The Humble Bandana Has Emerged As Summer’s Hottest (And Easiest) Styling Hack

Fashion has a nasty habit of eating itself alive. One minute, it’s declaring a new era of conscious consumption, the next, it’s posting another ‘how to style it five ways’ reel that looks suspiciously like a soft launch for another micro-trend. Right now, the plat du jour isn’t a cult buy, nor is it a new trend. No, the most overused concept is the styling hack. Just the other night, at a dinner party heavy on fashion people and on low carbs, no fewer than four guests had tied silk scarves around their waists in a knowing nod to Alexa Chung.

Which is to say: the styling hack has supplanted the It-bag as shorthand for style fluency. And the easiest way in right now? The bandana.

Not a new trend, but the trend before trend. Pre-dating social media, style algorithms and the tyranny of the capsule wardrobe, it’s the original accessory-as-attitude. A square of cotton that suggests you might have read Joan Didion but also spent last weekend on a yacht in Palermo. You know the look: Alexa does it slouched on a speedboat, as does Hailey Bieber. Gracie Abrams is hardly ever seen without one, Timothée Chalamet tied his beneath his chin in a more peculiar way (nonetheless, he’s committed), Diane Kruger wore one to fashion week, and Kylie Jenner, of course, wraps up like Grace Kelly in To Catch a Thief.

The point is: if it’s good enough for them, it’s certainly good enough for us. But there’s a fine line between peasant-cum-riviera-chic and stroppy ‘90s teenager. Want to settle for the former? There are some basic bandana rules to follow and before you know it, you’ll have mastered this simple styling hack (apologies), and let your sun-bleached baseball cap off on the sabbatical it sorely deserves.

The key to getting it right lies in various factors: the fold (always diagonal), the size (a square somewhere around 60 x 60cm, otherwise you’ll end up with too much floating fabric), where you tie it (at the back of your head beneath the hairline, or under your chin for a more traditional take), the fabric (cotton, ideally), how you keep it on (tie it tightly but also use bobby pins in an X-shape where it feels too lose, or apply hairspray just before putting it on for better grip). What else? Need to take it off for a dip into the sea? Tie it to your bag like a bag charm, or pull it through a belt loop on your trousers. You got this.

Shop our favourite bandanas below.

Henrik Lischke is the senior fashion news and features editor at Grazia. Prior to that, he worked at British Vogue, and was junior fashion editor at The Sunday Times Style.