How to wear a shawl or stole – Permanent Style

A shawl (or stole) can be a really practical thing to wear. Simply hung round the neck, it’s a lovely layer of warmth down the front of the body and on the back of the neck. And when looped or tied, it’s also effective protection against the cold wind.

I often wear them with my PS Donegal coats (above), as their length suits the long lines of that balmacaan style. But they can work with any type of coat, and are particularly useful when travelling, as we detailed in our recent article on Paris.

Men sometimes find them difficult to wear, though, especially when they are required to wrap the thing. A shawl is quite bulky, and it can feel messy and difficult to control.

(There’s an interesting side topic here actually, about the link between men that are into classic clothing are those that are naturally fussy, even obsessive. Waistcoats and ties and oxfords feel neat and controllable; shawls do not. A subject for another day perhaps.)

In today’s piece, I’m going to quickly set out quickly how I wear a shawl, and suggest how it can be done with control and even nonchalance.

Most shawls are long enough to wrap around the neck and leave a good amount hanging either end. This old one from Begg & Co of mine does that, measuring 183x73cm.

So start with the shawl hanging shorter on one side, as in the image above. What that length should be becomes quickly instinctive, but as with everything here, precision doesn’t matter that much. In fact it should be actively avoided.

Then take the long end (that’s the end I’m holding – the photo is a little unclear) and wrap it loosely around the neck.

Don’t do it too tightly – not as tight as you might wrap a regular scarf – as the thickness can make it uncomfortable, and again it could stop looking nice and loose and easy.

A good tip here is to hold the corner of the shawl as you wrap it, rather than the whole end. I’m demonstrating, or trying to demonstrate, this in the image above. It’s not helped by the fact that Lucas is laughing off camera, and I’m trying not to smile.

Anyway, the point of this is that it makes the width of the shawl spread out across your back and the shoulders. The shawl is also not as thick, it covers more of the upper body, and it looks less considered.

The biggest problem with shawls comes at this point, when you have two ends hanging down on the chest. They feel messy, out of control, and can easily get blown around. There is an urge to tie or otherwise secure them.

The best solution with a coat is to push one of the ends inside the front, as I’m doing above. This keeps it under control and stops if flapping about. Note the fringe is showing because I’m holding only the corner.

Then, I like to tuck the other end inside the front edge of the coat too, as shown above. Not pushing it, just lying it inside that front edge. It gives a modicum more control.

You can try this once or twice in the mirror if you want but, when you’re out and about, resist the urge to play or adjust or even look in a car window. Just let it be. The danger of looking too neat is greater than looking too messy. Have a play, have fun, but do not fiddle.

When I’m on the Tube, my shawl is normally hanging loose around my neck, coat open. Then when I emerge into the biting cold (or am going to emerge), one end is pulled longer, a corner held, the thing wrapped around and tucked.

Easy, simple and (literally) without a second thought. I know you care (you’re a PS reader after all), but try very much not to.

I’ve included a few other images here of shawls other than the toffee-coloured Begg one. Begg does still sell that style, but not in the same colour unfortunately.

My other favourites are from Loro Piana (back in the days when there were big discounts at Bicester Village) and from Anderson & Sheppard. They have a big range of larger scarves though again, unfortunately, not my bright orange one I’ve shown at the top and bottom of this post. They do have the cream above though, which is amazing, although being hand-woven is also proportionately expensive.

I also wear larger silk/cashmere Hermes shawls in the same way too, like the one below.

What’s the difference between a shawl, a scarf and a stole I hear you say? Well, shawls are usually heavier and often square (as those Hermes ones are). Stoles are large and rectangular, but also lighter in weight. Scarves are rectangular but can be many sizes.

As with many things in clothing, there is no clean definition for my Begg one. It’s the weight of a scarf but the shape of a stole, and perhaps looks most like a shawl. It doesn’t matter as long as we all know what we mean.