Does the Death of Silly Bandz Mark the Return of the Slap Bracelet?
Today the New York Post reports that slap watches are the new Silly Bandz. Only, as anyone who came of age in the late 80s well knows, what the Post is hailing as "the new" is really just a slap bracelet (the short-lived accessories craze of the late 80s/early 90s) with a watch face on it. Which is exciting since slap bracelets were awesome. They were also banned because the metal strip inside the fabric that snapped over wrists often became exposed and caused injuries and they were subsequently banned from many schools. At least they were banned from my elementary school and that was a sad day for the girls of Lafayette Elementary School in Washington D.C. "Slap watches -- whose straight, plastic bands curl around a wrist when they're slapped against it -- are being aggressively pushed by some merchants as the latest in cheap, colorful, mix-and-match fashion," the article reads. The story goes on to quote numerous retailers, including Henri Bendel, who are pushing slap watches and have declared silly bandz "over." Allen Ash of Almar Sales Co., told the Post he expects to sell a million slap watches this year and said, "Silly Banz may still have a little life on the West Coast, but they are completely over on the East Coast."