When the Hair Claws Come Out

Sweater: Express; Jeans Princess Vera, Kohl's; Coat: The North Face, Sports Authority

Bag: Delia's, Dolls Kill

Skirt: Wild Fable, Dolls Kill; Tights: Isadora, Zulily; Boots Penny Loves Kenny, Amazon

Top: Bar III, Macy's

Bag: Apt. 9, Kohl's; Zigzag bangle: Strawbridge & Clothier; Chartreuse bangle: Mixit, JCPenney; Maroon bangle: Iris Apfel for INC, Macy's; Striped bangle: Target; Brown ring: Charlotte Russe; Chartreuse ring: Claire's

Hair clips: Wild Fable, Target

Mystery Necklace Number One; Neon necklace: Carole, JCPenney

Jeans: Mudd, Kohl's; Boots: Betsey Johnson, Macy's

Bag: Betsey Johnson, Amazon; Yellow bangle: Silver Linings, Ocean City; Green and orange bangles: B Fabulous; Blue bracelet: Cloud Nine, Ocean City; Rings: Seahorse Designs, Etsy

Clip: SHEIN

Plenty of Pineapples Necklace, Mystery Necklace Number Two

Next to the scrunchie, no hair accessory had a grip on the late '80s and early '90s quite like the hair clip or claw.  Once confined to the realm of hair salons, these fantastic plastic pretties topped the heavily hairsprayed tresses of trendy teens the world over.  (Well, maybe not the world over.  It would be tough to rock such an obtrusive ornament under a ski cap in Antarctica.)  And in recent years, they've made a comeback, allowing us to look, once again, like we're on the verge of a totally awesome blowout.  It's no wonder that I've taken to wearing one or two or as many clips as I can cram onto my head at a time.  Of course, collecting them is half the fun, especially when it means storing them in an era-appropriate Caboodle.  

Last weekend, for my nephew's trampoline park birthday party, I happily hauled out my rainbow-striped clip from SHEIN:

And although I stayed out of trouble -- and off the trampolines! -- I got to enjoy some '80s atmosphere in the form of a Care Bears claw machine and a larger-than-life Rubik's Cube tower.  As did the husband, who gamely posed next to the Rubik's Cubes.

Because you can't go wrong with kitsch and color and claws.  

Those '80s ladies were on to something.