Headbands 'R Us

Ellen @ 4 years old with the everpresent kerchief

Taking a cue from Crazy Aunt Purl's post on bangs, I thought that I'd confess that I'm hooked on headbands. I've been wearing some form of scarf or headband since I was about 4 years old. Thanks, Mom.

When I was in grade school, you could buy a stretchy jersey or polyester band with the brand name "Pixie Band." They were soft, elastic and came in tons of solid colors. Of course, I had one for every outfit. Before the Pixie Band came out, my Mom would plunk a plastic bandeaux on my head or wrap one of her old kerchiefs around it to control my wavy curls. She was always trying to get me to cut my hair into a pixie cut (there's that pixie name again) or a little Buster Brown hairdo. The problem...both the pixie cut and Buster Brown were good for stick straight hair. Mine was wavy. My Mother just wasn't interested in fussing with my hair, she had better ways to spend her time. Oh nooooo, I'm not bitter.

Buster Brown and Ellen's Pixie Cut

In the past few years, since the knitting and crochet craze has re-emerged, I've seen many old patterns reinvented in a modern way. Like I said here, there's nothing new under the sun. I made my first headband on a dare from Regina. She gave me a pattern from the 60's that looked kind of Nordic or Eastern European....very cute. Later that year, I saw a similar pattern in Knitscene, emulating a Frida Kahlo style. Frida is very popular now, what with her free-thinking manifesto of empowerment and all, in a time of repression for women (1930's-1950's). The two patterns are almost identical. The difference is in the models. The model from the 60's is blonde and Swedish looking; the model for today's pattern has a Latin look.

My Current Wardrobe of Headbands

I've made three headbands with flowers on them. I wear the rust, burgundy and olive green one quite a bit. I made the colorful red, pink, aqua, yellow and lime green band for my Halloween Costume. I crocheted the solid burgundy band to wear on more conservative occasions.

Mom was right after all, headbands are easy and I do look good in them!