Barrettes Come Back!

By Joshua Errett

In the insular world of fashion, it’s old ideas that are thought to be new, and new ideas that are always old. This post-modernist approach to what we wear has fueled some of the industry’s worst ideas, with sales of trucker hats and retro Converse shoes leading the charge. This seemingly never-ending cycle of new/old trends (ie. “80’s are out, 90’s are in”) has finally reached its limit. Instead of turning to the last generation of fashionistas for the next trend, we now look back in our own lives: Hair barrettes – considered a symbol of youth and exuberance – are making a comeback.
Often confused with the hair clip, barrettes are the small plastic hair accessory with both aesthetic and pragmatic uses. Trend-surfing celebrities such as Cameron Diaz, Jessica Simpson, Gwenyth Paltrow-Martin, Lucy Liu and Pamela Anderson have already been dabbling in the barrette look. And, like most “in” looks, barrettes are entirely unisex. A barrette would work well on any male looking to add a bit of oomph to his holiday hairdo or even just increase his gay-cred.
Whatever the style, barrettes are a colourful and inexpensive way to battle the greys and blacks of the long Toronto winter.