Last updated on December 27th, 2021 at 10:58 pm

The scrunchie is back! Depending on your viewpoint, that might be good thing or a bad thing. As we head into summer, hair accessories become more important. We are looking for ways to wear our hair that both keeps us feeling cool and looking good.

We’ve rounded up some of our favorite hair accessories, including hats, to give you some summer styling ideas. We have different hair types – Jen has more easily managed hair while Dianne tends to struggle a bit with her fine hair. So, we’re giving you several options for both types of hair. We hope they work for you, too!

And, one more thing! Are you a pet parent and would love a matching scrunchie and bandana for you and your fur baby? We can help you with that, too, and it’s all in the Harper Girls family. Scroll down to learn more!

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Jen’s Hair Choices

I’ve been using the same Goody Ouchless Elastic hair ties for as long as I can remember. I always wear two on my right wrist. One if I need to put my hair in a ponytail, and one as a backup if one breaks. Or I need to give one to someone. 

If you get our newsletter (and if you don’t, what are you waiting for?) you’ll remember I touched on the comeback of hair accessories briefly. 

I’m not going to give up my black hair ties, but I have started using different hair accessories! 

Trends I’m Into

Scrunchies

Never thought I would go back to using scrunchies, but here we are. I usually only use them at home though, not out in public. And not as a fashion statement around my wrist. 

Something I am really into are these Kitsch Satin Sleep Scrunchies. I didn’t realize sleeping with your hair down can end up doing a lot of damage. Right before bed I put my hair in an easy bun on the top of my head, and secure it with one of these scrunchies. 

Sometimes in the morning half of my hair has fallen out of the bun (my hair is a little too short in the back to stay on top of my head). But it does feel like I’m taking better care of my hair. 

Headbands

I used to wear headbands when I first started working, but over time they stopped being as cool. Or at least my style started evolving to be less preppy (I had a Lacoste headband that I loved, so yea). 

Recently I got a couple beautiful knotted headbands (lots of beautiful options here), and started rotating them into my outfits. Like when I dressed up for a Zoom baby shower! 

Still not totally sure how to wear it though – do I push all my hair back with the headband? Do I wear it in the middle of my head with some front pieces of hair hanging out? 

How do you wear headbands? 

Trends I Haven’t Gotten Back Into Yet

Hair clips/Barrettes

I still use hair clips occasionally, but usually when my hair is in a ponytail and I need to keep the hair underneath from falling.

I’ve seen so many cute hairstyles with hair clips – pearls, rhinestones, fun sayings. But I have no idea how I would wear them! 

Part of the reason is probably that up until quarantine I had swoopy bangs. And in my mind wearing fashion barrettes would look weird (it probably wouldn’t, it’s just what I thought). 

Claw clips

I don’t know if/when claw clips were in or out of style, but I haven’t worn them in a long time. When I was in middle school, everyone (or just me?) wanted the cool French twist-esque hairdo that was spiky at the top. 

That’s not quite what I’m going for anymore, but using a claw clip would be a good way to keep my hair back. And it would help prevent breakage that a pony band or scrunchie might do. Just make sure you don’t try and rest your head on anything! Ouch! 

These claw clips have a TON of 5-star reviews on Amazon, so they might be worth a try!

Dianne’s Hair Choices

Jen and I have a lot of things in common – but the “hair gene” is not one of them. Jen has beautiful hair. Even though she would complain that she can’t curl it, I would trade places with her in an instant. My hair has a double whammy – it’s thin and it’s fine. So when it comes to hair accessories, I am not going to be able to add a lot – except for maybe a couple of hats.

But I know that I am not the only one out there with this type of hair, so I challenged myself to see what options us “thin, fine” hair gals have going for us. Here’s what I came up with:

Scarf Hair-Ties

In addition to my hair being fine, it’s also not very long. So, a ponytail can be pretty tough to pull off. But I do like these scarf hair-ties – I am trying them for the first time. They give the illusion of volume around my ponytail and there are also just pretty and feminine. The one I am wearing I got at Old Navy (my specific print is sold out), but I also found this cute set on amazon.com.

Headbands

Headbands seem to be really seeing a raging comeback this year. As Jen mentioned, the knotted ones are really popular and so cute that I bought one earlier this year. It was a surprise to me that it didn’t suit me. I was going to say that it was “too young” for me, but, as you know, we “preach” that you can wear anything at any age and I do believe that. So what I really felt was, for me, it gave me too much of a school girl look that doesn’t really match my style.

Instead, I opted for a more a more traditional, sleek look and found this one, also at Target. I like the faux leather, it makes it more contemporary to me. While I like how it looks on me, I am still not sure it matches my personal style. I don’t think it would be something that I would wear on a regular basis, but for certain occasions, like maybe an outdoor party, I would consider it. It is cute and it can be functional in keeping your ha

Hats & Visors

Because of my “hair issues” as I call them, I often fall back on hats and visors for the summer. I do love to play golf, so instead of a ponytail, I will opt for a visor, which also offers protection from the sun for my face. I’ve worn them for golf for years and last year I added a straw one as more of fashion accessory. I wrote about the straw visor in our last newsletter (as Jen says, if you haven’t signed up, why not?) and linked to this one specifically on amazon.com. The straw visor is lightweight and comfortable and I wear it when I walk my dog in the summertime.

I love baseball and I do love baseball caps. I’m never 100% that they look good on me, but I like the sort of tomboy look that they give you. My friend Kerry has called me a “sports chick” for years and she’s right. I love sports, so wearing something sporty suits my style. You can get a lot of nice sports gear designed for women at fanatics.com.

And lastly, the traditional beach hat. These just scream summer to me. I mostly wear them at the beach, but on occasion, mostly if I am on vacation I will wear them with a sundress out to dinner. They just give you that vacation feel. I really like the fedora looking beach hats – I think they are more versatile. You can wear them to the beach and also out to dinner as I mentioned. I found this fedora beach hat on amazon.com that comes in over 30 colors and is packable!

Matching your scrunchie with your fur baby!

As we teased above, there is a way to wear a scrunchie that matches a bandana for your pet. Our sister/niece, Brittany is the founder of Mutts & Meows Pet Accessories, which offers hand-sewn bandanas, bow-ties and neck-ties for your pets. She has matching scrunchies and face masks too. We really love this combination Brittany is modeling with her fur baby, Gunner. Use the code HARPER to get 20% off anything on the site!

What are your favorite hair accessories? Let us know in the comments below. And if you haven’t signed up for our newsletter yet, you can do it at the link right HERE!