Bows

Hair bows have held a deeper meaning throughout their existence aside from being a fashionable accessory. They were even used for relationship status or as courtship rituals. According to Moritz, between 1590 and 1650, there was a trend called “love locks,” in which men (and sometimes women) wore a single lock of hair that was longer than the rest, that would hang over one shoulder and have a ribbon tied in a bow or rosette on the end, to represent having the love of another. Between 1600 and 1800, men would court women by gifting them ribbons bought at fairs (called “fairings”) to tie back their hair or adorn their clothes.