Many people believe that wearing bows in your hair is strictly reserved for kindergarteners on picture day—those people are sorely mistaken. It may have been a decade (or two) since the last time you wore a bow in your hair, but we’re determined to change that. Not only are bows adorable and fun, we’ve got just the thing that will take your bow from kindergarten to girls night out: velvet.
Velvet is back and it’s better than ever. From bodycon dresses and jumpsuits to shoes and hair accessories, velvet is all the rage. Why not upgrade your favorite ’do with the fabric everyone just can’t get enough of? We’ve rounded up five styles that look great with velvet and will leave you wondering why you ever stopped wearing bows in your hair in the first place.
Low Bun
Take your basic chignon from understated to on-trend by adding a velvet bow. Start by parting your hair to the right, to the left, or brush your hair straight back and secure your strands in a ponytail at the nape of your neck. Then, wrap your ponytail around itself until it forms a bun and fasten the bun with several bobby pins. To complete your look, wrap a velvet ribbon around the chignon and create a loose bow.
High Ponytail
When you think of high ponytails and bows in your hair, you’re immediately transported to a 1950’s sock hop complete with juke boxes and poodle skirts. Swapping out a traditional satin ribbon for a velvet bow in a deep green or burgundy is the perfect way to bring this dated hairstyle into the 21st century.
To begin, brush all of your hair up to the top of your head and secure the ponytail with an elastic. Once your ponytail is in place and secured, backcomb the tied strands to create a voluminous look. Then take your velvet ribbon, wrap it around the hair elastic to give your pony a polished look and tie a bow so that it sits on the top of your head. Set your style with a medium hold hair spray.
Half Up
For this look, feel free to skip the velvet ribbon and use a premade velvet bow hair clip instead. Loosely gather the sections from the front half of your hair and secure it with the hair clip at the back of your head.
Corset Braid
To begin, part your hair down the middle and braid a cornrow on either side. Once the braids are complete, take a long velvet ribbon (for this particular style we recommend using a thin ribbon) and thread it through the first two inches of one braid. Then, thread the ribbon through the opposite braid so it lays flat across your head like the beginning of laced shoes.
Next, thread the ribbon coming out of the left braid through the right braid as though you were lacing up shoes. Continue threading the ribbon through the opposite braid until you reach the bottom of both braids. Tie the remainder of the ribbon into a bow at the bottom of the braids for a final touch.
Headband
A velvet bow is the perfect way to update this classic look. You can opt to wear your hair with its natural texture, or consider placing a few waves in with a curling wand. Start at the back of your head, working with 2-inch sections of clean, dry hair. Spray each one with a heat protectant before wrapping it around the curling wand, away from your face. Hold each section of hair to the wand until it’s just heated through (approximately 12 seconds, depending on the thickness of your hair).
Continue curling 2-inch sections of hair until you’ve finished your entire head. Once each section is curled and has cooled, reach for a wide-tooth comb to gently brush through the curls—this will separate and loosen the ringlets into soft, long-lasting waves. Then, bring the velvet ribbon underneath your hair and wrap it around your head securing it in a bow at the crown of your head. For a final touch, pull a few strands out from the headband to give your ’do a more tousled look.
