Poncho, Shawl, Ruana or Scarf Top?
People arrive at this shop searching for a poncho, a shawl, a ruana, a wrap, a cape, a cover up and a scarf top. Sometimes they mean the same garment. Often they do not.
Almost nobody explains the difference, so here it is in plain language, from the workroom where they are made.
The short version. We make ponchos. The brand is called Love My Shawls, our customers say scarf tops, but the garment itself is technically a poncho. Here is why that matters when you are shopping.
The differences, in one place
Poncho
A piece of fabric with an opening for your head and closed sides. You pull it on over your head and it stays where you put it. Nothing fastens, nothing ties, nothing needs holding.
That closed construction is the whole point. It means you can walk, drive, carry a bag and pick up a child without the garment sliding off your shoulders. It is also warmer than an open garment, because there is no gap at the front.
This is what we make, though not in the usual way. A classic poncho is a flat panel with a hole cut in the middle of it. Ours is one piece of fabric, folded once and joined with a single seam, with the rest left open. Nothing is cut. The opening your head goes through is the gap left between the fold and that seam.
That difference is the reason ours does what it does. Because the piece is joined all the way around, it cannot lie flat, and because there is only one seam, moving that seam changes the whole shape. Wear it at the front, the side or the back and you get three genuinely different silhouettes out of one garment.
We call them poncho scarves because they are lighter and more drapey than a heavy winter poncho, and because you can wear one looped at the neck like a scarf if you want to.
Ruana
Looks like a poncho at the back, but has a vertical slit from the head opening down to the front hem, which creates two loose front panels. Those panels can hang open, be thrown over one shoulder, be belted, or be crossed over.
Definitions vary, and you will also see garments sold as ruanas that have sleeves. What they have in common is an open front, which gives you more styling options and layers more easily over a coat. What it does not give you is a closed front, so it is draftier, and the panels need arranging.
We do not make ruanas. Ours has no sleeves and no open front. If either of those is what you specifically want, this is not the right garment. That said, one of the five ways below drapes it open over one shoulder, which gets you close.
Shawl
A rectangle or square of fabric with no openings at all. Completely unstructured. You drape it, wrap it, or fold it however you like.
Maximum flexibility, but you are actively holding it in place all day. Anyone who has worn a shawl to an event and spent the evening hitching it back onto one shoulder knows the trade. That is the single most common reason people give for switching to one of ours: a shawl falls off, and this does not.
Our name is a holdover from how we described these years ago. If you searched for a shawl and landed here, what you have found is the version that stays put.
Wrap
Essentially a larger, blanket-like shawl. Same idea, more fabric, so you can genuinely wrap it around yourself more than once. Also unstructured, also needs holding.
Cape
A structured, sleeveless garment that fastens at the neck, and sometimes down the front. Descended from coat construction, so it holds a defined shape rather than draping.
Ponchos are the looser, softer relative. A cape makes a silhouette, a poncho makes a drape.
Stole
A long, narrow rectangle, usually worn formally over the shoulders with evening wear. Narrower than a shawl and more decorative than practical.
Scarf top
This is the one causing the most confusion right now, because the phrase has been taken over by a fashion trend that has nothing to do with this garment.
In 2026, a scarf top generally means a silk scarf or bandana tied as a halter or a bandeau and worn as the top itself. It is summer-only, it is tied rather than pulled on, and it covers considerably less.
We have called ours scarf tops at market booths for years, long before the trend, so you will hear both. Ours is not a scarf top in that current sense, though it can be worn as a scarf. If you arrived searching for the tied silk kind, this is not that. If you arrived searching for the woven pull-on kind, you are in exactly the right place.
So which one should you buy?
| If you want | Look for |
|---|---|
| Something that stays on your shoulders without fussing | A poncho |
| An open front you can drape and belt | A ruana |
| Maximum flexibility, happy to adjust it | A shawl or a wrap |
| A defined, structured silhouette | A cape |
| A formal accent over evening wear | A stole |
| A summer top made from a tied scarf | A scarf top, and not from us |
Common questions
Is a poncho the same as a cover up?
A cover up is a use rather than a shape, so lots of garments qualify. A poncho works particularly well as a swimsuit cover up because it covers the front and the back equally, where a sarong or an open kaftan does not, and because it goes on over your head without you having to tie anything wet. There is a whole collection built around that.
Does one size actually fit?
One size, and it flatters more people than it fits. It does not fit the body, it wears from the shoulders, so it skims rather than clings. There is no waistband, no armhole and no shoulder seam that has to land in the right spot. What changes across heights and sizes is where the hem falls, and you control that by choosing where the seam sits. If you have broader shoulders or a fuller bust it will sit a little shorter, which is the only thing that really changes. More on that on the one size and plus size page.
How big is it?
About 26 by 36 inches as it hangs, from a piece that starts at roughly 26 by 72 inches before it is sewn. The lightweight styles start about a foot longer. Each one weighs around 8 ounces. The flat measurement is the less useful of the two, because once the seam is sewn there is no edge to lay out.
What is a poncho scarf?
A lighter, more drapey poncho, cut so it can also be worn looped at the neck like a scarf. It is our own term for what we make, and it describes the garment better than either word alone.
Can you wear a poncho in summer?
Yes, if the weave is light enough. The lightweight pieces work as an evening layer, an air-conditioning layer, an airplane layer and a beach cover up. The heavier Cozy and Fuzzy weave is a winter garment and will be too warm.
What is the difference between a poncho and a poncho scarf?
Mostly weight and drape. A traditional poncho is heavy, often wool, and built for weather. A poncho scarf is woven lighter, so it layers under a coat and works indoors as well as out.
Where to start
If none of this settled it, the honest answer is that most people should start with the semi solid or a paisley, because they go with the most and they are the ones we sell most of at markets.
Then read how to wear it, because the seam position changes the garment more than the colorway does.