Crips, Bloods and Thomas Hardy

Trying to smuggle TuPac onto a fashion blog is a real struggle. We can't really grant him style icon status when he was most often seen swanning around shirtless. However, the presence of bandannas in the shops means that his day, and ours, has come, as we are moved to consider a square of fabric.


How is it that a simple piece of patterned cloth can be re-imagined in so many different ways? From the farms of 19^th century Britain, to the ghettos of America, the bandanna has sprung up in the most unlikely of places during its often not-so-noble history.

First worn by cowboys to keep the dust from their faces, in the 60s and 70s the colour of bandanna worn came to signify allegiance to a particular gang and by the 00s it was mainly used to identify members of girl bands. Now, when worn around the neck, it pretty much says, "I fell for the 70s trend and now I'm in way too deep". Here are all of the times it was done right.

Brown bandana to match her brown lip - Aaliyah slays it in a way that was only possible in the 90s.

Bathsheba Everdene - headstrong, independent AND totally rocks the bandanna. 

Absolutely synonymous with the bandana, we’re convinced TuPac is still wearing his. 

Maybe he uses it to  mop his brow as he swelters under the hot Cuban sun.

Fuck all that wedding dress nonsense, one of our favourite sartorial SATC moments was 

Carrie Bradshaw’s scarf round her arm with giant gold jewellery.