The snood is back in a big way. The Wall Street Journal even asks
"Can the snood save Christmas?" That is perhaps going a bit too far, but there is no question that the snood has made a resurgence among trendsetters, such as Lady Gaga.
This holiday season, retailers are betting big on the snood, a cross between a scarf and a hood that, when worn over the head, is reminiscent of a babushka.
The trend emerged on the Fall 2009 runways of designers like Missoni (knit snoods) and Burberry (plaid snoods) and also made an appearance in the commercial collections of Donna Karan and Yves Saint Laurent. Now it's gone mainstream, with retailers ranging from American Apparel to Zara getting behind the loopy style with snoods of varying lengths and monikers. The British version of GQ magazine's Web site recently posted a "Guide to Snoods," suggesting wearers try it "over a chunky knit or tailored jacket."
A few weeks ago Bloomingdale's urged customers to "make sure that you're seen in this lavish new accessory." Henri Bendel ranked the snood second amongst its top ten "things we fancy for fall" while Saks Fifth Avenue included it in its "Want It" fall campaign. "Gossip Girl" star Blake Lively was photographed in one on the show's set last month.
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Burberry, whose chief financial officer recently cited the snood as one of the top drivers of the company's fall accessories sales, attributes the snood's rise to consumers' desire for safety in tumultuous times. "I love this idea of protection that it gives," says the brand's creative director Christopher Bailey, who was so into the look that he showed snoods for men and women on almost every model at his fall 2009 runway show. Simon Kneen, creative director for Gap Inc.'s Banana Republic brand, also likened the accessory to "a Linus blanket," a reference to the blue security blanket always carried by the Peanuts cartoon character.
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Traditional snoods, which resembled hairnets, were popular in the 1940s when women used them to keep their long hair out of the way. In the 1950s, the snood morphed into a tube, which became a ski-slope staple, says Beth Dincuff Charleston, a professor and fashion historian at Parsons, the New School for Design in New York. This time around, the style has been transformed: The creation of snoods in colorful plaids, fur and prints, as opposed to just polar fleece, renders them "new and fresh," says Ms. Dincuff.
It may be a smoking hot item, but retailers despise the name "snood" which Rachel Dodes of the Wall Street Journal says sounds more like a Dr. Suess character than a fashion accessory. That is why American Apparel calls them "circle scarves" (which sounds ridiculous) and Banana Republic calls them "infinity scarves" (better, but still weird). Burberry says the term snood is very British and they're sticking with it.
We say: embrace the term snood, which to us has a fun, retro feel.
Pictured is a fabulous cashmere Burberry snood which retails for $295. It is available at Net-a-porter.com.
