Trend Alert: Turban Love

April 7th, 2010 → 10:00 am @


A week or so ago I posted about one of my new fashion icons, Catherine Baba. I absolutely and completely fell in love with her eclectic and foreign inspired looks. I particularly loved her turbans – talk about instant retro chic! This spring, my accessory of choice will definitely be this hair adornment.

The turban (the western word for such headpieces) has worldly history. It always interests me when “ethnic” traditional looks are taken up by westerners, and transform into extremely trendy pieces (I believe I recall learning this process as “cultural fetishism” in college, it’s a fascinating subject!). Turbans became fashionable headgear for European women as early as the late 18th century, rose to prominence in the 1940s and 50s, and saw it’s decline in the 1960s. They often went by their French name, cache-misère, meaning “hide misery,” to be worn to cover up bad hair days (how perfect is that?!). I predict that popularity of turbans are once again on the rise – and what better time than now to show an appreciation for foreign influences? 

Today I put together a retro, turban-inspired outfit, check it out:

Detail shot!

What I’m wearing: H&M white peasant dress, Urban Outfitters Urban Renewal Eagle Crest wool sweater, vintage scarf from my mom, Anthropologie bracelets, Steve Madden patent pumps.

Below is a quick video I made to show you how to tie a square scarf into a turban. Unfortunately I can’t get through a sentence without having a coughing fit right now, so it’s a “silent” film lol.

How do you feel about the turban look? Do you see yourself wearing it around town? Do you think I wore it well? Let me know!

~Maria

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