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View Winners → Archive May 03, 2019
Photo by Ethan Gulley
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Photo by Ethan Gulley
It’s no secret that the 90s are back. Millennials are unabashedly nostalgic for a simpler time, when Super Models were Super Models and the phone line was left at home.
Fashion, as always, is a reflection of what we crave. Accessories in particular are detailed nods to who we are, what we love, and how we see ourselves.
Miss Lippy, the Australia-based company, calls out the 90s in their name. Specifically, 1995. In the iconic movie Billy Madison, the character Miss Lippy, played by Dina Platias, was Adam Sandler’s character’s teacher who always donned colorful hair accessories.
“I’ve always been a little obsessed with her,” Kelsey McCormick, Miss Lippy’s founder, waxes poetically about the iconic character, “She’s always been my muse for life.”
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As a social media manager for entertainment and music, Kelsey felt like she hit a “glass ceiling” creatively and in her career. At 29-years-old, the Maryland native, who came of age in Los Angeles, had accomplished almost everything she had dreamed of. But, after moving to Australia and feeling a desire for more, she decided to set off on a different endeavor.
“My friend at a job I hated, was wearing a hair clip one day. I stopped and commented on how cute it was, and asked her where she got it. After she told me it was $45, I was like, no way. I looked into manufacturing and immediately knew I could make something just as cute and more affordable.”
Needless to say, she quit that job and embarked on a beautiful new business venture.
The clips range from tortoise shell classics to glittery statement pieces. You can wear them individually, pair them with a partner, or mix and match for a stacked, statement effect.
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“I noticed everyone was getting into the idea of dressing the same…especially at my corporate job, a lot of my personality was lost in that uniform idea. That was the inspiration for how I decided to curate the brand. It’s about personality and not taking anything, not even personal style, too seriously.”
That’s how Kelsey came up with brand tagline: “Add some fun to the uniform.”
“It’s about capturing that personal style and that youthful self. Like Miss Lippy, the ultimate Kindegarten teacher, it is about play.”
The clips work on any hair style and texture, and once you start stacking, clipping, and pairing them together, you realize that the combinations are endless. There really isn’t a wrong way to wear them.
“It’s for people who want to break away from the mundane. The brand helps people add joy to their lives. It started off with me wanting that for myself and then offering it to those around me.”
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With Kelsey as its founder and operator, Miss Lippy is currently a small one-person, woman-owned company aimed at creating accessories that are both inclusive and express individualism.
“For example, why can’t men wear hair accessories? I don’t want it to be aspirational; I want it to be accessible to everyone.”
It is clear that expansion is inevitable for this exciting new company. Miss Lippy clears out the corporate, cold draft and brings sunshine and joy into wardrobes, one clip at a time.
Shop Miss Lippy here.
