How I Styled My Old School Scarf #IWillWearWhatILike

This is my version of the “business on the top, party on the bottom” meme, except I’ve got mixed sartorial signals going on ALL OVER this outfit.

I think the look on my face says it all: Yes, I KNOW that this is a smart look on the top (despite the sneaky addition of a grey hoodie popping out of my coat), and yes I KNOW that I’m wearing old, comfy jeans and the muddiest of wellies*.

But this is what happens when you decide, on a whim one day, to dig out your old school scarf to wear while walking the dog… it makes your outfit look school uniform-like.

You just don’t know/remember that the scarf is too short to wrap round and round your neck (did we not have scarves longer than a couple of feet in the 80s?!), so it just gets tucked under your coat lapels. And THEN what happens is that it ends up looking – from a distance – kinda like you’re wearing a tie.

(Whether or not my school were aware of this and sneakily made the pattern that way on purpose, I’ll never know.)

[Reading time: 2 mins]

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Shop the look:

The “schoolgirl elements” of this outfit (the top half at least) were entirely unintentional, but maybe that’s what happens when you wear your school scarf for the first time in a hundred years. It somehow sneaked a grey beret, oversized glasses and messy plait into my style choices. The “tie” thing wasn’t something I noticed until I looked at the photos.

But this is 2021, and hey – ANYTHING’S a step up from sweats or PJs, isn’t it? It’s an outfit that makes me smile. I’ll look back and remember the lovely family walk we had that day, me dressed in half a smart outfit… and the mud: Oh, the mud!!

Anyone else still have/wear their old school anything – scarf, tie, blazer?! Comment below…

Stay safe, XOXO

P.S. If there are any other ex-pupils of The Abbey School in Reading reading (“redding”/”reeding”, lol) this, does this scarf look familiar?! And were you in the same house as me (going by its blue stripe)…?

P.P.S. Do add your outfits to this week’s link up – and if you’ve added a link to here or my button to your post you may be featured in my bi-monthly Women Who Wear What They Like post!

Coat: La Redoute (old, I love this one)
Jeans: Asos (I like these)
Hoodie: Asos (LOVE this one)
Scarf: My old school scarf (I like this one)
Beret: Helen Moore* (similar)
Gloves: Old (similar)
Glasses: Asos (I like the these with their light lenses)
Wellies: The Wide Welly Company*