neck and let the ends hang down. Both my mom and Lesley do this occasionally with their outfits, but the difference is they will also be wearing a cardigan or jacket.
The scarf and t-shirt worn like this look haphazard. Like there was no planning and it isn’t intentional. By wearing the cardigan with the scarf, now the scarf almost looks like the trim of the sweater and it has more definition.
Insider tip: If you want the scarf to stay in place, use Glamour Maggies’ Magnets so the scarf doesn’t move around. The Glamour magnets are smaller and you can place them in a couple of spots along the front of the jacket or sweater.
I have a discount code 15JODIESTYLE that you can use for any of Maggie’s products until March 31, 2023.
4-Don’t Matchy-Matchy with your Scarf
One way to look older than we want is to always match everything we are wearing. It’s much more modern to incorporate a different color into the mix.
Both of the scarves above are hand-knitted and wonderful. In fact, my beloved aunt knit the burgundy one for me years before she passed. But it doesn’t add the same personality that the turquoise contrasting scarf does.
If you are having trouble with this option, then find a multi-colored scarf with both the color of the sweater and other colors in it.
Insider tip: Turquoise is a universal color that goes with everything. Make sure you have a couple of scarves in this color in your collection.
Creative Ways to Update Your Scarf Styling
Now let’s turn our attention to a couple of ways to make sure you’re wearing your scarves in modern ways. These are creative options that will have people complimenting you nonstop.
1-Use Your Scarf as Part of Your Clothing Item
Instead of tying your scarf around your shoulders (our #1 how not to wear a scarf), you can button it up in your cardigan and then tuck it around into your jeans. This is such a different way to style a scarf and makes your cardigan more interesting.
2-Combine 2 Scarves Together
Most of us have more than one scarf in our collection, so why not combine more than one to wear at a time? For my example, I just wrapped one scarf around the other and let one end hang down the front while the other end hung down the back.
Insider tips:
1-Remember just as many people see you from behind, so give them something fun to see.
2-If your scarf is too bulky, just twist it to make it thinner. If you need to keep it in place, you can use small, clear elastics to hold it in place every couple of inches.
Use Your Jewelry with Your Scarves
Combining pieces of your jewelry with your scarves can be a fabulous way to wear what you have.
In the above example, I just wrapped the scarf through the bracelet twice and threw the ends over my shoulders.
Insider tip: If you want to make sure the scarf stays in place, use Maggie’s Magnets to hold the scarf to your top. I have a discount code 15JODIESTYLE that you can use for any of Maggie’s products until March 31, 2023.
Another idea is to work your scarf in and out with a large chain necklace like Charlotte showed below.
Or Martina shows a way to combine a necklace like my mom’s and a scarf in this video.
Remember, we are the boss of our clothes, and you can make many things be different from what they were designed.
BTW, if you are looking for inexpensive scarves and don’t enjoy thrifting, then try Shein or Temu.
Facts: Jodie’s Touch of Style is supported by my readers. I do appreciate you supporting the brands that make this blog possible! If you purchase anything through these links I potentially earn a commission, but at no cost to you. Thank you for your ongoing support by shopping through my links.
Thank you
Another way to support my blog – it’s the idea of giving someone a tip for good service or information without having to buy a product.
If you’ve enjoyed this, I hope you will look around the site and…
- find out more about the blog here. Including behind-the-scenes of our relationship here.
- you can see all the categories of past posts here
- feel free to use any discounts or deals that I share here.
- make sure to sign up for emails to enjoy fun features in every email PLUS get my recent eBook here.
- follow me on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and Pinterest.
- and if you ever want to reach out or have any requests, feel free to email me at JTouchofStyle@gmail.com
If you enjoyed any of this information, I would appreciate it if you would share, share and share wherever you can!! You can do this by saving an image to your Pinterest board or sharing this post on Facebook.
Welcome to Jodie’s Touch of Style. I’m here to prove that it’s never too late to look great. Clothing and style are meant to showcase your inner personality. So let’s have fun and try new things.
It’s not just about me on this blog, but also my mother and friend. We get to showcase not only different decades of life but also different body shapes and unique personal styles.
Find out more about all of us here. And make sure to join the email list where I include so much more.
