Scrunchies

[pne]

For some reason, I was thinking about scrunchies just now, the things some people put in their hair.

I googled randomly and a couple of the top hits were an entry in urbandictionary.com saying essentially "something that formerly everyone wore, but that you can't wear today without being chased out of school" and a website discussing whether the "don't wear scrunchies in public" rule applied or not.

Are scrunchies really that passé?

Comments

[asciident]

Yes, very. At least here.

[asciident]

Which is not to say no one uses them, but they're more of a "I'm slumming around the house" sort of thing.

[pne.livejournal.com]

Ah. That would explain the "not in public" rule that this one page alluded to... if they're more associated with how you dress when you're at home and nobody sees you.

[leora.livejournal.com]

They are apparently the thing you want if you're going to an 80s dance.

[ubykhlives.livejournal.com]

Exactly the comment I was going to make; particularly the great big ones in fluorescent yellow, green or pink. Very '80s.

[angelsk.livejournal.com]

I have a plain black one, minaly because my hair is too thick and heavty for a normal bobble :)

[fledchen.livejournal.com]

I don't pay attention enough to know whether people still wear them or not. I never wore them much because I had to use a regular elastic under them, because they were never strong enough to stay in my hair on their own.

[missysedai.livejournal.com]

If they are, I'm in trouble. I wear them to keep my hair back off my face all the time - they're kinder to my hair than snap clips, and they don't have to be cut out like some elastics.

When someone comes up with a way to hold this mop up that doesn't damage my hair, they can dis my scrunchies. Until then, they can bite me.

[nitaq.livejournal.com]

Forgive me but
WHAT ARE scrunchies?

[ladyortyger.livejournal.com]

Yes. Especially if you are older than ten years old.

[jpallan.livejournal.com]

The only hair things my daughters find acceptable are headbands or snoods.

HTH. :)

[pne.livejournal.com]

Leo translates them as "Haargummi", though that's not quite it, since for me that invokes an image of merely an elastic band.

Scrunchies also have an elastic in them, but they have some material around them which is pulled together slightly by the elastic.

Here's a picture:

[pne.livejournal.com]

What's a bobble?

I remember when I was last in England (several years ago), my cousin's daughters referred to something in their hair as a "bubble" (probably the same thing) but I don't remember what it was.

Google Images brings up mostly cartoon figures.

[pne.livejournal.com]

Funny, the UD definition calls it 90's: "A 90's hairpiece. Formaly worn by EVERYONE, and is now an embaressment to society."

[kamara.livejournal.com]

http://www.melanielewisdesigns.com/Hair%20Bobbles.htm

Hair bobbles! Been *years* since i've last worn a bobble. Although I do usually carry one around with me should i ever need it.

[nitaq.livejournal.com]

AH... I've got those.
You can have them if you want to.

[pne.livejournal.com]

Oh! I know those. No idea what they're called in German, though.

What do you call those things out of metal that have a rough oval on the top and a kind of "tongue" on the bottom, that you clip open, slide some hair in, and clip shut again?

On the right, here:

The first thing that comes to mind is "hair grips", but aren't those strips of metal that are bent 180°?

I'd call the metal ones "Haarspange" in German, which LEO gives as "barrette"... but I associate those with plastic, often brown, ovals with a movable/slidable tongue rather an a "clippable" one (you slide the "tongue" backwards on a longish hole at one end so that the other end of the tongue isn't lying on the other end of the oval any more, than move it up; then slide hair under and move the tongue back down, and slide it forward to rest on the oval again)... hm, can't find a picture of those.

Hm, and then there're these things: which I don't have a name for at all... And little, often butterfly-shaped plastic spring-loaded things with kind of "comb" prongs:

Asking a female coworker isn't particularly productive; it appears that German doesn't have a whole lot of words to differentiate the various kinds of hair accessories, calling pretty much everything either "hair elastic" or "hair clip".

[pne.livejournal.com]

Okay, why not.

BTW, I've seen that the qepHom seems to be fixed now; at any rate, there's a web page up about it now, with the last weekend in November as the date.

I'll try to come, and my wife and daughter might be coming along as well. (Though they may or may not participate at the lessons -- probably not.) Depends on various things.

[nitaq.livejournal.com]

Remind me to bring them scrunchies.

[volantwish]

I would call the metal thing a "hair clip" or a "barrette," and I've often heard the butterly-shaped thing called a "claw."

[angelsk.livejournal.com]

An elasticated band with thread wrapped around and some kind of metal fastener. Urm, hard to describe. Apparently called ponybands in Boots :)
http://www.boots.com/brandtreatment/product_details_brand_treatment.jsp?productid=1054679&classificationid=1031917

[pne.livejournal.com]

Oh! You call those "bobbles"?

Interesting. "Haargummi" ("hair elastic"/"hair rubber") for me.

Thanks!

[angelsk.livejournal.com]

They are all bobbles for me. I never use "elastics" or "scrunchies" as terms to be honest.

[pne.livejournal.com]

I think "scrunchie" is an American term.

[angelsk.livejournal.com]

1. Hair clips
2. Hair grips
3. Barrette
4. Hair clamp? Possibly. I will have a think.

[angelsk.livejournal.com]

Quite possibly.

[pthalo]

no one tells me these things o.O

they're fine in europe.

[lexabear.livejournal.com]

More American-speak here....

Barettes are most metal things that clip hair together. Scrunchies are definitely a thing of the past, though some people still wear them around home because they're easy to use. I remember in the anime Kare Kano (I think the American title is "His and Her Circumstances"), the main character girl is a typical super-overachiever who is the best student, pretty, dressed well, etc at school, but as soon as she gets home she throws on sweats and a scrunchie. The tiny barettes that clip I also call "clippies".

Elastics are the general term for little loopy things. Recently they've started making ones without the little metal bits, which are better for your hair. Some of them come with plastic decorations on the ends; these are generally only worn by kids. I've also used orthodontic rubber bands for the same purpose.

Bobby pins are the brown or black 180-degree metal ones. They're generally used just for pinning up the little bits of hair that always escape from more elaborate arrangements.

The giant plastic claw-like ones.... I'm blanking on a name for, but I know I'll remember it later. Right now all I can think of is "those giant clips". Although I would describe it as claw-like, I don't call them claws.

[pne.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

[sphyg.livejournal.com]

Yes, according to Sex and the City. However, I wear them quite regularly, especially in this hot weather, as they give me fewer headaches than normal bobbles. But I do make sure I buy black/velvet/vaguely classy scrunchies.

[marikochan.livejournal.com]

I use them quite frequently, and no one's ever commented on them to me, but I haven't noticed if others wear them. Thin elastic hair things (I actually do call them "hair things") tend to tangle in my hair, since it's very long, and I've had to cut them out before, so I prefer scrunchies for ponytails.

[subbes]

Hair clip
Bobby pin
Barette
'claw'?

....oh look, they rolled out the new comment form with the openid stuff and it looks HORRIBLE. Don't ever let programmers design pages.

[subbes]

Scrunchies are gentler on your hair than elastics. Satin ones especially. But, yes, they're passe.

[sovereigna.livejournal.com]

(agreed)
1. Hair Clip
2. Bobby Pin
3. Barrette
4. Claw or Butterfly Clip

And we call them scrunchies as well, altho no-one would be caught dead wearing one ;)

[sovereigna.livejournal.com]

LOL. I used to have a pink scrunchie with black spots on it and I loved it. It was bigger than most of them and I wear it around my head and fold my waist length hair through it so it looked like I had a short bob! ...Until my sister and I argued about who it belonged to and my father put his foot through it and stretched it out. (we were younger than 10 :P)

The butterfly clips I do like however they never hold my hair unless it's a good shape, and my hair is wet..

Thin hair ties-- bad. Unless you want to cut it out and do as much damage as a rubberband.. So I tend to wear the really thick hairbands without the metal join in them..

And the bobbles? They come under the same category as the scrunchies.. there are things you just don't wear if you're over 10 or no longer dress up like barbie :)