Shrug Sweaters Are Making a Comeback After More Than a Decade

By Jenna Crawford - 12/23/20

Woman wearing a stylish outfit outdoors with a shrug sweater

Much like our beloved Carrie Bradshaw once reminded us, there is nothing new in fashion; it’s all just well-forgotten old. It appears she was right once more because the so-called shrug sweaters have recently come out of obscurity and made a comeback in people’s wardrobes.

Fashion Is Burning Through Trends at a Rapid Pace

If there’s one thing we’ve all been witnessing in the last decade, it’s that we’ve been cycling our way through many trends, both new and old, much faster than ever before. From extravagant sleeves to cold-shoulder tops and milkmaid necklines, it makes perfect sense why we’d take out shrug sweaters from the closet as well. What’s curious about modern trends is that fashion houses aren’t digging too far back into the past to get inspiration. On the contrary, the industry is focusing on the last ten to 20 years and rapidly reusing old fashions with an often too extravagant present day spin.

Shrug Fashion First Appeared in the 1950s

Vintage photo from the 1950s with a woman wearing shrug fashion
Better known as those two-arm warmers that were stitched together and you’d take out in the evening when it was chilly enough to need a top yet too warm for a full-on jacket, this trend saw many applications. Shrug designs came both in casual and high fashion options, and women loved them.

Perhaps the best part about seeing shrug sweaters back in the game is that every time a new-old trend reappears, we pair it with the other trendy clothes and shapes of the day, thus creating an exciting new look. For example, instead of wearing shrugs with lowrise jeans, today we’ll be pairing them with slouchy pleated trousers or a loose dress.

Modern shrug fashion

Taking something from the past and giving it a brand new context is where the beauty of everyday fashion lies. After all, who knows what the next big thing of tomorrow will be? No one. But we’ll probably pair it with a fluffy bucket hat and tight leather pants. Just sayin’!