Gone are the days of simple black rubber hair ties. It’s not that they don’t exist—they just feel boring now compared to all the other options. In the past couple of years, hair accessories have gotten big, literally and figuratively.
Tying your hair back into a ponytail is no longer just about getting your hair out of your face; it’s about making a statement. You can buy an oversize bow from Vaquera so large, it looks from afar like giant bunny ears. Owning a certain colorway of Maryam Nassir Zadeh’s popular Carnation scrunchie is enough to make you a minor celebrity amongst a select group of fashion friends. Wearing a Sandy Liang Flower Power scrunchie on your wrist is like wearing a friendship bracelet for the internet’s coquette clique.
The hair accessory landscape has gotten so vast, it's starting to feel overwhelming. Below, we’ve put together a comprehensive guide to help you navigate your next ponytail.
For Downtown Girls With Peter Pan Syndrome
On Sandy Liang’s website, her products are often described with short, sweet haiku. The popular Flower Power scrunchie Liang introduced a couple of seasons ago—and which sold out quickly at the time—now comes in a variety of colors. It is described by the designer as such:
Pillow for your bun
Pink and satin-y
always 2.0 magic
When worn, it appears like a blossom around the base of your ponytail or braid; your hair is essentially a long flowing pistil. If you grew up wearing flower crowns, this might feel like a cooler update. The rounded cartoonish silhouette has the nostalgia of childlike wonder on its side.
For Urban Faerie Queens
What all the biggest hair accessories have in common right now is that they elicit the same diaphanous daintiness as wearing flowers in your hair. Maryam Nassir Zadeh’s Carnation scrunchie does indeed look like a carnation, and, when worn around a bun, transforms a messy updo into a bouquet. It’s a little more grown-up than the Flower Power and blends in more easily if you prefer not to stand out.
The Carnation scrunchie is for girls who grew up wanting to be fairies but found themselves scurrying around a city instead of flying through the woods. It’s the exact kind of piece you reach for to feel more feminine and put-together when you’re in a rush, and for extra quirk can be easily worn around the ankle or wrist.
For the Prom Princess Who Is Too Cool for Prom
Sandy Liang’s entire brand is about girlhood: longing for it, embracing it, embodying it. So naturally, her hair accessories all feel like the ones you wore growing up, or possibly even adorned your dolls with. As her haiku for the Corsage bow states: “Princess for a day / Or maybe forever / Pink satin black bow.”
This particular bow is more than just a way to channel the coquette look that has been trending forever—it’s a way to channel that special feeling you get when you try on something that makes you feel your best. It’s a corsage for the girl who doesn’t need a homecoming king; princess energy for a girl who just wants to be beautiful because she can be, not because she feels like she has to be for someone else.
For the Evolved Manic Pixie Girl
Looking like a Simone Rocha model is actually easier than one might think. All you have to do is clip two sides of your hair with her whimsical pearl hair clips, and you’re set. Pearls have become a signature adornment for the designer, and Rocha has helped them shed their stuffy reputation. Simone Rocha girls don’t clutch their pearls—they wear them in their hair and charm everyone they see with their playful look.
For the Aspiring Scandi Girl
Copenhagen is certainly to blame for the recent uptick in hair accessorizing, because every chic Scandi girl in the city owns a handful of flower clips by either Caro Editions or the popular Pico shop. Unlike the Carnation or the Flower Power, the Rosie hair clip could easily be mistaken for a real flower from afar. It also comes in a variety of sizes, if you want one that is comically large or one that is teeny-tiny.
The best aspect of the clip (versus a scrunchie) is that it’s not limited to being worn in your pony or braid. It can easily keep small bits of hair out of your face as the rest falls freely down your back. It also looks good clipped to the strap of a shoulder bag, for a more modern take on that just-went-to-the-farmers’-market vibe.
If You're Not a Flower Girl
Not every girl loves florals, and for those who prefer the look of ruffles, there’s Good Squish. Founders Billie-Jo Cronin and Phoenix-Blu Cronin say, “[w]earing frills, even if we’re feeling shy, is part of the Good Squish philosophy. Wear it big, proud, and wear it Squish!” Their scrunchies can only be described in three words: cute, cute, and cuter. They’re handmade to order and made of layers of different fabrics in bold colors or patterns and prints—a fabric crown you can wear in your hair.
Tara Gonzalez
Tara Gonzalez is the Senior Fashion Editor at Harper’s Bazaar. Previously, she was the style writer at InStyle, founding commerce editor at Glamour, and fashion editor at Coveteur.