Start screen-grabbing those 20%-off coupons, because you can purchase the hottest red carpet hair accessories at the craft store now. Yes, you read that correctly: the craft store. Celebrity hairstylists have been working fabrics and threads into their clients’ locks lately, and the results are unexpectedly modern. Think ribbons that look more polished than Pollyanna, and DIY hair wraps that are a far cry from the look your bunk mate gave you at camp.The trend comes from a few of the top hairstylists in Hollywood, and is surprisingly easy to copy. But best of all, these textile styles don’t require a ton of products, hot tools, or sewing skills — yet the result is incredibly elegant. We first noticed the trend pop up on the always-daring Rooney Mara, then on Elizabeth Olsen, and finally on Saoirse Ronan at the Golden Globes. All of the versions were different, using crafty supplies in even craftier ways.
Ahead, our favorite versions — plus, pro tips for scoring the looks at home.
For Adir Abergel, the hair-bling inspiration came from a recent trip to Morocco. “I saw all of this beautiful threading that they were doing with the caftans,” he tells us. Woven between threads of many colors were strips of gold that added a special shimmer and texture to the clothing — so why not lend that same effect to hair? Once home, Abergel visited a fabric store for spools of thread — and endless ideas.
At the Golden Globes, Brooklyn star Saoirse Ronan’s princess hair sparkled thanks to a fine, gold twine that Abergel wrapped around two slim braids. Remember hair wraps from your childhood? It's the same idea.
The result was incredibly ornate — nothing like what you'd expect from a craft store.
Meanwhile, Abergel kept the front of Ronan's 'do simple and sleek.
At the MoMA Film Benefit, Abergel's longtime client Rooney Mara’s hair looked like a work of modern art itself. The secret? He wrapped the ends of her twisted ponytail with gold thread. “It allowed her hair [to] be her only jewelry,” Abergel tells us. “A bit of gold thread can really add so much. This is minimalism at its best.”
Mara’s other recent fabric-laced 'do is hardly as minimal. For the London premiere of her film Carol, hairstylist Ken O’Rourke riffed off of a samurai-like style, binding her double ponytails together with a silk, lavender cord. Check out the front and side views here.
This easy-to-copycat take on a bound ponytail is far simpler. To create Elizabeth Olsen’s undercover three-tiered ponytail (doesn’t it look like it’s just one long mega-pony?!), hairstylist Mark Townsend stacked three separate tails and wrapped them together with a spiral of velvet ribbon. He secured the look with just a few bobby pins...
...and left the front perfectly understated.
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