You’ve seen absolutely gorgeous hairstyles for brides, with up-do’s created in intricate designs, soft and romantic arrangements of sections crossed over each other and pinned, loose gatherings in Downton Abbey-inspired styles that make the bride’s hair a work of art. It’s no wonder brides don’t want to cover their hair with a veil! The top trend in bridal hair is accenting with beautiful, sparkling hair combs and hairpins, adding just a touch of dazzle to their crowning glory.
The usual rhinestone hair combs and clips in bridal boutiques may be beautiful, but they’re usually mass-produced using plastics, perhaps coming from overseas factories that don’t exactly meet the standards of ethical production that you’d like to support. And even if they’re USA-made in reputable production facilities, they’re still a pale comparison to the new class of re-purposed bridal hair accents that are coming to the forefront of brides’ wishlists.
23 year-old Courtney Chamberlain, a college student with a minor in art, fell in love with the fabulous hairpiece worn by Bella Swan in the movie Twilight, loving the intricate design and old-world glamour of it. With many of her friends getting engaged and trying on hair accessories during their wedding plans, the topic of glam hair looks was a big part of their shared pre-wedding excitement. As an artist, Courtney tuned her focus into the styles and designs of various hair clips and pins on the market, and connected that to her mother Pam’s newly-launched eco-friendly website www.donttossit.com, which features artists in the creative and imaginative world of re-purposing items into amazing new creations. The two topics merged for Courtney, and she became a featured artist on the site with her dreamy collection of bridal hairpieces made with old brooches, buttons, earrings, pendants and other pretty baubles attached to hair clips and combs, with sprays of colored rhinestones, opalescent crystals, antique pearlized buttons and other lovely effects shown off.
Some designs stand on their own, for some pieces she combines multiple baubles for a new and artsy look, and for some that may be missing a rhinestone, she repairs the piece and gives it new life.
Courtney’s “Old, New, Borrowed, Blue” spotlight page on this artist-centric site features a range of hair clip creations that fit beautifully into today’s bride’s passion for unique and often colorful old-world, vintage-inspired hair clips and pins, including re-purposed hair clips in deep, jewel-toned shades to suit the bride who wants to add a pop of color to go along with her hued bouquet and even a pair of dramatically-shaded shoes. And since brides love to wear a one-of-a-kind creation, these types of re-purposed hair clips add an extra dose of excitement to the creation of their look.
There’s also the sense of connection to the artist herself. Like so many other eco-friendly products, part of the fun is knowing exactly who made this beautiful piece of art, knowing her story, and knowing that she made this piece lovingly by hand…and that a pretty little brooch or a lonely, solo earring now has a new life as a stunningly-spotlit thing of beauty worn by the bride on her Big Day.
Even better, decorative hairclips have some celebrity-inspired trendiness going on. The bride may opt to wear a veil and traditional headpiece, and then remove that traditional topper after the ceremony, replacing it with the new ‘2nd Look’ hair clips and combs for their entrance into the reception, perhaps with their train removed as well. It’s a way to get some extra Wow Factor during that exciting introduction into the room, and a way to go from head-to-toe bridal white and crystal to those pops of color that are so big right now.
Re-purposed hair clips and combs aren’t just for the wedding day. A bride wanting a special hair accent for her engagement party, the rehearsal dinner, and other special events can wear this pretty hairpiece in a simple push-back of one side of her hair, in a loose and romantic, curly up-do, or at the base of a chic, sleek, pulled-back ponytail. And she can wear these re-purposed hair clips in the future…getting more use out of them than the average bride does with a tall, drama-filled tiara.
Let’s not forget the bridesmaids and the moms. They too can wear colorful, intricate hair clips and combs made from brooches, earrings, and other costume jewelry. In fact, wouldn’t it be wonderful to find a departed grandmother’s collection of costume brooches and make a wedding day hair clip out of one of her treasures? The bride’s mom (or the bride herself) can bring a little bit of her into the wedding day by incorporating her pretty sapphire blue brooch into the design of a hair comb.
Bridesmaids can slide their combs into their hairstyles in their own chosen design, just like their bridesmaid dresses may be in different styles to show their personalities. One bridesmaid might wear her hairclip tucked into a low ponytail, while another bridesmaid wears her unique hairclip on the side. The looks vary, and everyone gets a truly useful gift from the bride who picks out the re-purposed hair accent with each bridesmaid’s personal style in mind. It’s an amazing gift, especially when bridesmaids get introduced to the art of re-purposing jewelry on their own, or explore www.donttossit.com to shop for artwork and décor.
