1980s Accessories: Banana Clips

Banana Clips came in an array of colors

Today, my good friend Rene mentioned how she wants to bring back the 1980s Banana Clips and I couldn't help but chuckle. First it was my buddy Tracey and her silly EG Smith slouch socks. Now Rene will be shopping eBay for colorful Banana Clips (not to be confused with the banana seat bikes) for her side ponies.

Did you own a Banana Clip in the '80s?

For those of you who are too young or too old to remember, Banana Clips were popular in the mid to late 1980s. Named after their obvious shape, these over-sized clips were used as offbeat ponytail holders.  The hair comb type teeth kept the hair from slipping out while providing a loose ponytail.

Unfortunately, I never had hair thick or long enough to sport one, most of the girls in class wore them in colors that matched their stirrups or leggins. To be honest, my most favorite hair accessory to this day are those braided ribbon clips made from different colored ribbons. Yes, 1983 was a great year!

Click here to purchase a Banana Clip for $5.

Rockin' Early 1980s Accessories

Somewhere between 1980 and 1984, there were four accessories a little girl had to have!  All of us early 1980s fashionistas needed the following:

Feathered Clips - I was told later on that these were actually called "roach clips" -- at age 8, I obviously didn't know this term. I was the oldest of two, so I didn't have an older brother or sister around to borrow one of my many colorful feathered clips and use them to snag a few hits from their joints. Nope, for an innocent child, these were simply clips I could attach to my clothing, hair or Jordache purses. You know, just keeping up with the trends!




Jordache Purses - I had one of these Jordache bags in every color. I remember the purses were small little sacks one could purchase at the mall for a very reasonable price. This meant I could get one to match each outfit. In my case, too young to babysit at the time, my mom was relieved to pay only about $2 per purse to aid in my addiction. If I'm not mistaken, they came in a wide variety of colors and fabrics such as a satiny silver material or leather and baby pink, yellow, red, blue, etc.

Friendship Pins - These cool safety pins were great! I'd load them up (small and golden were by far the safety pin of choice) with tiny colored beads and attach them to purses and backpacks. They were coined "Friendship Pins" because they were often given to or traded with friends.







Braided Ribbon Barrettes - My mom was awesome! She knew how to braid my hair and how to braid ribbon--two things I to this day cannot master for some reason. This also meant I couldn't make friendship bracelets which kinda sucked. Braided ribbon barrettes or hair clips were so hot. I couldn't get enough of 'em. I had to have a set of barrettes to match every outfit I owned. I remember cool color combos of pink and blue, pale green and yellow, pink and white and my most favorite pair - red, white and blue for my red, white and blue mini nautical themed skirt which I loved to pair with a white sailor's hat. There was a time when red and royal blue were my favorite colors. 

I'm quite sure crafty folk are making and selling all of the above '80s awesomeness on Etsy. I'm tempted to head on over there and load up on some!


P.S. I realize that I failed to mention many other hip '80s fashion accessories such as Gummi and jelly bracelets, colorful plastic charm bracelets and necklaces, friendship bracelets, headbands, antennas attached to plastic headbands and other fun items, but I promise to touch on that at a later date...