How Do You Tie a Silk Scarf? Five Ways That Actually Work

A 90cm square is the useful size. Big enough to wrap your head, small enough to knot neatly at the neck. Ours are all 90cm, which was a deliberate choice.

Here are five ways to wear one. The folding matters more than the tying, so pay attention to that part.

The headwrap

Fold the square corner to corner so you have a triangle. Then roll it from the long edge toward the point until you have a band a few inches wide.

Place the middle of the band at your hairline, take the ends back, cross them at the nape and bring them forward again to tie, or just knot at the back and tuck the ends under. Both work.

This gets more wear than anything else in Lagos heat and it protects your hair from the sun.

The neck knot

Same fold, but roll it narrower.

Wrap once around your neck and tie the knot slightly off to one side rather than straight at the front. Off centre looks deliberate. Dead centre looks like a uniform.

Wear it with a plain neckline. A scarf and a busy neckline fight each other.

On a bag handle

Fold into a narrow band, loop it around the handle, tie once and let the ends hang.

Eight seconds, and a plain bag suddenly looks like you thought about it.

As a top

Fold corner to corner into a triangle. Hold the two long corners, take them behind your back and tie. Then bring the remaining point up between the first two and tie behind your neck.

That gives you a halter top. Works over a high-waisted linen skirt like our NADIA, or with a maxi skirt.

As a belt

Do not fold it at all if the dress is loose. Just take the square, roll it roughly, and tie it at your natural waist over something like SIA or ROSE.

It gives a shape to a relaxed linen dress and pulls colour down through the outfit. This is the laziest one and possibly the most effective.

Which scarf to start with

If you are buying your first, HERITAGE is the easiest. Ivory, olive, black, camel and plum, so it goes with nearly everything already in your wardrobe.

PASTEL is softer, in lilac, periwinkle, blush and butter yellow. JEWEL TONE is the loud one, navy through wine and forest green to fuchsia, and it works best when the rest of the outfit is plain.

Keeping it in good condition

Do not machine wash silk. Hand wash cold with a gentle detergent, or dry clean if it has been somewhere it needs proper cleaning.

Hang it or roll it. Folding a silk square in the same places for years eventually leaves permanent creases along the fold lines.