How to style a velvet hair bow for the holidays

How do you style a velvet hair bow?

Styling a velvet hair bow comes down to three placements that always work and a little grip to hold them. Anchor the bow at the nape with a low ponytail, set it where a half-up section gathers at the crown, or clip it at the base of a bun. Velvet has a soft pile, the short raised fibres that give it that brushed feel, and that little texture catches against the hair and already helps it sit. A quick spritz of texture spray or dry shampoo at the roots then gives the clip something to bite.

The low ponytail is the one most people reach for, and for good reason. Gather your hair low at the neck, fasten it, and clip the bow just above the band so it hides the elastic and reads like the hair tie itself bloomed into a bow. A half-up version sits higher and frames the face, lovely with hair worn down for a party. The base of a bun is the quiet, grown-up placement, a bow tucked under a low twist where it peeks out rather than announces itself.

For a dressed-up evening, a bigger bow earns its place. The Big Velvet Hair Bow Emma - Burgundy is the statement one, a generous velvet bow on a french clip, the long hinged clip that grips a good amount of hair, in deep burgundy, the sort you set above a low ponytail for a holiday dinner and feel a little dressed the moment it is in. We set each bow on its clip by hand, so the loops sit full and a touch asymmetric, the way a bow tied by a person sits rather than a machine.

What do you wear with a velvet hair bow?

A velvet hair bow looks best against fabrics that contrast its soft depth, so pair it with cream linen, a camel coat, a chunky wool knit, or a plaid, and let the bow be the one rich, deep note in the outfit. Velvet reads warm and slightly formal, which is exactly why it lifts an everyday jumper and why it sits so easily with the dressier fabrics of the season.

Deep velvet against pale linen is the pairing we love most. A burgundy or wine bow over a cream or oatmeal linen dress gives you that storybook contrast, soft and rich at once, without trying too hard. For colder days, the same bow tucks happily under the collar of a camel wool coat or sits above a cable knit on a winter walk.

A word on jewel tones, because they are everywhere in December. A wine or moss velvet bow pairs naturally with the emerald, plum, and forest green of party dressing, picking up the same deep register. With satin or silk, velvet is the matte foil that keeps a shiny dress from tipping into too much shine. The deeper the bow, the calmer it makes everything around it.

Which velvet bow colour suits the holidays?

The velvet bow colours that suit the holidays are the deep, warm ones: wine, burgundy, and scarlet for the classic Christmas note, with gold accents for a little glow, and moss green or navy for a quieter festive feel. Deep colours read festive because they catch low winter light the way a candle does, soft and rich rather than bright and flat.

Burgundy is the one we reach for first every winter. It is dark enough to read elegant on a grown woman and warm enough to feel like the holidays, and it carries past the season better than a pure red. For the days that want full festive, scarlet and gold together is unashamedly Christmas. The Christmas Velvet Hair Bow Clip - Scarlet Red and Gold is our outright Christmas bow, scarlet velvet with a gold thread running through it, made for the day itself and the photos around it.

If red is not your colour, you have not run out of holiday. A deep moss green sits beautifully against winter neutrals, and a navy velvet bow is the understated choice that still feels considered at a dinner table. We dye our velvet in small batches, so the deep shades come out with real depth rather than a flat, washed colour, and that depth is most of why they photograph so well by candlelight.

A velvet bow for the holiday table and the winter family photo

A velvet bow is one of the easiest ways to pull a family photo together at the holidays, because the same deep colour worn across different ages reads as a considered look rather than a matched uniform. Pick one shade, burgundy say, and let everyone wear it their own way: a big bow on the eldest, a small clip on a girl, a soft headband on the baby.

The winter family photo is where this really pays off. There is something quietly lovely about a deep wine bow repeated down a row of heads at the Christmas table, the littlest in the same colour as her mother. It is the kind of small thing you notice years later in the picture. For the baby in the group, the Nylon Baby Headband Velvet Bow - Burgundy is a velvet bow set on a soft, stretchy nylon band, so the smallest member matches the rest in the same burgundy without a clip in fine baby hair.

This is the Little Big Women idea made literal, the same fairy-tale touch worn from the baby up to the grandmother. We keep the deep colours consistent across the bow shapes for exactly this reason, so a family can wear one shade across every age and have it look like it was meant.

Wearing a velvet bow beyond the holidays

A velvet hair bow is not only for December, and a smaller one in a deep colour carries the festive look straight into everyday life, on a Tuesday, a school run, or a slow weekend. The trick to wearing velvet past the holidays is scale: a smaller, simpler bow in burgundy or wine reads as a warm seasonal detail through the whole of winter rather than a party leftover.

A small everyday bow is the workhorse here. The Small Velvet Bow Hair Barette - Burgundy is a scaled-down velvet bow on an alligator clip, small enough to clip into a half-up section before the school run and not feel overdressed at the kitchen table. It is the same deep burgundy as the statement bow, just dialled down for an ordinary morning.

Velvet suits the cold months in a way a summer cotton bow does not, so we think of a deep velvet bow as a January and February piece as much as a December one. Clip it low on a grey afternoon, wear it with a big knit and jeans, and the holidays leave a little something behind in your hair long after the tree is down. A bow itself is a quietly timeless thing, in and out of fashion for a century now, so a well-made velvet one tends to outlast whichever season first brought it back into your wardrobe.

Keeping a velvet bow looking its best

To keep a velvet hair bow looking its best, steam or spot-clean it and reshape the loops rather than soaking it, because velvet has a pile that flattens and marks when it gets wet and wrung. That gentle handling is exactly what lets one good bow last from one winter to the next. A quick pass of steam lifts a crushed loop back to full, and a soft brush stroked the same way the fibres lie brings the nap, the raised velvet surface, back to life.

Velvet does pick up lint and the odd hair, and that is the honest tradeoff for how rich it looks. A lint roller or a soft clothes brush before you head out is the whole of the upkeep on a good day. If a loop has gone flat from sitting in a drawer, hold it in the steam from a kettle or a steamer for a few seconds, then shape it with your fingers while it is warm.

We finish the loops with a light press when we make each bow, which is what gives them that full, standing shape in the first place. A little of the same care at home keeps them sitting that way. Store it flat, out of strong sun, and a velvet bow holds its colour and its shape for many winters. That is the whole of it.

One velvet bow, then, carries from the Christmas table to a grey Tuesday and on to next December, worn from the baby up to the grandmother. If you are choosing a colour for the season, you can browse the velvet hair bows and find the deep shade that suits your family. Make memories, live fairytale, enjoy every day.