Scrunchies Are 2019's Biggest Fashion Trend — Here's How They Came Back in Style

Late last year, my inclination for scrunchies began out of necessity — I needed something to pull my hair up and was tired of using regular hair ties, which were causing my hair to break off and fall out. Plus, I decided to get bangs last fall, and didn’t love how my hair fell on my shoulders when it wasn’t half-up. So I started wearing black ones by Scünci that I stole from my mother, who buys them at CVS and wears them every night while washing her face. And so my love for scrunchies began.

Now, almost a year later, I own so many scrunchies of so many different varieties that I’ve dedicated an entire dresser drawer to my collection. Each morning I enjoy nothing more than picking out one to match with my outfit, and I wear them so often that I even briefly added the phrase “scrunchie enthusiast” to my Instagram bio. But most importantly, scrunchies are both a fun and easy accessory that serves a dual function in my life: They’re a simple way to spruce up my outfits, and they keep my hair out of my face.

I’m not the only one jumping back on the scrunchie bandwagon. They’ve been everywhere lately — first off, all of our favorite celebs have worn them, including Selena Gomez, Hailey Bieber, Bella Hadid, Lizzo, and Ariana Grande, and even actor Jason Momoa has sported them on his wrist. Plus, in the third season of Stranger Things, which debuted in July 2019, main character Eleven was seen sporting a scrunchie in her hair during an iconic moment in the fourth episode, and the hair accessory is also a key element of the VSCO girl aesthetic, with VSCO girls wearing them all over TikTok in every color, in their hair and on their wrists.

Then just last week, designer Maryam Nassir Zadeh sent “scrunchie scarves” down the runway at NYFW, and back in July, the Armani Privé fall 2019 couture showcased scrunchies for one’s forehead. Meanwhile, I’ve also noticed scrunchie-like fashion taking over my Instagram feed, including a scrunchie that doubles as a tiny bag, bags with scrunchie-style handles, scrunchie headbands, and even scrunchie-inspired tops. Clearly scrunchies aren’t going anywhere anytime soon, but why are they back again?

Hallie Spradlin, an accessories director at trend-forecasting agency Fashion Snoops, says the scrunchie comeback is part of the influx of nostalgic culture we’ve been seeing in the last few years. With all the television show reboots, movie remakes, band comebacks (Backstreet Boys, Spice Girls... the list goes on), and old-school fashion collabs, it’s only natural that fashion would mirror the times.

“Trends are cyclical and always have some sort of cultural resonance, and we've already seen it in trends like baby tees and even before that, for a brief while, jelly shoes,” she says. “Scrunchies seem to be the next wave of a comfort item that has an innocence and nostalgic attachment to it, especially for millennials and older Gen Z consumers.”

Our collective passion for scrunchies could also tie in with our return to dressing like children (as a child of the late ‘80s, scrunchies were a mainstay in my childhood), but there’s another factor that could be at play here: Maybe people just want to be more lax with their hair, have some fun, and make life a little bit easier. And if a small piece of colored or patterned fabric with an elastic band offers them that, then so be it.

So now that we know why they’re back (again), where did the scrunchie actually come from?

Invented in 1963 by Philips E. Meyers, who went on to start the hair accessories brand Scünci, the small piece of elasticated fabric was actually not patented until 1987, when Romy Revson, a nightclub singer and pianist, became fixated on the idea of making something that would keep her hair pulled back, according to Nylon. The Guardian has also reported in 2013, that “a Vancouver woman, Jane Reid, is said to have had some on show at a hair accessories fair in the late 1970s.”

In a 2016 interview with Talk Business, Revson said, “I don’t know why, but I became somewhat determined to figure out an invention that used fabric instead of plastic or metal.” As Brit+Co reports, Revson wanted a “gentler alternative to the plastic and metal hair ties that kept damaging her strands.”

Inspired by her own elastic waistband pants, she felt inspired to go out and buy fabric, a needle, and a bobbin, and make something that mimicked the same puckering detail — the first prototype, a black-and-gold doodad, is part of the Smithsonian Museum’s collection today, as is Revson’s first sewing machine, according to Brit+Co.

Why was the scrunchie so revolutionary for women in the 1980s? Perhaps it’s because the product solved a legitimate problem for women. In a time when big hair was in, the scrunchie offered women a way to pull it back without damaging it, unlike standard rubber bands, while taking basic hair ties to the next level. On top of that, it was just another way to accessorize their already over-the-top looks.

It also didn’t hurt that celebrities like Madonna, Paula Abdul, and various characters in Heathers (1988) rocked scrunchies of all different varieties, from sparkly metallic ones to bold-hued iterations; they also doubled as wrist accessories. The trend continued into the ’90s — they were worn by everyone from Cher (Alicia Silverstone) in Clueless (1995) and Michelle Tanner (Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen) in Full House (1987–95) to Phoebe Buffay in the early days of Friends (1994–2004).

In 2000 and 2002, NASA astronaut Pamela Melroy wore a blue scrunchie during Space Shuttle missions to the International Space Station, which has since been donated to the Smithsonian’s collection (yes, scrunchies have made it to space). But by the mid-to-early 2000s, scrunchies seemed to have become a faux pas, as exemplified by that awkward moment in a 2003 episode of Sex and the City when Carrie Bradshaw mocks her writer boyfriend, Berger, for putting a character in his novel in a scrunchie. The accessory continued to be seen as passé into the early 2010s; for example, Harper's Bazaar published a story in 2013, titled “Five reasons we hate the scrunchie,” declaring that the accessory should be banned and that it “belongs firmly in the past.”

When did the scrunchie make its way back onto our ponytails? In late 2017, Balenciaga showed a crinkly leather scrunchie stamped with a gold logo in its resort 2018 collection, with Vogue dubbing it the “hypebae scrunchie” while other outlets, like Man Repeller, began to notice the trend, asking, “Is the scrunchie trend making a comeback?”

That same year, Fashionista reported a Frederikke Sofie scrunchie look in March 2017’s Vogue, Bella Hadid donned one during a Nike-related appearance, and Mansur Gavriel featured them in its September 2017 runway show. By the time we entered the year 2018, the trend had officially arrived again, full throttle, as a multitude of stories were published by outlets including Allure, Man Repeller, British Vogue, Who What Wear, The Zoe Report, and Slate, firmly declaring the scrunchie was "back."

Nearly nine months into 2019, and the trend has continued apace, with scrunchies of every variety appearing everywhere right now. There are furry scrunchies that remind me of Sesame Street, pearl-decorated scrunchies, sparkly days-of-the-week scrunchies, and every kind of printed or fabric scrunchies imaginable (currently I am obsessed with this denim one by Hardeman). Balenciaga has taken the trend to the next level, even offering scrunchie bracelets, which are the same thing as regular scrunchies.

With the scrunchie resurgence in full swing, I’ve also discovered some cool, homegrown brands, including Rat Boi, a Ventura, California–based scrunchies brand made from local, recycled materials. Founder Alexa Coughlin, 29, recalls, “I was getting a haircut over a year ago, and my stylist’s hair was up in this navy velvet scrunchie. I complimented her on how cute her hair looked, and she said ‘Really? I throw it up in this when I’m too lazy to style it.’” Coughlin was inspired and ended up not only wearing a scrunchie every day after that but completely redesigning her own scrunchie — one that used stronger elastic like the ones she grew up wearing and upcycled silk that would be gentle on the hair and prevent breakage.

Another brand, the Chantal Crop, takes thrifted shirts and transforms them into crop tops that each come with a matching scrunchie. “I love how scrunchies let you extend your personal style above your neck,” says founder Chantal Strasburger. “I can have the most badass outfit on, but without a little somethin’ somethin’ topping it all off, it feels incomplete. It also happens to be the best type of hair tie I’ve found for keeping a messy topknot in place, and when it comes time to let my hair down, it doubles as a fun, chunky bracelet.”

For these designers and myself, scrunchies aren’t just hair accessories. In fact, they go deeper than that. Whether one chooses to wear one due to laziness, functionality, a desire to make a statement, or even an attempt to connect with their younger self, it seems scrunchies make our lives a little more enjoyable or easier, so really it’s no wonder they’re back full throttle.

We truly can’t wait to see where this trend will go next.

Originally Appeared on Teen Vogue