Paying homage to the banana clips
THE automatons at Alexander Wang’s autumn show clip-clopped through the empty cubicles of the old Condé Nast headquarters, at 4 Times Square. The models – many of them Asian, which was nice to see, since they are so often under-represented on the runway – marched along in taut black jackets and skirts, with zippers and zagging around the torso.
The effect was a bit like The Matrix meets The Devil Wears Prada. Much of it was hard-edged and lean; there was very little wiggle room in those clothes.
This was Wang’s homage to corporate women – the ones who put on a blazer and trousers or a dress and go to an office, rather than slipping into leggings and parking their laptop at the nearest coffee bar.
It was Wang refraining from turning his fashion show into a Wangfest party, which has been his preference in recent seasons. It was businesslike Wang, or at least a hyper-stylised version of business.
The models wore sunglasses, their hair was pulled back, and they looked intimidating, unreal and overly slick. Until they whizzed by and you got a look at what was going on at the back of their heads.
Banana clips. Sometimes one. Sometimes multiples. Banana clips are those large clips with the giant teeth that come to the rescue on a bad hair day or a running-late-for-the-office day or a just-can’t-be-bothered day.
They are the hair accessory stuffed into a bag for when the weather goes humid and that fresh blow-out suddenly stops looking so fresh. They are a post-workout necessity. A busy-day staple.
Hillary Clinton wore a miniature one when she was secretary of state and she is a woman who knows about hair and jam-packed work days.
The banana clip is not glamorous but it’s practical.
It is arguably more stylish that a scrunchie. But does it really matter? It’s an easy solution for the myriad of hair issues that might slow down a multi-tasking woman during her day.
The banana clip, in all of its 1980s, big hair, kitsch, cheesy glory, has been welcomed back into fashion by Wang. Women do not need Wang’s permission to clip. They’ve been clipping all along. But thanks for the support. – The Washington Post