Baby barrettes

Fashion Synopsis

The 90's trend of girl power embraced anything that celebrated femininity and girlhood, and the best way to reunite with the child inside was to clip on some baby barrettes. Little plastic barrettes shaped like flowers, animals, and novelty kid stuff weren't just for first grade anymore.

The cute clip littered the hair of big girls during the baby regressive days of the 90's, when girls took a field trip back to preschool and dressed in pretty baby doll dresses with knee socks and Mary Jane shoes. Pony and pig tails became the hairstyle of choice for long hair, and the best way to tame those bangs was with a barrette.

Other girls cut their hair short like Lilith Fair idol Sara McLachlan, pulling back the wispy strands with girly baby barrettes. Butterflies were clipped into hair, scattered about like a migration landing on the head. Tiny sections were pulled back with little twists of hair, and a butterfly, perched and ready to fly, secured each strand.

When the infantile fixation finally faded by the late 90’s, barrettes went back to the heads of the little girls they belonged to. But for one brief, glorious moment, big girls got to have fun too.