It Was TikTok, Not The Runways, That Made Me Buy a Silk Kerchief

Silk headscarves graced Dior and Paco Rabanne’s fall 2021 collections, but it was actually TikTok that made one editor buy into this trend.

It Was TikTok, Not The Runways, That Made Me Buy a Silk Kerchief

When Mike Posner’s Baby Please Don’t Go first came out, it was 2010, and it was a banger—the type of hit that was so undeniable its lyrics “baby please don’t go” felt, to me, less like words directed to Posner’s forsaken flame and more how I thought about the song once it came to an end. Suffice to say, I played it on repeat.

Nearly ten years after the song reached its zenith, I had almost forgotten about the peppy yet tragic tune until a slew of viral videos set to Posner’s Baby Please Don’t Go began populating my “For You Page” on TikTok. In the many iterations of the video (which, might I add, is not safe to attempt while driving), TikTokers sit in their cars in plain clothes (often with their pets or a friend in the passenger’s seat) as Posner’s lyrics “yeah you’ve got me begging, begging,” start to play. Then, with perfect timing, the beat drops with the famously catchy plea, “baby please don’t go” and instantly, the TikToker is wearing a silk scarf wrapped around their head (tied at the chin) with a pair of sunglasses. Their car windows are down to add some breeze-in-the-hair panache. It all makes for a scene evocative of old Hollywood—think Audrey Hepburn or Grace Kelly zipping down a seaside road in a convertible.

While these videos are likely made in jest (one of the more viral videos sees a woman and what appears to be her pet frog partaking in the challenge), they’re quite on target fashion-wise. A$AP Rocky’s affinity for the babushka in his song “Babushka Boi” whetted the palette for the style in 2019. Last year, the fall 2020 runways hit peak ’90s and early ’00s nostalgia with a plethora of bandanas and scarves referencing looks worn by Christina Aguilera, Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, and even Beyoncé in her Destiny’s Child days. Two years later, kerchiefs have again cropped up on the fall 2021 runways at Versace, Paco Rabanne, and Dior. This time, Paco Rabanne and Dior’s models donned the retro look the same way as the TikToker’s, tied around the chin.

Having seen and tracked the headscarf’s appearance in recent fashion history, it might come as a surprise to know that it was not the runways, but the TikTok trend, that turned me onto them. Carefully styled on the runway, the headscarf seems almost unattainable for the real world, but on TikTok, the unseriousness of it all had me thinking that I could absolutely get away with the look. I’ve been wearing mine for, yes, car rides, but also for daily strolls and general errands. And though I have no plans on partaking in the challenge, I do think it’s a look that, unlike Posner’s lady, is here to say.

Here, shop silk kerchiefs for viral videos and otherwise.