Unsettling: AA Bringing the Scrunchie Back

Racked is no longer publishing. Thank you to everyone who read our work over the years. The archives will remain available here; for new stories, head over to Vox.com, where our staff is covering consumer culture for The Goods by Vox. You can also see what we’re up to by signing up here.

Blog The Frisky points us to a disturbing new product from American Apparel: the scrunchie. Cue a rant: "Did American Apparel really need so many kinds of scrunchies? Gold lamé scrunchies. Flourescent scrunchies. Nautical scrunchies. One would have been more than enough, but 407 different kinds of scrunchies is just bratty. And scrunchies are not a 'throwback to every girl’s favorite ‘80s accessory.' You’re bastardizing the ‘80s, is what you’re doing." It's alarming, mainly because many American Apparel products we initially scoffed at—bodysuits, acid-washed jeans—are now popping up everywhere. If we see satin scruchies come down the runway this September, it will truly be time to panic.
· Stop Trying to Make Scrunchies Happen, American Apparel [The Frisky]