But let’s pause again. Because there was a distinct time—specifically the 18th century—when headscarves represented an extremely different status than “cool” or “stylish”: Headscarves were a symbol of servitude. Not a choice. Not a fashion statement. Headwraps were a requirement for slaves by their owners.
Decades later, Black culture began to embrace the style, day and night, and it evolved into a form of protection: “Would you ride your bike without a helmet? No. Would you go to sleep without wrapping your hair? Never. When it comes to maintaining hairstyles, retaining length, and preventing frizz, the noblest work is done at night,” former Allure editor Jihan Forbes wrote in 2018.
Now, amid your morning scroll in 2024, chances are someone on your phone screen will be showing off their headscarf this summer. Posing…and voguing, because the accessory begs to be photographed. Maybe it’s Queen Bey who stops your scroll, staring into the camera lens with a black-and-white silky bandana tied around her face, blonde ringlets inching out onto her forehead, and piercing cat-eye sunnies perched on her nose. Or it could very well be that Sabrina Carpenter’s song-of-the-summer contender, “Espresso,” is blaring through your headphones, which was recently brought to life in her music video where her face is framed in a baby pink scarf, her curtain bangs peeking out just so. Or, perhaps, it’s your favorite content creator—Matilda Djerf, Claudya Moreira, Jenny Walton, Tezza Barton, Amy Julliette Lefévr, and the list goes on (and on)—whose photo you have saved as inspiration because maybe…just maybe…you are finally convinced to wear the scarf that’s been sitting in a drawer, waiting patiently to be all tied up.