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Your mom was right: you should be wearing a scarf. From a practical perspective, the best men’s scarves will help to keep the cold from infiltrating the confines of your winter coat, and will double as a helpful face covering when freezing winds are singeing your T-zone. More importantly, though, they’ll just plain look good, which is no small thing when the weather gets so dreadful your outfit options are limited to heavy-duty parkas and dump truck-sized snow boots. (And frankly, the aesthetic value alone should be all the reason you need to invest in one now, before temperatures really start hitting subarctic lows.) To help you find just the right scarf to add some much-needed pizzazz to your fall and winter fits, we surveyed dozens of the finest neck warmers from budget-friendly mall chains, age-old British brands, and everything in between. Here are the best men’s scarves to knot up pronto.
The Best Scarves Shopping Guide
The Best Scarf for Blessing Your Neck
Look, we understand that $430 is a lot for a scarf. But you’re here for the best, right? And Begg & Co., the 154-year-old Scottish wool savants, unabashedly make the best. Their scarves are all of the things a great scarf should be: knit from rich and densely woven cashmere, which keeps things as balmy as a late June afternoon and feels suppler than a Persian kitten against your skin; enough surface area to fold and wrap in any manner you wish; available in a wider array of colors and patterns than you’d find in the Met; and, not for nothing, the exact right number and length of tassels. We’re particularly fond of this color-blocked indigo muffler, which has all the versatility of navy blue in a way more striking package.
The Best Scarf for Guys Who Hate Scarves
Looking to get the maximum amount of warmth from the least amount of scarf? Nanamica designed this puffer jacket for your neck to be as compact and efficient as a Japanese sedan. The specially-treated Kodenshi down traps warmth like nobody’s business, and the press stud closure holds it all in place despite its minimal length.
The Best Scarf That Won’t Break the Bank
Ever since Uniqlo started incorporating cashmere into its repertoire of winter-ready gear, the days of shelling out top dollar for a quality piece of the fabric have been numbered. The Japanese patron saint of perfectly-executed basics now utilizes the ultra-luxe material in a slew of cold weather accessories, like beanies and scarves. At just $50 a pop full-price, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a better coziness-to-dollar ratio anywhere on the market.
The Best 2-for-1 Scarf Worth Splurging On
Around this time every year, Burberry’s ubiquitous checked scarf starts cropping up with a dizzying frequency on the necks of Upper East Side doyennes and downtown cool kids alike. If you dig the brand’s especially cozy cashmere but prefer a slightly more toned-down alternative, consider this reversible monogram number instead. That unbeatable, goes-with-everything color palette is still very much present and accounted for, but it’s reinterpreted as a solid hit of black and beige on either side for double the versatility (and twice the fun). The only indication that you’re flexing an accessory from the first name in luxury outerwear? The gold logo hardware, discreetly placed on the corner edge.
The Best Scarf to Build An Entire Outfit Around
You know that hit of dopamine you get when you stumble across a piece of clothing so rad—the perfect pair of flared jeans, or the vintage soccer jersey you’ve been hunting for—your brain immediately starts imagining ways to wear it? Sometimes, all it takes to trigger that rush (and lay the groundwork for your most inspired fit yet) is a really sick scarf—in this case, a graphic, reversible joint from the underground legend Anna Sui. The designer made her return to menswear earlier this year with an exclusive SSENSE collection packed with punchy textures and cheeky designs, a heady mind-meld of the rock ‘n’ roll glam and early aughts nostalgia that remains her calling card. Staying warm never looked so damn cool.
