How to Tie a Scarf | The Manual

If worn wrong, a scarf makes you look like an overgrown kindergartner whose mother just sent him out to play in the snow. Worn right, however, a scarf can tie together your entire outfit and add a dash of personality to an otherwise bland ensemble. Thing is, there’s more than one way to wear a scarf, and certain knots/wraps are better for certain situations. So, to help you protect your neck and look great doing it, we’ve put together this quick guide on how to tie a scarf properly.

There are a handful of different ways you can do it, but the following three are the staples that you should learn:

The Parisian Knot

This one is fairly common, and also happens to be one of the easiest to pull off. To tie it, simply fold your scarf in half lengthwise and drape it around your neck. This should leave you with two loose ends hanging to one side, and a loop hanging to the other. Take the loose ends and pull them through the loop, and play with the taughtness until it feels comfortable. Boom. You’re done. This knot is usually best for long scarves and scarves that aren’t very thick, since doubling it over gives it some extra girth.

The Once-Around

This one is really more of a wrap than a knot, but it gets the job done, and can be worn in a few different ways. Wrapping it is pretty straightforward. Start by draping the scarf around your neck with one side longer than the other, then take the long end and wrap it around your neck one time. The beauty of this style is that it makes the scarf easy to tighten or loosen as necessary. If a chilly breeze suddenly whips through the street, just tug on the loose ends and it’ll tighten up around your neck. For longer scarves, you can do an additional neck wrap and make it a Twice-Around for extra warmth.

The Ascot

Also known as the Overhand Knot, this is one of the more popular scarf knots in the game. To tie it, start by draping the scarf around your neck, as always. Then, take both ends of the scarf and tie them “over-and-under,” as if you were starting to do up a giant pair of shoelaces. To finish it off, adjust the front so that the uppermost length of scarf covers the knot beneath it, and play with the fabric a bit to make it a bit more smooth.