It’s been a week since the Grammy’s, but I cannot stop thinking about Harry Styles’ leather suit and green boa and based on what I’ve seen on Tik Tok, I know I’m not the only one. If the past week of percolating on his fashion choices have led you to the decision that you also need a boa, I’m here to help.
Last Sunday, as soon as Harry Styles finished his sultry leather-clad performance, I immediately headed to a combination of Google, Etsy, Depop, Poshmark, Ebay, and Asos to find a similar scarf or boa. While I’ve seen a lot of Tik Toks and even an article on The Cut about where to find a similar piece, most of them were not the same texture or length—or they were over $100, which is more than my non-existent scarf budget.
So I’m here to help you out. First, I’m going to walk you through how I found the right type of scarf. My hope is this will assist you in finding your own Gucci look-alikes in the future. Then I’ll show you the best options I found. If you’re not curious about my process, just keep scrolling to see the boas I found!
Before we jump in, here’s a photo of the original boa. I cannot find the source of the image (if you know who the photographer is, please comment so I can credit them!), but I do know that Harry’s stylist is also named Harry and he is incredible. I’m pretty sure the background floral, just like the outfit, is a Gucci original.
I am not trying to remake this outfit, so matching the exact colour is not important to me. I don’t want to be Harry Styles. I want to incorporate parts of his look into my own style. Therefore, I didn’t search specifically for a green boa.
There’s two other things (besides the colour) that I immediately noticed about the boa: the texture and the length.
The texture is not feathered. I also realized pretty quickly that it’s not knitted or crocheted. It’s definitely sewn fabric of some sort and more of a furry texture, so I began my search with searching terms like “furry scarf,” “furry boa,” “fuzzy scarf,” and “fuzzy boa” on sites on Depop, Poshmark, and Etsy, trying to find a match. When that did not bring up the type of boas I was looking for, I began figuring out what kind of fur the scarf was made of. It really reminded me of Almost Famous’ iconic Penny Lane coat. (Once again, this is a random internet photo; I obviously did not take this.)
Clearly, this coat is a 70’s piece, but I know similar styles were revived in the 90’s and 2000’s. This style also reminds me of “sherpa” texture and “shearling” texture. I wasn’t sure if those were quite the right terms, but I began searching under combinations of those keywords: the decades and the textures. This got me a little closer, but I still wasn’t finding exactly what I wanted.
Somewhere along this search trajectory, I found the key: Mongolian lamb fur. This texture was pretty darn close and I took those key words back to those same sites and to Google. Knowing what tidbits I do about Harry Styles and Gucci, I guessed that the actual scarf was faux fur. However, I could not find any quality faux Mongolian lamb fur options in my budget. If you find any faux or vegan-friendly and budget-friendly options, please send them my way, so I can add them to my list (I’ll credit you)!
At this point I did begin to find several new and vintage options that were similar to the Gucci piece. I closed those tabs of the ones that were well over $100—not in my “artist survives a pandemic” budget—and added in my final search criteria: boa length
I’m nowhere near the guy on Tik Tok who uses random photos of people’s houses and fridges and furniture to estimate their heights, but I’ll do my best with some simpler math here. If we estimate Harry to be 6 feet tall and the boa to be double his length, minus about a foot on either end, his is at least 10 feet long. I’m only just over 5 feet tall, that means I’m looking for a boa that’s about 8 feet long. I double checked the length of a traditional woman’s boa and it’s 7 to 10 feet, so that checks out. Most of the scarves were in inches or centimeters, so I quickly calculated how many inches I’d be looking for in a boa: at least 84”. Only one of the options I found looked to be nearly that long, so that’s the option I chose. I wish it was vintage because that’s more sustainable and I’m a sucker for a unique item, but the vintage pieces I found were much shorter. However, what you wear is up to you! Maybe the length won’t be a deal-breaker for you, so I’ll include some of those shorter vintage options, as well.
Without further ado, my favourite boas:
Jayley’s Mongolian Fur Long Scarf for $51.46
Yes, I’d style it differently, but the texture of this scarf from Jayley is almost a match for Harry’s Gucci boa. The only question mark I had was the length. It’s not listed anywhere on the site, and I didn’t want to risk missing out by waiting for an email back from their customer service on sizing. I knew I wanted a minimally-7-foot-long piece, so googled what a 7-foot scarf looked like and the image from L.L.Bean that appeared looked to be a similar length to this piece. Overall, this seemed like the option that was the closest to the Gucci piece in both length and texture and it was less than $100. I ordered it in orange; stay tuned to see if it is long enough and looks good in person. After ordering, I imagined an orange fluffy boa paired with a leather suit and how I’ll probably look like a spokesperson for Halloween and I guess that’s just who I am now.
2. 100% real Mogolian lamb fur scarf from Ebay for $36
This scarf is 170cm, which is about 5.5 feet—the longest of the other scarves and boas I found. It’s also cheaper, which gives it extra points in my book. The main different between this boa and Harry’s—besides length—is the fluffiness. This one is a little fuller. But the colour is “watermelon red!” Is it fate? Do you need this?
3. Sky Blue Mongolia Lamb Fur Boa from Ebay for $54.30
First off, I love the color of this boa. If I could have a boa of any colour, this would be it, hands down. Harry can keep his Oscar-the-Grouch-green—give me all the Cookie-Monster-adjacent blue. However, if you scroll down to the description, it’s only 51” inches: barely over 4 feet. The photo shows the length well, too. It’s definitely shorter than I wanted, which is what caused me to pass on this one.
4. Boa from Tibetan lamb skin from Etsy for $86
While this scarf is only 5 feet long, I love the colour palette so much that I almost didn’t want to share it. But someone deserves to own it, and I hope that person is you!
5. Fur Scarf from Etsy for $96
Pros of this scarf: the texture is perfect. By buying on Etsy, you are also supporting a small business. It comes in basically any colour you could possibly want. The main con is the longest length is only 60.” However, since it’s sold by a maker and not a corporation, you could possibly inquire about a custom piece.
6. Mongolian Lamb Boa Scarf White Tibetan Fur from Ebay for $99.95
This boa is very similar to the blue one. Obviously the color is different, and it’s 60” long instead of 51,” making it about 5 feet instead of 4. It’s also more expensive, so that ranked it lower on my list.
7. Real Tibetan / Mongolian lamb fur Scarf from Etsy for $89
This Etsy shop has some good classic colours like black and red. They are what seems to be the Etsy average furry scarf length of 55.”
7. Real Tibetan / Mongolian lamb fur scarf from Etsy for $95
This Etsy store also has a lavender scarf that is to die for. Both the lavender and fuchsia are 55”, so under 5 feet, which is why they’re ranked lower. But image either of them paired with this Lisa Says Gah dress—I cannot handle it.
In conclusion…
If you’re a fan of Harry’s recent Gucci vibe, I hope one of these scarves or boas finds a home in your closet. If not, I am impressed that you have read all the way to the bottom of an article about affordable boas! Kudos! You can’t see it, but I’m raising my glass of bedtime-flavored tea (whatever that means) to you. Be sure to check out online retailers like Asos, resale sites like Depop and Poshmark, and vintage hotspots like Etsy and Ebay as this trend takes off! Link me to your favourite pieces! Do you want a follow-up post about how to style my boa when it arrives? Comment below and let me know!
Last but not least, how do you feel about this trend? Would you rock a furry boa this spring or fall?
