Bluefield Daily Telegraph, Bluefield, WV

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August 29, 2010

From animals to tiaras — it's silly

By JAMIE PARSELL Bluefield Daily Telegraph

BLUEFIELD — What does a 7-year old student from the Mercer County School system have in common with celebrity actress and style diva Sarah Jessica Parker have in common? They are both wearing the latest trend in jewelry — Silly Bandz. Iowa College football player Jewel Hampton wore his during a pre-season game. And talkshow host Kelly Ripa wore her favorite Silly Bandz on her show “Regis and Kelly.”



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I wear Silly Bandz to work, the gym and to dinner on the weekends. I try not to wear the bright, colorful rubber bands to church on Sunday. What are Silly Bandz? A rubber band. But these are not the boring beige office rubber bands used to hold clusters of pencils, pens and folders. Silly Bandz — for folks unaware of the trend — are rubber bands worn as bracelets. Shaped into a fish, flower or a tiara, the bands stretch but snap back into their original shape. Sold in packs of five or more, Bandz hit stores without little or no advertising, but children went a little silly. They lined their tiny arms and wrists with multiple Bandz, often trading for different shapes and colors.

At a local pharmacy in the late spring, I witnessed the craze, while standing in line at the check-out. Parents and children sorted through a huge bucket filled with different shapes and colors. “I have those already” or “I need a pack of animal-shaped Bandz” could be heard above the beep of the register. And parents, eager to please their children, bought the small Bandz, along with necessities like pain relievers. After my first encounter, I started to notice Silly Bandz were everywhere — even advertised on the electronic signs at local stores. But they are just rubber bands? How could they be so popular? News from other school systems in the U.S. reported a ban on the trend. Apparently, children were too distracted by their wrists to concentrate on math, science and history. Summertime didn’t slow down the trend. Celebrities, athletes and adults began fashioning their wrists with more than just watches and bracelets. New shapes — Disney characters, seasonal shapes, beach themes — were added to the buckets at the stores. Suddenly, it didn’t seem so silly anymore.



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During a week long trip to Jamaica with a local youth group in July, a teen girl brought — what looked like 100 — Silly Bandz on the trip. She sorted through the bag on the bus ride from Princeton to Charlotte, N.C., proudly assigning shapes to members of the team, even the adults. And so on a sunny morning, somewhere between the Virginia and North Carolina border, I slipped on a castle, tiara and tulip-shaped Silly Bandz. I didn’t feel silly or even stupid for wearing a rubber band on my wrist like a diamond tennis bracelet. I felt like a kid again. Once home in West Virginia, away from teenager trends, I figured I would give my Bandz away, sliding back into the role of a mature adult.

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It has been a month and I still have my Silly Bandz. And I have added even more to my collection because a friend had sports and WVU Mountaineer shapes. I couldn’t resist the pink football, especially on the eve of the biggest high school game of the year. The professional — the working journalist — thinks the Bandz are silly, nothing more than a fad to make money. But the kid, the child who remembers slap bracelets, enjoys the mini distraction of bright colors and shapes. In the war between adult and child, the child wins the silly battle every day. Because during the stress of the moment, when deadlines loom ahead, a few Silly Bandz bring out the child-like smile in the simple, harmless joy of a new toy.

Jamie Parsell is the Lifestyle editor of the Daily Telegraph. Contact her at jparsell@bdtonline.com

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