As soon as I feel the first rays of sun hit my pasty skin after a long, blustery winter, I’m immediately struck by a primal urge to get rid of all of my clothes and start my closet afresh. It goes without saying that this is not sustainable—environmentally or financially. But this year, I’ve finally found a styling trick that keeps that desire at bay. Enter: the scarf skirt.
Recently, celebrities have been sporting silk scarves around their waists, be it as a skirt or over a pair of pants. Chloë Sevigny, like the trendsetter that she is, kicked things off with a Vaquera scarf, worn slung around her hip with an asymmetrical hem.
While Sevigny opted to show lots of leg, others prefer to wear theirs over trousers. On a walk through London, Alexa Chung offered an update on a simple white tee and businesslike gray trousers thanks to the brown Gucci scarf she wore over her pants. Alessandra Ambrosio had the same idea when she touched down at the Nice Airport ahead of the 2025 Cannes Film Festival. Breaking up an otherwise-all-white outfit, the model slung a pale pink printed silk triangle across her waist.
Alexa Chung in London.
Neil P. Mockford/Getty Images
Alessandra Ambrosio arriving in Nice, France.
Marijo Cobretti / SplashNews.com
Beyond celebrity street style, the scarf skirt has several fans among the Vogue editorial staff. I, for one, like to interrupt an all-black outfit with a colorful silk scarf. Meanwhile, my colleague Laia Garcia-Furtado, Vogue Runway’s senior fashion news editor, channels her inner Alanis Morissette. “I always bring all these scarves with me when I travel and usually they never get worn but suddenly I figured out they could help me channel what I like to call Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie vibes, or how Alanis dressed after she came back from India (thank you, India!),” she says. “I don’t think of them as a skirt per se, but they’re definitely a more low-key way to do a skirt or dress over pants, which is at the core of it all.”
So, for anyone feeling stuck in a fashion rut this summer, allow a scarf skirt to do the heavy lifting for you.
