Growing up as a child, it was a staple accessory to have plastic headbands. All shapes, colors, designs, all the headbands available on the market, little girls had to have. It is a very practical piece of hair accessory that has been around even during the pre-Hellenic times. All right, so there were no plastics then, but the use and function was the same.
Plastic headbands became very popular because of the versatility in colors made available as well as the fact that it was very cheap. Compared to other headbands made of fabric and designed with rhinestones or Swarovski crystals, they are cheap and expendable. There is no denying that girls and women love to own really expensive and well designed headbands, just look at the pictures of starlets and actresses who sport Grecian inspired designer headbands that are worth hundreds of thousands of dollars because of the crystals, or precious gems integrated into it.
These headbands are really meant to keep the hair off the face or the keep the hair in place. Especially for little girls who love wearing their hair long, the headbands manage to keep them look tidy despite the scrapes and mud on the knees. When the little girls lose them, it is no heart stopping event. Just another day in the life of little girls who love to play.
Plastic headbands are also designed with faux crystals and made to look like tiaras. This gives the little girls to play ‘pretend’ and be the princesses in their story books. Most of these tiaras come with different costumes and there is not a young lady who loves to swirl in front of the full length mirror and admire themselves, thinking they are the most precious of princesses, just like in their story books.
Life for a little girl without plastic headbands is totally insane. They have to have one, or two, or more. Make that a boxful, there is never enough. They love color coordinating their headbands with the clothes they wear and denying them of the really simple happiness is like cruelty wielding a whip. What makes matters more complicated is when sibling rivalry rears its ugly head. I have to buy two of each kind of plastic headband, one for each of the girls. There is nothing worse than seeing the sister have a headband that she did not herself have. So is that spoiling them? I don’t think so. They’ll eventually get over it. At least, in my own way, I gave them simple pleasures in really cheap accessories.