How to Pull Off a Headscarf

Beyonce and Sabrina Carpenter and Ayo Edebiri and Billie Eilish and Hailey Bieber all have at least two things in common: 1) They are famous. And 2) They can pull off a headscarf better than most. I’ll let the recent photos floating around the World Wide Web speak for themselves.

Pause there, then rewind to 1953: Roman Holiday premieres starring 24-year-old Audrey Hepburn. As she begins her rise to stardom, she frequently wraps her chocolate brown hair in a headscarf. 1970: Printed scarves—in colorful florals and punchy designs–crown Queen Elizabeth II from one royal engagement to the next. Fast-forward and the year is 1998: Erykah Badu and Lauryn Hill repopularize scarves, swirling them around their hair on stage and off.

Then and now, the most elegant—and sometimes, the most mundane—squares of fabric have been spun (and tied) into a statement. Sometimes, the most extravagant materials can even take the shape of a headscarf. We witnessed this in 2014, when Adam Selman designed Rihanna a custom headpiece, dazzling with thousands of Swarovski crystals.

Rihanna dazzles in head-to-toe Swarovski crystals at the 2014 CFDA Awards.

Getty Images

But let’s pause again. Because there was a distinct time—specifically the 18th century—when headscarves represented an extremely different status than “cool” or “stylish”: Headscarves were a symbol of servitude. Not a choice. Not a fashion statement. Headwraps were a requirement for slaves by their owners.

Decades later, Black culture began to embrace the style, day and night, and it evolved into a form of protection: “Would you ride your bike without a helmet? No. Would you go to sleep without wrapping your hair? Never. When it comes to maintaining hairstyles, retaining length, and preventing frizz, the noblest work is done at night,” former Allure editor Jihan Forbes wrote in 2018.

Now, amid your morning scroll in 2024, chances are someone on your phone screen will be showing off their headscarf this summer. Posing…and voguing, because the accessory begs to be photographed. Maybe it’s Queen Bey who stops your scroll, staring into the camera lens with a black-and-white silky bandana tied around her face, blonde ringlets inching out onto her forehead, and piercing cat-eye sunnies perched on her nose. Or it could very well be that Sabrina Carpenter’s song-of-the-summer contender, “Espresso,” is blaring through your headphones, which was recently brought to life in her music video where her face is framed in a baby pink scarf, her curtain bangs peeking out just so. Or, perhaps, it’s your favorite content creator—Matilda Djerf, Claudya Moreira, Jenny Walton, Tezza Barton, Amy Julliette Lefévr, and the list goes on (and on)—whose photo you have saved as inspiration because maybe…just maybe…you are finally convinced to wear the scarf that’s been sitting in a drawer, waiting patiently to be all tied up.