How to Wear a Shawl

Wearing a Shawl Traditionally

Drape the shawl evenly over your shoulders. The garment should rest symmetrically on top of your shoulders, with the center resting on the nape of your neck, and each end of the shawl lining up with the other at the lowest point that it reaches on your body. This traditional approach to wearing a shawl will allow you to wear it in a timeless, classy way that fully shows off the fabric. It works with both gowns and cocktail dresses.

Let the center of the shawl slide down your back a bit. Catching the shawl in the crooks of your elbows, let it slip off the edges of your shoulders. It will need to rest on your arms in order to stay in place and not fall backwards off your body. You can either let the shawl’s wide fabric cover your shoulders and upper arms, or let the garment slide down further to show skin on your shoulder and cover just your upper arms instead.

Try wearing the shawl traditionally, but in reverse. For this look, simply hold the shawl in front of you and drape it over your shoulders with the ends hanging down your back instead of your front. The fabric will sway in the breeze behind you as you walk, all while slightly covering up your neck. You will have to keep your elbows slightly bent upward in order to prevent the shawl from falling to the ground in front of you.

Styling a Shawl like a Scarf

Bunch the shawl by holding it tightly in front of you. In order to make the shawl look more like a standard scarf, it is important to to reduce its width by bunching it up. If you can hold a section of the bunched up shawl in your fist, then it is sufficiently small to wrap like a scarf. One of the advantages of wearing a shawl as a scarf is that you can wrap it in ways that won't make the fabric look like it is bulging, as shawls sometimes do.

Grasp the shawl in two hands and center it in front of you. For an even, clean look, be sure to check that your shawl is level on each side before placing it on your body, as it can be hard to adjust without removing the garment and starting over. Pulling each end out in front of you and holding them together will help you see how well the shawl is balanced.

Position the center of the shawl on the front of your neck. Hold the center against your collar bone and toss the ends over both shoulders so that main part of the shawl sits below your chin. If you can look at your back in a mirror, this will look just like wearing the shawl traditionally but in reverse.

Wrap each end around to rest over the opposite shoulder. Once the shawl is reversed, grab the side that sits the left shoulder and pull it around the back of your neck so that it sits over your right shoulder. Do the same with the right side, so that the shawl is fully wrapped around you like a typical scarf. Be sure to adjust the shawl so that it shows as much or as little of your neck as you want. In summer, wearing the shawl loosely will help keep it from looking like a winter scarf, as it might if the shawl stayed close to your neck. You can use a mirror to make sure each side is perfectly symmetrical.

Coil the shawl around your neck to use it as a true scarf. If it’s cold outside and you want your shawl to work just like a scarf, you can simply wrap it around your neck few times. You can try out pretty much any scarf style with a shawl, but be aware that the amount of fabric in a shawl can only be bunched up so much. Some styles just won't be possible to perfectly recreate.

Getting Creative with a Shawl

Let the shawl rest on one shoulder, rather than both. You can hold the shawl tightly, rolling it slightly to bunch it. Then, rest it over one shoulder or the other. Make sure it sits symmetrically, and fold both sides under the weighty bunched up center in order to keep it looking neat. This is a fashionable and striking approach to wearing a shawl. Be sure that the shawl does not drag on the ground while you walk, as some shawls are so long that wearing one in this way won't keep it off the ground.

Tie the shawl in the front. Drape the shawl over the front of both shoulders and bunch it up a bit in order to make it easier to tie. Pull the shawl down on one side to make it slightly uneven and wrap the long end once around the shorter end. Slip the side that you made longer downward through the gap that formed the two sides. You can choose the tied off look for an easy, low-maintenance style that looks modern and chic.

Braid the shawl down your front. Cross one side of the shawl over the other while the shawl sits on the front of your body to form a loop. Then, pull the ends up through the loop. Doing this a few times will give the shawl links that cascade down the body.

Use a decorative shawl pin or clip to tighten loose wraps. If your wrap has a few too many folds to stay in place, and there isn't quite enough slack to tie a knot, a shawl pin will keep the shawl stable. These can be purchased from cloth and fabric stores and online. Pins and broaches can liven up a solid color shawl, and add a bit of structure to a complex look.

Angle the shawl down for a cross-body look. Wrap the shawl around the front of your shoulders and pull one side down to form a 45 degree angle across your body. The two ends of your shawl will align at your shoulder blade, where you can tie the wrap. You can also use a pin to keep the two ends of a shawl held just behind one shoulder as it slopes down your shoulders and torso.