A ponytail might just be some tied-up hair. A water bottle might just be an ordinary item. But tying a bow on them adds a special personal touch, students said.
As seen on Instagram, TikTok and especially Pinterest, bows and ribbons have emerged as a way to add a pop of color or a personal sense of style to any item.
First-year Nicole Milliman said she finds that bows add a feminine touch to objects that are otherwise plain.
“I have started tying bows around less conventional things like the doorknob of my dorm and on the strap of my school bag,” Milliman said.
However, Milliman said she found herself to be ahead of the trend.
“I started putting bows in my hair almost two years ago because one of my favorite singers, Gracie Abrams, did it,” Milliman said. “I loved how girly and fun they were and how they could transform an outfit.”
Even before she started accessorizing with bows two years ago, Milliman said she found a feeling of childhood nostalgia accompanying her connection with them.
“As we grow up, there is an unspoken understanding that we are too old to tie bows in our hair and accessorize every little thing,” Milliman said. “But this trend has entirely changed that.”
First-year Mia Banuelos finds the trend speaks to the prominence of femininity.
“I think bows are super cute and add more of a feminine touch,” Banuelos said.
Junior Aoife Klopcic said that ribbons and bows can even help decipher your personal items from others’.
“Other people may have this thing or that, but you can tell which one is mine because of the bow or ribbon I have on it,” Klopcic said.
In the past year, conversations surrounding topics of girlhood and femininity have increased, according to an article from Mashable. Whether it is trading bracelets at Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour or discussing feminine relationships after the “Barbie” movie, the topic of girlhood is on the rise.
Klopcic finds the emergence of bows correlates with the escalation of conversations for women regarding topics of girlhood. She said she noticed the bow content increased across social media about a month after these conversations — surrounding what girlhood truly means — surfaced.
“With the important discussions of feminine empowerment recently, it makes sense that the bow trend has risen in popularity,” Klopcic said. “Although they’re really just simple ribbons, they give girls a way to make their items or hair more girly.”
However, as with many feminine trends, the public has a mixed reaction — some find the trend over the top.
The bow trend has “gone too far,” according to The New York Times. The article highlighted voices that called the trend a “parody,” “inside joke” and “hyper feminine.”
Regardless of mixed feelings, bows are ultimately a way to express femininity, and girls should be able to feel secure in having a way to display that, Klopcic said.
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Email Amanda Monahan: amanda.monahan@pepperdine.edu
