'90s Banana Clips Are BACK & They're Actually Total Life-Savers For New Moms

Let’s be very, very honest about this — pregnancy and childbirth change your body. Regardless of what tabloid headlines about celebrities’ post-baby bodies and Instagram #fitspo posts might tell you, the reality is that your body’s going to look and feel a little different after having kids — which means your clothes will probably look and feel different, too. Luckily, you don’t have to wear your maternity jeans and your partner’s ratty old college sweatshirts forever (unless you want to!). Mom Jeans is Romper’s guide to helping you figure out your postpartum wardrobe during the first few months postpartum and beyond.

Fashion is usually at odds with us new moms. Making regular clothes "work" postpartum is hard enough without tackling high-difficulty fashion risks or fiddly hairstyles. In the aftermath of my daughter's birth, I was exhausted, my husband was suffering male postnatal depression, and I had an undiagnosed umbilical hernia that made my belly protrude. Fashion didn't seem to have a use for me in my postpartum state, and certainly didn't make me feel better about myself — until the '90s made a comeback.

Like most millennials, I often cringe at my tween fashion choices. The way I remember it, I was a cross between Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the Spice Girls, and no one could tell me differently. Looking back at photos, the oversized jeans, scrunchies, and platform flip flops were ~a lot~. But as it turns out, the '90s aesthetic is ideal for a mom in the thick of new parenthood. The roomy pants and overalls speak for themselves, and when Alexander Wang brought back the claw clip for his fall 2018 fashion show, I realized how perfect those long-forbidden '90s hair accessories are for moms.

Banana Clip Pack Of Two $3.99 Amazon

If you've forgotten, or were too young the first time they were popular, the exact vibe of the the banana clip is:

... where Bananarama = your hair sassing about in a big, bouffanty mess on your head.

The postpartum period is full of change, and one thing in particular threw me for a loop — thin hair. Postpartum hair loss occurs around three to six months after birth as a result of your hormones returning to normal. It can last up to a year and is usually temporary. Luckily the shedding stopped for me after about a year and I was able to regrow most of my hair — I tried gummy vitamins to boost hair growth — but it's still not as thick as I'd like it to be.

That's where '90s-big-hair and banana clips come in.

Banana clips are known to add a ton of volume to hair, which is why they were so popular during a time when big hair was a symbol of your feminist powers, or love of hairspray, or something.

Celebrities like Kristen Bell have been seen rocking banana clips recently and since I needed an easy way to deal with thin hair postpartum, I ordered some online and decided to give it a try.

I wish I could say it was like riding a bike, but it had been so long since I used something other than hair elastics that I needed to refresh my memory. So, I watched YouTube videos (try this one by MMandLshow) to figure out how to snap my hair shut in the jaws of my $4 clip with style.

My first attempt was a very messy ponytail. As I practiced, it got easier. It's not as simple as tying your hair up in a messy-bun or putting it up in a claw clip, but once I got the hang of it, wearing a banana clip really saved my postpartum hair sitch. I only wish I had known about this sooner.

Wearing a banana clip instead of a traditional hair-tie makes your hair appear thicker. Normally my ponytail looks like a wispy little fountain, but with the banana clip, my hair looked more like it once had. Having figured out how to operate this '90s deep-cut, it suddenly felt like, well, I turned around and saw a little bit of the old me staring in the window.

Oh hi, hello.

Banana clips transform my fine postpartum hair into something more worthy of "Wannabe" and they also abide by the grabby toddler commandment of "Put'st thou'st hair up or it will get yanked'st." They're cheap, ~in style~, and easy — I mean they do come from a fashion era in which it was cool to look like you got up out of the hair salon chair mid-way through, with a head full of clips.

If you're afraid to give '90s hair clips a try because you don't want that frizzy rock-star look, don't be. Banana clips are back and better than ever and with a little practice you'll have big Working Girl hair, too. To bring this trend into 2018, just smooth your hair with gel or hairspray. Banana clips are perfect for moms who think of washing their hair as an exotic form of self-care. And if you want an easier go of it, get yourself a bunch of claw clip (pro tip: embrace the tortoise shell).

I don't know about you, but I'm ditching the messy bun and oversized tote for a banana clip and fanny pack because #MomLife.

Check out Romper's new video series, Bearing The Motherload, where disagreeing parents from different sides of an issue sit down with a mediator and talk about how to support (and not judge) each other’s parenting perspectives. New episodes air Mondays on Facebook.