The short answer is that a wrap travels better and a scarf wears better. A travel wrap is large enough to work as a blanket on a plane, a shoulder cover in an over-air-conditioned room and a layer over a coat, which is three jobs from one item. A scarf does one job well and takes almost no space. If you are choosing one for a trip, the wrap wins on usefulness per inch of suitcase, and it is the reason so many of them are literally sold as travel wraps.

Where the scarf wins is daily wear. A wrap is bulky around the neck and tends to end up carried rather than worn once you are off the plane. A fine scarf can be knotted, looped or left long, and it works under a coat collar, which a wrap cannot.

So the real answer depends on the trip. Long flights and cold interiors: take the wrap. City trips where you are outside and moving: take the scarf. Below are both, plus the pullovers and cardigans that pair with either.

Size is what separates a wrap from a large scarf. A true travel wrap runs roughly 40 by 80 inches, which is enough to fully cover your shoulders and lap. Anything under about 30 inches wide is a scarf however it is labelled, and it will not do the blanket job. Mini wraps sit around 25 by 70 and are a genuine middle ground: warmer than a scarf, far less bulk than a full wrap.

On fibre, the useful numbers are fibre length and ply rather than the word cashmere. Longer fibres pill less. A two-ply knit is warmer and more durable than a single ply of the same weight, and it costs more for that reason. Superfine cashmere in a fine gauge is what you want for something worn against the neck; a brushed or fluffy finish looks lovely and will pill within a season wherever it rubs, which on a scarf means the exact spot under your chin.

Pilling is not a defect, it is friction, and it happens most on the softest brushed finishes. Depill with a cashmere comb rather than a razor, going in one direction. Wash by hand in cool water with a wool detergent, press the water out rather than wringing, and dry flat. Never hang a knit and never hang a wrap, because both will stretch out of shape at the fold.

With a wrap, the version that looks deliberate rather than airport-bound is to fold it once lengthwise, drape it over the shoulders and let the ends hang, or to throw it over one shoulder like a stole. Belting it over a coat turns it into a layer rather than a blanket. Avoid wrapping it several times around the neck, which is where the bulk becomes obvious.

With a scarf, keep the volume proportional to your outerwear. A fine knit or silk scarf tucked inside a collar works with tailoring. A chunkier fringed scarf needs a coat with enough shoulder to balance it, and it fights a slim blazer. A large silk square is the most versatile of the lot, since it works at the neck, on a bag handle or over the head.

Underneath both, keep the knit fine. A wrap over a chunky sweater becomes shapeless. A fine crewneck, V-neck or turtleneck gives the wrap something to sit against, and a fine cardigan gives you a third layer you can remove indoors, which is the whole point of dressing for planes and cold buildings in the first place.

We travel with a wrap and wear a scarf at home, and after a lot of flights that split has held. The wrap earns its space on anything over four hours or anywhere with unpredictable indoor temperature. On a short city trip it stays in the bag and the scarf does everything.

On spending, the wrap is the better place for the money. It is larger, it takes more fibre, and a cheap one is immediately obvious in both hand feel and drape. Scarves are the category where mid-price does genuinely well, especially in silk or a fine wool-cashmere blend.

If you take one thing away, check the dimensions before you buy. The single most common disappointment here is a beautiful wrap that turns out to be 28 inches wide, which means it will never do the job you bought it for. Forty by eighty, two-ply, fine gauge. That is the one that travels.