Look of the Week: Billie Piper and the enduring glamour of the headscarf
(CNN) — If it wasn’t for the fact she was signing autographs outside the CBS studio in New York, many would have thought Billie Piper was attempting to go unnoticed. Like an old Hollywood film star caught on the fly, Piper was photographed on Tuesday evening in a pair of oval sunglasses with her head shrouded in a black triangle scarf — pulled back just enough to reveal a glimpse of her romantic copper-colored waves.
Julia Fox got the memo, too, on the same day styling hers with sports-mode sunglasses and a pin-curled ‘do in the shade of Velveeta cheese (literally).
Wrapped, folded or tied under the chin; the headscarf is perhaps one of the most diverse — and historic — accessories in fashion’s arsenal.
They can be a sign of faith, first introduced in some religious texts around the 13th century BC; or simply used to shield from the sun, as was the case in ancient Mesopotamian societies. Centuries later, following the Women’s Suffrage movement, fabric wrapped twice and tied at the crown of the head became known in the West as the working woman’s headscarf — protecting women’s hair as they entered the factory workforce during World War II.
Hermès — a brand whose Twilly scarf is still favored today by the likes of Dua Lipa and Olivia Palermo — released its first silk scarf in 1937 with a horse and carriage design printed using intricate woodblocks.
Beloved by the late Queen Elizabeth II, Hermès’ patterned silk squares became a defining feature of off-duty royal dressing, nicknamed the Sloane Ranger style after a combination of the 1949 western TV show “The Lone Ranger” and London’s affluent Sloane Square. The appeal was felt across the pond, and was soon picked up by first lady Jackie Onassis, who wore her scarves everywhere from airport terminals to the top deck of boats, and Grace Kelly, Princess of Monaco — who once used her Hermès scarf as a sling for her broken arm.
It seems even brands themselves are keen to revisit these halcyon days of chic headgear. At the Givenchy Fall-Winter 2024 menswear show in Paris this January, the house revived a series of trompe-l’œil headscarf designs first debuted by Hubert de Givenchy in 1953. Sewn under the chin with the corners laid flat like a collar, each was etched with a different hairstyle. Meanwhile, flora and dramatic black headscarves were key features of the Spring-Summer 2024 runways at Copenhagen Fashion Week, while at Burberry’s latest show in London they appeared in classic tartan designs, peeking out from under heavy leather coats.
Piper — who is in the middle of promoting her new Netflix drama “Scoop,” a recount of the infamous 2019 BBC Newsnight interview with Prince Andrew — is returning to our screens for the first time in a year and a half. “I don’t work a lot for a few reasons,” she told Vogue writer Giles Hattersley last month, who described her as “touchingly nervous” to hear reactions to the project. “I don’t like being away from my kids, and I don’t like much that I read.” But even if Piper is evermore camera-shy, she is seemingly never — particularly when wearing a headscarf and shades — not camera-ready.
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