Men's Winter Accessories: Scarves, Hats and Gloves
Men's winter accessories earn their place on the days a coat alone does not cut it, and the choice comes down to three decisions: what the scarf is made of, how the gloves fit before they soften, and whether the hat suits your head or just the shop mirror. Get those right and you buy once. Get them wrong and you end up with a drawer of scratchy wool you never reach for.
At a glance
- Wool warms, cashmere warms and feels better, acrylic mostly looks the part.
- A scarf should reach from fingertip to fingertip with your arms out. That is the length that ties properly.
- Leather gloves start snug and give. Buy them loose and they stay loose.
- One accessory in a pattern, the rest plain.
- Dry wet leather away from the radiator, or it hardens and cracks.
- Scarves: material and length
- Gloves: leather, lining and fit
- Hats and caps
- Matching without matching
- Looking after wool and leather
Scarves: material and length
Material decides everything else. Lambswool is the sensible default: warm, hard wearing and soft enough for most necks. Cashmere is warmer for its weight and feels considerably better against the skin, which matters more than it sounds when a scarf sits under your chin all day. Acrylic looks similar on a rail and stops being warm in the wind.
Length is the part men get wrong. Hold the scarf up with your arms stretched out: fingertip to fingertip is about right. Shorter and it will not tie without strangling you. Longer and it hangs like a stole. Our scarves sit in that range deliberately.
Gloves: leather, lining and fit
Leather gloves should feel slightly tight when you try them on. Leather stretches with the warmth of your hand and takes the shape of it within a fortnight, so the pair that feels comfortable in the shop is the pair that feels loose by December. Flex your fingers into a fist: tight across the knuckles is fine, tight across the palm is not.
- Unlined leather: the sharpest look, best for driving and mild days
- Wool or fleece lined: the practical choice for a British winter
- Waterproofed leather: worth it if you walk in the rain rather than run to the car
- Brown with brown shoes, black with black, and the belt follows the shoes
The gloves we keep are mostly Failsworth, who have been making them in Manchester long enough to know what a wet Tuesday does to a seam.
Hats and caps
Most men decide they do not suit hats after trying one style in a mirror. The truth is narrower: a flat cap sits differently on a long face than a round one, and a beanie pushed back does something entirely different from a beanie pulled down. Trying three takes five minutes and usually changes the verdict.
Tweed and wool flat caps are the traditional answer for a British winter and they do the job well, keeping the head warm without the static of a synthetic knit. Have a look through hats and caps and come and try a few on rather than guessing.
Matching without matching
A matching hat, scarf and glove set looks like a gift, because it usually was one. The better approach is one accessory carrying a pattern or a colour, and the others staying quiet. A checked scarf with plain gloves. A coloured beanie with a plain scarf. The eye lands on one thing and the rest supports it.
Colour is worth some nerve here. A navy or charcoal coat takes almost anything at the neck, and a scarf is the cheapest way to put some colour into a winter wardrobe that is otherwise entirely dark.
Looking after wool and leather
Wool wants air more than washing. Hang a scarf rather than folding it into a drawer damp, and wash it rarely, by hand, in cool water. Never wring it. Lay it flat to dry, because hanging a wet wool scarf stretches it out of shape permanently.
Leather gloves that get soaked should dry slowly at room temperature, away from any radiator. Heat drives the oils out of leather and it hardens, then cracks at the knuckles. A little leather conditioner once a season keeps a good pair going for years.
Frequently asked questions
How long should a men's scarf be?
Hold it up with your arms stretched out to the sides: roughly fingertip to fingertip is the length that works. That gives you enough to tie properly without the ends hanging past your coat. Shorter scarves cannot be looped without pulling tight at the throat, and much longer ones drape rather than tie, which looks like a stole rather than a scarf. Width matters less, though a wider scarf sits better over a heavy coat collar and a narrower one is neater under a jacket.
Should leather gloves feel tight when new?
Yes, slightly. Leather stretches with the warmth and movement of your hand and takes its shape within a couple of weeks, so a pair that feels comfortable in the shop will feel loose by mid winter. The test is to make a fist: snug across the knuckles is correct, but if the leather pulls hard across the palm or you cannot close your hand, go up a size. Lined gloves have less give than unlined ones, so allow a little more room in those.
Is cashmere worth it over lambswool?
For a scarf, often yes. Cashmere is warmer for its weight and noticeably softer against the neck, which matters when something sits under your chin all day. Lambswool is more hard wearing and costs less, so it is the sensible choice if you are rough on things or want several colours. What is not worth it is acrylic: it looks similar on the rail, feels convincing indoors, and stops being warm the moment there is wind.
Should my hat, scarf and gloves match?
Better if they do not. A matching set reads as a gift rather than a choice. Let one piece carry the pattern or the colour and keep the other two plain: a checked scarf with plain gloves, or a coloured beanie with a quiet scarf. Leather accessories are the exception worth being strict about, in that gloves and belt should follow the colour of your shoes, brown with brown and black with black.
How do I stop wet leather gloves cracking?
Dry them slowly at room temperature, away from radiators and direct heat. Heat drives the natural oils out of leather, which is what makes it stiffen and then crack across the knuckles where it flexes most. Reshape them by hand while they are damp so they dry in the right shape rather than flat. A little leather conditioner once a season replaces what normal wear takes out, and a decent pair treated that way lasts many winters.
