By David Burton
Making everything a little bit sillier with their electric colors and vast array of shapes, Silly Bandz™ are quickly establishing themselves as a new popular teenage fashion. On campuses, in malls, at fast food chains, around the beach, on amusement park rides, these exotic new bands shine in the limelight.
Silly Bandz are a colored wristband accessory that look like normal wristbands when worn, but when taken off, recoil into the shape of something. The bands can take the form of giraffes, pelicans, polar bears and penguins. Some Bandz are letters or numbers. There are dinosaur designs, Halloween designs, Hello Kitty™ designs and Marvel Comics™ designs. Even teenage pop star Justin Bieber has “Bieber Fever” for Silly Bandz with his own customized package of 24 different shapes.
“They are fun to look at,” Danielle Strom ’11 said. “I’m constantly looking at my friends’ Silly Bandz trying to see what kind of unique design they are wearing.”
Silly Bandz started to emerge towards the end of last year, and the trend exploded over the summer.
“Last year, I had no idea what Silly Bandz were, but as I went on vacation over the summer and even when I stayed home, I saw more and more people with them, and I decided to get my own,” Courtney Hazy ’11 said.
Although Silly Bandz were originally popular fashion among girls, boys have joined in on the fun as well.
“They are a new thing, a new trend,” Drew Tuttle ‘11 said. “Just like Vans went through a trend and skinny jeans went through a trend, Silly Bandz also are going through that phase in which they are just worn by almost everyone.”
In fact, Silly Bandz have different designs that cater to guys specifically.
“I have a design of one of Michael Jordan’s shoes with his number inside of it,” Tuttle said. “There are definitely ones that guys can wear too.”
More and more guys have begun to wear them, usually landing their hands on one or two from a girl’s extensive private collection.
“Not many boys are willing to go to a store and buy a silly band, so we usually get one or two from girls whom we are friends with,” Josh Hearlihy ’12 said.
Fanatics of these new bands can be seen with 30 or 40 Silly Bandz around their wrists, ankles, water bottles and rear view mirrors of their cars.
“I’m always anxious to show my friends what kind of new Silly Band design I found. They are super cool, but I have to admit that they are kind of fun to wear and look at,” Kathyrn Gallagher ’11 said.
Although most people enjoy the creativity of Silly Bandz, some people are not so enthusiastic about this exploding fashion.
“They are fun for little kids. But other than the fun factor, they are pretty pointless,” Kellie Barnum ’11 said.
Others, like Barnum, prefer to look at the cool designs of other people’s bands, rather than to wear their own. But these few opposers to Silly Bandz will unlikely be able to keep the Silly Bandz phenomenon from growing.
“Silly Bandz are definitely on the rise, and I think they will stay a popular fashion for a little while,” Anthony Thompson ’13 said. Despite what people may say, as more people begin to incorporate Silly Bandz into their fashion, the evidence is there, Silly Bandz seem to be “IN.”
