By Radhika Bhirani, IANS
New Delhi : Hair bands are no more the boring accessory worn only by schoolgirls. They are now a rage among teenagers and even young women, and are available in a medley of colours and designs.
Seventeen-year-old Pragya Khanna gushes with excitement at the very mention of hair bands. “Oh hair bands are my favourite! I love the ones with polka dots. They make me look very trendy,” she said.
The market is flooded with hair bands of various shapes, sizes and colours – from plain black metal ones and thick, zigzagged ones to the sequined, polka dotted and glittery variety.
From what used to be sold by a local vendor for Rs.10 a few years ago, hair bands could now cost as much as Rs.300.
“Our starting range is Rs.25 for a basic hair band and goes up to Rs.250 or above for the fancier range,” said Hema Khosla, store manager of ‘AccessOreez’, a fashion accessories shop here.
“Hair bands are popular among girls of all age groups. We stock shiny, sequined, cloth, plastic and metal bands among many other styles and they have a good market,” she explained.
While women in their early 20s prefer broad hair bands and colourful cloth bandanas, the younger ones opt for fancier ones adorned with glitter and sequins, Hema said.
But hair stylist and beauty expert Ambika Pillai feels college-going and working women should avoid the fancy types.
“This whole concept of grown-up women wearing fancy hair bands is very childish. Hair bands are meant to keep your hair away from the face and it is fine if children flaunt the fancy ones. Elders should stick to plain ones only,” she told IANS.
Tarika Sharma, a 21-year-old college student, agreed with Pillai and said she usually wore a thin black hair band to keep her short hair away from her face.
“I think fancy hair bands look good only on kids. For me, a plain band works the best,” she quipped.
But there are many who feel the colourful ones are indeed very stylish.
Nitya Kapur, an HR associate, is often ridiculed for the variety of hair bands she flaunts at her workplace. But that doesn’t deter her from wearing one every day.
“I purchase all sorts of hair bands and I like matching them with my outfits. If it serves my purpose of keeping my hair off my face and I have an option of using coloured ones to jazz up my look, then why not?” the 25-year-old remarked.
Why only women, there are quite a few young men who have taken a fancy to the hair accessory, specially after actors like Abhishek Bachchan and Arshad Warsi were often seen sporting them.
And cashing in on the growing demand are the local accessory vendors.
“Big stores sell fancy hair bands at very high prices. Our sales increase if we sell a similar looking band at even half the price and customers today are ready to shell out that amount easily,” said Brajesh Kumar, a roadside accessory vendor.