How did hair accessories become the quintessential pièce de résistance of 2021? Perhaps it’s the mountainous number of Zoom calls permeating our lives, invariably asking we style ourselves magnificently from the waist up. Virtually every hair accessory has made a comeback, a statement of self-expression that echoes much of the exuberant playfulness we’ve seen the fashion world lean into this season. First came the scrunchie, then followed hair clips, headbands, Grace Kelly-referencing silk scarves and so on and so forth…
Below, find your favourite hair accessory microtrend and look forward to many killer good hair days to come.
Relinquish the side-part, consider a few Gen-Z approved hairpins
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By all accounts the Tik Tok generation has made it clear – skinny jeans, unsustainable brands and all other aged-out fashion relics must go, and this includes side parts. Instead, centre part your hair and frame the face with a dainty hair accessory. While hair embellishments were once a thoughtless aside, designers such as Simone Rocha have elevated the designer hair pin to a cult status of its own. Now, brands like Chanel and Gucci have all followed suit with their own signature pieces.
Rosantica Polka crystal and faux-pearl hair clip; Hk$816 at matchesfashion.com
Rosantica Polka crystal and faux-pearl hair clip; Hk$816 at matchesfashion.com
Gucci Gold-plated faux pearl hair slide; HK$555 at net-a-porter.com
The mighty claw clip returns with more than meets the eye
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Popularized in the ’90s, these millennium accessories helped to sweep our crimped locks or streaky blond highlights back in one fell swoop whilst maintaining an illusion of grace and playfulness. Who remembers trying to perfect the artful twisting of hair before safely securing it with a glittery and bombastic-looking oversized clip? Now back in a dozen or more styles, claw clips will have you abandoning those pesky hair elastics that are, frankly, uninspired.
Barrettes are back! No, not the Parisian hat
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You heard it here first, barrettes are no longer reserved for young children or petit ballerinas-in-training. Barrettes, we don’t mean the rounded, knitted-wool hats worn by Parisian folk (see: berets for that). Clip your hair back with a bold, bedazzled rendition from Miu Miu or opt for a more colourful vintage Chanel piece.
And when all else fails…the trusty scrunchie will prevail
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Don’t take Carrie Bradshaw for her word. The fictional New Yorker style maven may have declared that, “No woman who works at W Magazine and lives on Perry Street would be caught dead at a hip downtown restaurant wearing a scrunchie”, but we are now firmly living in a golden era of these gentler and kinder hair bands. With silk iterations, sustainable fabrics and almost every pattern you could possibly conjure up, scrunchies resurfaced back in 2019, and by the looks of it, show no sign of leaving.
Editor
Rachelle MaCredit
Lead Image: Getty Images
