Wide plastic headbands that won't give my big ol' noggin a headache?

March 9, 2019 5:56 PM

Calling all big-headed accessory lovers: I have a somewhat large head for a woman. I love the look of wide plastic headbands that have been covered with fabric, a la this model, but typically they give me a headache because they are just a bit too tight. Have any of my larger-headed compatriots found a source of wide, flexible, plastic headbands that don't cause headaches?

The weird thing is that two or three times in the past, I HAVE found Goody brand or other drugstore brand headbands that are wide, soft and fit JUST RIGHT... so they do exist!

And I know the soft fabric ones don't have this problem, but due to my head shape and hairline placement, soft fabric ones flatten my hair while the hard plastic ones add a little volume and structure to my face!

posted by rogerroger to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (8 answers total)

Response by poster: Oops and to clarify, when I said "wide, soft and fit just right" I meant the plastic was soft and pliable, not that they were fabric headbands!
posted by rogerroger at 5:57 PM on March 9, 2019

If you've got one you like apart from it being a little too tight, you should be able to give it a permanent stretch by fitting it to some object slightly larger than your head, then using a hair dryer to heat it evenly until it smells like really hot plastic, then letting it cool.
posted by flabdablet at 6:30 PM on March 9, 2019 [2 favorites]

This is depressing, but I am you — big skull, wanted that kind of headband in the past, never found one that wasn’t painful. And I looked for a long time.
posted by LizardBreath at 6:47 AM on March 10, 2019 [1 favorite]

This is why I wear metal headbands that I can shape to fit my oversize noggin.

My dad wore big hats, my son has a huge head, they worried that my grandson had hydrocephalus until they measured my son's big head and realized it was genes. Sucks that women's hats are One size that won't fit *you*.
posted by theora55 at 7:17 AM on March 10, 2019 [3 favorites]

Plastic headbands and other plastic objects can often be reshaped a little by softening them in boiling water. Making a headband slightly wider is exactly the kind of small alteration in shape that is mostly likely to succeed and the flexible plastic used in headbands is the type of plastic most likely to be softened by boiling water.

Failing that, simply try stretching your headbands on a head form.
posted by Jane the Brown at 8:27 AM on March 10, 2019 [1 favorite]

Twenty-four-inch head lurking. The headaches, the headaches.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 4:18 PM on March 10, 2019 [1 favorite]

Best answer: This is the kind I have that doesn’t hurt my head Goody Ouchless Headbands
posted by amapolaroja at 12:35 AM on March 12, 2019 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: I have found my big-headed soulmates! It seems like there is a market for this, won't somebody start their own brand of wide headbands for large-noggined head-havers?!

Thanks amapolaroja, it looks like Goody has a whole line called "Ouchless" that I will look into!
posted by rogerroger at 10:08 PM on March 13, 2019