Hairband Heyday

Remember the humble headband of the 1960s? Made of cheap plastic, it had little “teeth” and kept the hair out of your eyes in a utilitarian kind of way.

Well, the headband has gone uptown. No longer relegated to the five-and-dime ghetto, today’s fancy headbands lurk in chic boutiques and upscale department stores.

They come in padded black velvet, embossed leather or tiger stripes. The teeth are gone, and the bands themselves are wider than the ones we had as kids. And they’re worn as fashion accessories, to set off fuschia and platinum hair and mix with everything from cocktail dresses to leather jackets.

“Mine matches my purse. I get a lot of compliments,” says Colleen Chestnut of North Hollywood, who sports black patent leather over her shoulder and perched on her head.

“I have really heavy hair and little clips just don’t do it,” says another headband convert.

At The Limited in Sherman Oaks, business in sophisticated headbands is brisk. The stores have about six styles, including brown leather, imitation ostrich skin, black velvet and a fabric hairband in a tapestry pattern. Cost: $12.

“We’ve had to re-order,” a sales clerk says. “They sell out fast.”