11 Clips You Had To Have In The '00s

If there's one thing I miss the most about my preteen years, it's the excessive amount of hair clips everyone wore in the early '00s. I mean, I had drawers full and now, I'm lucky if I can find more than one bobby pin in my entire house. I miss the silliness and creativity of our hairstyles back then, pretending we were in Lizzie McGuire and wearing as many different hair accessories as possible to middle school. Maybe it wasn't always the best look, but it sure was fun!

I remember breaking down all my hair accessories into different sections: Clips, headbands, hair bobbles, mascaras and colored sprays. I had them all — mainly because they came free with my favorite teen magazines — and would spend hours experimenting with different ways to wear my many different clips in my hair at once.

Documenting the clips I loved and lost throughout the '00s was a fun idea, but it got when I realized that Claire's (the favorite store of any preteen) still sells most of these items! Get ready to watch me rocking spiral clips this summer, because there's nothing stopping me from bringing back early '00s hairstyles. It's going to be like 13 Going On 30, but minus the magic and without Mark Ruffalo (sadly).

1. Beaded Clips

Pink Mix Flower Snaps, $2.75, snapaholics.com

Snapped onto the ends of our braids, these clip on beads were often used in excess to create super cute results.

2. Clip In Hair Extensions

Synthetic Colored Party Highlight Clip, $9.99, etsy.com

These were hugely popular in my middle school, because almost nobody is going to let their 13 year old dye a strip of their hair lime green. Looking back, the plastic strands looked nowhere near as cool as I thought they did.

3. Cartoon Character Clips

The Muppets Kermit Cosplay Bow, $6.80, hottopic.com

As a budding emo kid in 2005, if I knew anything about hair clips it was that the quirkier they were, the better. This Kermit The Frog style bow totally fits the bill.

4. Butterfly Clips

Ombre Butterfly Clips, $5.99, claires.com

The most quintessentially early '00s hair accessory ever, don't you think?

5. Hair Spins

Bridal Crystal Rhinestones Floral Hair Twists, $7.99, ebay.com

Technically not a clip, as you screw these bad boys directly onto your skull, but I think they count.

6. One Oversized Clip

Classic Snap Clips, $6.29, amazon.com

That you must never, ever, use to actually hold back any hair.

7. Clip In Braids

Kids Ribbon Bow Hair Clip with Braided Faux Hair, $2.50, claires.com

Just like the clip in hair extensions, these were all the rage.

8. Clip In Fluff

Fluffy Baby Pink Pom Pom Hair Clips, $7.99, etsy.com

If anything on this list was going to come back into style, please let it be these super cute head fluffs.

9. Barrettes

Brown With Gold Foil Barrette, $2, claires.com

All I really remember of barrettes was having them rip out a chunk of my hair when it came to taking them out.

10. Bows

Mini Bows Hair Clips Set, $7.50, claires.com

Anything that could have a bow on it, did — clips, headbands and even hair bobbles. When it came to emo style, the bigger the bow, the better.

11. Colored Bobby Pins

Multicolored Bobby Pins, $3.50, ebay.com

It came to nobody's attention that bobby pins were meant to blend in with the rest of your hair during this time, and colored bobby pins were often worn in a line to keep your sideswept bangs firmly in place.

Hopefully this throwback list has filled you with a happy nostalgia for a time where wearing as many hair clips as you could was the height of style. Who knows, maybe one day soon we'll see all these early '00s hair clips back in our lives and back in our hair! I'm personally going to try to make it happen.

Images: Courtesy Brands (11)