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The Scrunchie. Once relegated to the same drawer as retainers and acne cream, the highly contested accessory is again seeing the light of day. But before you bemoan its resurgence (“a scrunchie?” said Carrie Bradshaw), take a look around: Bella Hadid recently upped her athleisure look with a white version, just as Lily-Rose Depp used one to hold back a slapdash chignon. For Selena Gomez, the hair tie was even good enough for a romantic stroll with beau The Weeknd in Buenos Aires.
However, it’s on Instagram where the accessory reigns supreme, as It girls put their own socially shareable spin on the throwback trend. Note model Leila Rahimi, who’s been pairing scrunchies with everything from a lacy bustier to a voluminous blouse to a chain-wrapped unitard. Réalisation Par founder Alexandra Spencer’s photo of a blush pink circlet holding back her signature flaxen lengths has been making its rounds on Tumblr, while New York City–based Brit Vanna Youngstein insists she’s never stopped wearing the toppers that her grandmother made for her in “every color and fabric imaginable” as a child. For those without a crafty gram, consider turning to Comfort Objects’s “hair clouds” made of vintage Hermès silk scarves, or French label MaisonCléo, which includes a complimentary scrunchie—crafted from the same floral, gingham, and eyelet fabrics as their dresses—with every order.
Perhaps it's fashion’s collective obsession with all things ’80s that’s to thank (or blame) for the accessory’s second coming. Or, perhaps it joins the ranks of bold pieces like the square-shouldered suit and statement sleeve that continue to give women that little extra display of strength. As stylist Diletta Bonaiuti, who alongside a gaggle of girlfriends (Gilda Ambrosio, Giorgia Tordini, and more) wore one to pull back sea-drenched lengths in Sardinia, says, plain and simple: “We believe in the power of the scrunchies.”