We first told you about them back in March. Silly Bandz are rubber bands, often in neon colors, that are shaped like everyday objects: a guitar, a baseball bat, a princess.
Unlike the beige round elastics stashed in your desk drawer, these are meant to be worn on the wrist, and they snap back into their original silicon-molded shape – a turtle, perhaps, or a dinosaur or tiara – when you take them off.
Children like to collect them by the Ziploc bag, and some principals have banished them, saying they’re a distraction.
The New York Times reports that now adults are embracing the fashion fad.
Mary-Kate Olsen and Sarah Jessica Parker have been seen wearing them, as have the model Agyness Deyn and her friend Henry Holland, the House of Holland designer.
Kelly Ripa wore them on “Live With Regis and Kelly” and got Regis Philbin to put one on, too. Even the food writer and TV host Anthony Bourdain was photographed for New York magazine a few weeks ago with a turquoise one on his wrist.
“It’s a natural progression for the product,” said Robert Croak, the president of BCP Imports, the company in Toledo, Ohio, that makes Silly Bandz. “When we developed them, we always thought they’d be a great fashion accessory for all ages. Kids just took to them first.”
People their 20s and 30s are introducing one another to the bracelets’ charms. They hand them out to friends at bars, or even to strangers on the train.
Photo by The New York Times.