Cue my own hairbow experiment: I already snapped up a smaller, more understated bow at J.Crew the minute Kate Middleton was pictured wearing one, but I was eager to kick things up a notch now.
First, I checked in with Trygstad for some tips on pulling off a bow in 2023. His number one piece of advice is to not overthink it—in fact, he loves saving ribbons from pretty packages and gifts and turning them into hairbows. “Translucent bows, finer ribbons, anything silk or velvet. You’d be amazed what you can create with a clip and a hot glue gun,” he says.
For everyday wear, Trygstad’s go-to look is to sweep hair to the side and clip the bow further back behind the ear. “Positioning a hairbow to the side creates easy dimension, but also adds a bit of romanticism,” he says. Of course, the most obvious and easiest way to style a bow is either with your hair pulled half-back or fully up. Also, the sleeker your strands, the more grown up your bow will feel.
And if you want to go bigger and bolder, Trygstad says to consider the proportions of what you’re wearing with the bow. “You want to think about the entire look. If you’ve got a big sleeve, you want a bigger bow; for an exposed shoulder, an oversized bow also feels right. But you can also add a bow—say, a 1/4-inch or 1/2-inch to a sportier look.”
