Hair Accessories

Hair accessories are ornamental objects wrapped, tied, twisted, insertedor attached to the hair. Throughout history, types of ornamentation and materials used indicated religious status, class, age and level of fashion awareness. Infinitely varying in shapes and sizes, hair accessories come in the form of hair rings or bands, ribbons and bows, hairpins, hair combs, barrettes, beads, thread or string, hair spikes and sticks and other miscellaneous objects (shells, jewels, coins, flowers, feathers) perceived to have social or cultural value. Hair accessories have been worn by people of all ages and by both genders.

Ribbons and bows are narrow fabric strips of closely woven yarns or braid wrapped and knotted around the hair, also used to bind the hair.

Hairpins are single-pointed pins used to dress or fasten the hair. In central Africa, copper, wood, ivory and bone hairpins are used to fasten the hair. Hairpins continued in popularity as a means of fastening long hair into chignons.

Barrettes are metal pins about three inches long with a beaded head and guard cap, used to secure the hair. This bar-shaped hair accessory has a decorative face with an underlying spring clip to fasten to the hair. The hair clip is often made of metal or plastic in a variety of colours.

Headbands are hair accessories that also go back to ancient times.Men and women wore fillets or headbands to hold their hair in place. These circlets were placed on the crown of the head.

Beads used as a decorative means of accentuating plaited hair have long been worn by cultures in Africa. Cornrowing is a traditional West African method of arranging the hair into numerous small braids. Beads were also used to accentuate the plaited strands.

Thread or yarns that are assembled into an open, gauzelike fabric creates a netting. In the middle of the nineteenth century, nets called snoods were a fashionable way for women to confine long hair at the base of the neck.

Additional miscellaneous ornaments have been inserted into the hair over time and in numerous cultures including shells, coins, jewels, flowers, feathers, cow horns, bones, and sheepskin.

The School of Fashion Leather Accessory Design offers UG programmes to impart training in the area of Fashion Leather Goods, Garments & Accessories Design supported by training with real life studio and live projects under the guidance of internationally reputed design professionals and Industry experts.