Butterfly, flower
and heart clips in pink, yellow and blue crystal? If you're
not sick of baby-doll barrettes yet, you soon will be. Here,
some accessories that you can wear to yoga class, EJ's or
brunch at the Heathman.
1. Funk Locks
($8 for a five-pack at Hot Topic, Lloyd Center, 335-0264;
Clackamas Town Center, 653-6560)
Vancouver entrepreneur Rebecca Tomzik dreamt up these barrel-lock
babies after cutting off all her hair. "I was working on
another product that had those little locks and wanted something
for my hair. It was so short, and these made it stick out
and look funky," she told WW. Hence the name, Funk
Locks, which work best in cropped 'dos--once you figure
out how to use them. Each tiny lock, be it a square, oval,
ball, circle or rectangle, comes with a threading ring and
instructions, but I only figured the thing out with help
direct from the inventor (who says she is developing new
packaging with better directions). Tomzik, who also writes
screenplays and is a self-proclaimed dream chaser, seems
to have gained some cred with Funk Locks. "I sent a sample
to Hot Topic, and they ordered a couple of thousand the
next day,"she said. "They're now in 160 stores across the
country." Funk Locks may soon be in Tokyo as well--provided
the directions can be adequately translated.
2. Blax
($3 for an eight-count booklet at Bella Tocca, 117 NW
21st Ave., 295-4055)
Goody's got nothing on Blax. These minimalist elastics
are half the size of a regular rubber band but 10 times
tougher. There are no metal pieces or snag-prone threads
to wreak havoc on your hair--just slim black rubber. Blax
don't pull your tresses or cause breakage because they twist
and slide with ultimate glide, perfect for 'dos put through
the paces of sports and bedroom calisthenics. Slick as they
are, Blax grab onto your pony and don't let go, looking
chic all the while--sort of like a shiny garbage bag twist-tie.
They even come in a cool package, a (black) matchbook.
3. Ficcare
($18-$26 at Saks Fifth Avenue, 850 SW5th Ave., 226-3200,
and at Nordstrom, various locations)
Ficcare is the brainchild of two Californian sisters and
the darling of TV stylists. Launched just two years ago,
Ficcare now boasts 400 different styles of hair accessories
and a celebrity fan base including Helen Hunt, Alanis Morissette
and, uh, Tori Spelling. Portland might not be ready for
the glossy tools, which are intended to secure involved
hairstyles like the French twist and the peacock. We tried
the Innovation (or Bird Beak) clip and found that while
pretty and a damn fine weapon, the massive implement doesn't
hold up in long, thick hair. But for locks with less heft,
it may be the next banana clip; it's both ergonomic and
secure. We also tested the newer Dolphin clip (available
only at Nordstrom), with less success. It's designed with
a weird curve that does not form-fit the head. To their
credit, Ficcare instruments are handmade, come in an endless
array of colors and actually do impart a little Hollywood
glamour--if that's what you're after.
4. Vain Critter
Clip
($4 at The Future Inc., 1015 SW Washington St., 241-0875)
Leave it to Vain to come up with the antidote to warm and
fuzzy dragonfly barrettes. This radical hair-scare company,
which grew from a punk salon in Seattle, was the first to
craft products that make hair look messy; its purple grunge-up
goop Dirty Boy Dirty Girl still enjoys cult status. For
its clips, Vain passes up cute baby animals in favor of
real creepy-crawlies: spiders and lizards. But it's a cool
spider, with red legs and a turquoise, glittered body. This
bare-bones clip--a rubber bug crudely glued on a basic metal
clip--is probably pushing its luck even at the honest price
of four bucks, but it exerts fantastic grip. And it will
scare away suitors looking for girlie girls.
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Willamette Week | originally
published September 22,
1999
|
