Buttoned to the Top
St Andrews, trench coats, and keeping (your neck) warm in the winter.
With the current state of the UK, one finds oneself thinking or talking of hardly much else. What I am referencing, of course, is the especially cold winter we seem to have been thrown into quite serendipitously after the momentary respite of reading week. Now that reading week trips, Halloween, and Welly Ball have passed, all we have left are deadlines, 3pm sunsets, and 8 degree days that feel like -8. Getting dressed in the morning now revolves around “how am I going to survive the walk to the library?” rather than “how am I going to turn the library and Market Street into my own personal catwalk?”
That’s not to say winter fashion can’t be intentional and incredibly fashionable; however, priorities change when you’re just trying not to get hypothermia on your walk to class. The classic trench coat – a certified St Andrews staple, often worn open and unbuttoned to show off the sweater or top underneath – for example, does not cut it for mitigating the harsh winds and cold temperatures. To keep warm and protected from the wind and rain, many are forced to wear theirs… buttoned to the top (and typically paired with a scarf or some other protective garment).
This has even gone a step further, with collars themselves being used as a way to bring a coat up to the neck as a protective shield from the weather, as coats with popped up collars (that may even button all the way to the top!) have become increasingly popular.
If you feel like you’ve been noticing an inordinate amount of neck-covering sweaters and coats, you are not alone – Vogue has noticed it too, in at least two separate articles detailing the funnel-neck trend taking over the runways and the streets this autumn-winter. FW2025 featured a host of jackets in the silhouette, with labels such as Stella McCartney, Chloe, Khaite, and Victoria Beckham embracing the trend.
Funnel-neck coats are a response to both turtlenecks and trench coats, embodying winter fashion by combining the two incredibly popular, incredibly timeless/classic pieces. They can certainly be seen as a sort of coat-counterpart to the turtleneck sweater, which has also been making its rounds (at least in St Andrews) this season.
Along with the buttoned up trench, funnel neck coat, and turtleneck, there seems to be a definite uptick in what I have deemed “necksessories.” More than just a traditional scarf, “necksessories” can be a twilly, a bandana, or even a bonnet or a scarf tied in an unconventional way. Obviously, for the rain, scarves tied around the head and/or bonnets are especially useful and popular among St Andrews students. On the other hand, for everyday wear, twillies and bandanas have become a staple fashion statement for those wanting a unique accessory and additional fabric to potentially cover an uncovered neck and maybe even keep (slightly) warmer.
A cashmere bandana, for example, serves the purpose of a fashion accessory while actually adding warmth to otherwise exposed skin, without the weight of a wool scarf or the hassle of having to take it on and off.
Similarly, although a silk scarf such as a twilly may not add much warmth, it does function as a fuss-free, yet remarkable accessory, which does still add fabric and coverage to areas of the skin that could otherwise be exposed to harsh winter air.
To be especially warm, however, a choice particularly popular among St Andrews students is a classic wool scarf tied around the head. Not only does this offer the same neck coverage and warmth as a classically-tied scarf, but it also serves the same purpose as a hat – keeping the head and ears warm and hair dry.
Between all the scarves, buttoned up trench coats, turtlenecks, funnel necks, bandanas, necksessories, etc., it seems this season’s latest trend is: covered necks…?
While that seems an obvious objective of fashion in the cold winter weather (“Florals for spring? Groundbreaking”), the variety of ways in which people are now fulfilling this objective is notable. Moving away from a simple basic tied scarf (which, don’t get me wrong, remains a classic for good reason), students and fashionistas alike have evidently found and continue to find novel ways to keep their necks warm in the winter: by tying a twilly, wrapping a pashmina, fastening a bandana, bundling up, and/or buttoning to the top.
Photography by Sophia Bruno