Has the 'scarf' had its day...

[Thrilled]

I may be the last to realise but the scarf really seems to be now rather passé. I have many that I would previously throw on with a blazer, t-shirt or jumper and feel fab. Having just been trawling through pin interest, every image that showed a 30 or 40 something wearing a scarf, just looked really dated.
It was such a great, easy accessory. Now what! Interesting jewellery, bags, the skinny scarf?

Oh god...I had a baby a few months ago so have been in the style wilderness for a little while (that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it).

I've still been wearing scarves (of the floaty variety ) but had noticed they don't feel/look quite right anymore.

I had also noticed and been a bit bemused by the fact that lots of women seem to be wearing picnic blankets. They suddenly seem like a great idea in this weather, actually. Is it worth buying one or will they go out of fashion soon?

surely the whole idea of what's stylish is, in itself, subject to fashion?

To a point, but I think it's far more about wearing what suits you and what gives you that inner confidence. I'll bet we can all think of someone who oozes style, but isn't slavishly following fashion, for example - and let's not forget that there are plenty of fashions which are as far from stylish as they could possibly be.

surely the whole idea of what's stylish is, in itself, subject to fashion?

I think that pretty much everyone's choices are at least slightly influenced by fashion even if they don't deliberately or slavishly follow it. I don't read fashion magazines or follow fashion blogs. All I'm interested in is wearing things I like and looking mostly vaguely presentable. But fashion is everywhere. The clothes you see on tv programmes, adverts on FB, in newspapers etc etc. All of that has subtle influence, so that what you think is purely your own taste isn't really. It's been nudged by a steady stream of images. And that's quite apart from the fact that what is even available in mainstream shops has already been determined by fashion.

I am 26 (which I consider to be young still) and have a scarf obsession. Oversized Zara scarves to be precise but my Pinterest is full of people wearing scarves! I'll be gutted if what you are all saying is true!

I don't think the thread is about oversized scarves. More the chiffon type ones that are purely decorative.

I think there's a vast difference between being "slightly influenced" and refusing to wear something (e.g. as generic as a scarf) because you believe it to be passe though. Scarves are still everywhere on the high street - they're going nowhere for a while. Even bootcuts and waterfall cardigans, those items much hated by MN, are widely available should you decide that skinnies or boyfriends or whatever the heck is deemed to be fashion really don't suit you.

Let's take Miss Marple (yes I know she wasn't real but hear me out) and Barbara Woodhouse. I would argue they were both very stylish - they had a strong look and they stuck to it. Margaret Thatcher (whatever I may think of her politics) was another. But because that look isn't fashionable, it's written off.

Then there's Jackie Kennedy: now I love her look but I don't regard it as innately any more stylish. But because the 60s have never really gone away and because of what happened to her husband and because she was younger and prettier, she's held up as a style icon.

I'm trying to think of a woman alive today who manages to be both unfashionable and stylish and I'm struggling. The nearest I can get is Vivienne Westwood, which sounds absurd when she works in fashion! But she's managed to set it rather than follow it.

Sorry - this is a long way from scarves

Depends on how you wear it.

Big scarf looped round neck with ends hanging down.No.

I wore my lovely hand painted Jigsaw silk scarf as a pussy bow under a buttoned up shirt. I got loads of compliments. So I'm going to do it again😊

I'm not really talking about unfashionable v stylish - but more a case of not following everything to the letter and discounting something that suits you on the basis that it's passe or outdated, iykwim? Or equally, wearing something that really does you no favours just because the high street dictates.

Yeah but I think what I'm trying to say - very clumsily- is that even the concept of what 'suits' and what 'does us no favours' - that in itself is dictated by fashion. I don't think we ever get away from it - or very few of us do.

I don't mind that myself as I quite enjoy the silliness. Like today I'm wearing a big fur collar that I think looks really cool and stylish. I'm also sure that in 5 years, I'll look back and go 'What was I thinking?' But I like that - it makes me laugh. There's not enough silliness in the world.

Do you think judi dench fits the stylish but unfashionable criteria.
Another name that came to mind is the queen.

If ugg boots and skinny jeans are fashionable then you could definitely add my name to the list.

The queen, definitely. Very stylish and gives the impression she doesn't give a shit. I would say Judi Dench does follow fashion in her own way - her hair for example is quite modern.

I think it's probably true that we can't escape overall fashion otherwise we'd still see bonnets and crinolines in this shops - but in terms of specific items I think we can (give or take a decade or so). We've also become more flexible in terms of what is stylish age-wise, so whereas previously we might have felt pigeonholed by a specific 'look' at one age that's not the case any more.

Judy Dench's hair is the classic pixie crop, isn't it, and she's had that for quite a while iirc?

I'm not sure Royalty can be counted as I read somewhere that they dress in a particular way so that they never quite go in or out of fashion. The reason being is their awareness that their photographs will be around for hundreds of years. That was the reason given for George wearing similar outfits to William when young.

Personally though I don't consciously follow fashion trends, I enjoy it. Otherwise this wouldn't be my favourite forum on this website.

I think it is what makes certain decades interesting e.g. the twenties, sixties and eighties are defined by the clothing of the time which is precisely what 'fashion' is......and although I think some of it is nicer than others, I enjoy looking at it and identifying certain periods of time by it.

I have definitely veered away from the big cotton scarves as an accessory look over the past year despite being in the young baby/breastfeeding/bit of a tummy perfect category for them and living in a total nappy valley area of swishy blonde hair and Breton tops. I have lots but they have just not appealed. I still wear blanket style scarves and big warm cashmere ones when I'm outside or travelling. Plus a cashmere snood for wearing with my fugly duvet coat day to day. But the beckongard (sp?) style ones with patterns - not so much.

I also feel the Acne Pistol boots and their lookalikes feel dated. I notice they are still in the shops but I can't wear mine anymore, they make me feel frumpy.

Bollocks. Scarves will never go out of fashion. It's like saying socks, trousers, or shoes have gone out of fashion! It's a wardrobe essential for many people. Okay, so some people never wear them - doesn't mean it's not a wardrobe essential, some people never wear trousers or never wear skirts but they're both considered essentials/staples.

Complete tangent here, but the Scottish Daily Mail is giving away a calendar entitled Kate's Cuties this weekend. If anyone is keen to see the how the royal's do children's S&B then I can send you a copy - 12 pages of "high quality" pics of George and Charlotte for you to compare your own offspring to

No the scarves being discussed are not the essential kind. It's the decorative indoor kind that we are talking about being a bit passe - not the knitted, woolly, it's bloody freezing outside scarf.

Vive l'écharpe!!

I think it's a bit like saying jeans are out of fashion. I don't think it's all scarves just a certain type of scarves. I have noticed that I've been happy wearing a blanket style wool Liberty scarf over my coat but I wouldn't wear a scarf in the office with my outfit anymore but I might have done 5 years ago.

After reading this thread I did a straw poll (scarf poll?) whilst passing through kings cross. Lots of scarves. All blanket style worn over coats/jackets or "proper" wool type ones or football scarves.

Jeans may have been around for decades but I wouldn't say they've been fashionable all that time. There was a definite point in the 80s (? I think it was the 80s - can't remember exactly) when 'designer jeans' first became a thing. At first it was all a bit of a joke but they did transition into a high fashion item with a price to match. If they fell back out of fashion, it doesn't mean we'd stop wearing them - they'd just go back to being something that's just for slobbing around in.

Likewise, I don't think anyone's suggesting for a minute that people will stop wearing scarves - just that they might have slipped off the fashion radar.