Accessory for the hair

The present invention relates to hair accessories and more particularly a hair accessory comprising a fringe adapted in use to be attached to the head of a user and to overlie a front part of the hair and the forehead of the user, the fringe having a free edge and remotely therefrom a rear edge secured to and along a substantial part of the length of a member to be supported on the head of the user. Such an accessory is known from GB-A-1.035.195 but as described therein the accessory has the disadvantage of being in the form of a switch of hair shaped as a bang which occupies a relatively short central portion of the head of the user and so has severe limitations as regards the change in appearance of the user which its employment effects.

According to the present invention there is provided an accessory for the hair of the kind set forth characterised in that the member comprises a head band adapted, in use, releasably to engage, to be self-supporting on and to extend substantially from ear to ear over a forward part of the head of the user whereby the fringe attached thereto extends substantially from ear to ear of the wearer.

The invention provides a useful fashion accessory which can be made at moderate cost and easily removably fitted to the head to cause a change in the appearance of the wearer. Further, because the accessory of the invention provides a head band and fringe which, when the accessory is worn, extends substantially from ear to ear of the user, the fringe can be of a composition which imparts a dramatic change in the appearance of the user who may use a number of accessories according to the invention with respective different fringes from which to select the appearance it is desired to present.

Suitably, the head band may be a closed loop or may be in the form of an arch, the free ends of which are resiliently separable to facilitate engagement and retention of the band on the user's head and to the inner surface of which over a substantial part of the length thereof is attached the rear edge of the fringe. A suitable material for the arch is resilient plastics. The fringe may consist of real or synthetic hair, or strips depending from the head band, for example, a curved band of resilient material. The strips could be any desired shapes, such as elongated diamond shapes and a suitable material is coloured plastic. The strips may be attached so as to depend in overlapping fashion. As another alternative, the fringe could comprise strings of beads depending from the securing means. The strips or strings of beads could be releasably attached to a head band to permit interchanging.

In one form, there is provided a subsidiary band attached to both the fringe and the head band. The subsidiary band may be permanently attached to the head band or alternatively there could be releasable attachment means, such as material sold under the trade mark "Velcro" between the two bands.

Portions of the fringe may be coloured in respective different colours and, if bright colours are used, special effects can be achieved.

In one preferred form of the present invention, the fringe has two or more layers of hair or other material each attached to the head band, so as in use to overlie the forehead on the user. This would permit an appearance of layering if the fringe was suitably cut or arranged. Advantageously, two or more of the layers respectively comprise material of different colours. For example, one layer could be blue and another layer red. The accessory may be supplied with a complete overlap between the layers when attached to the head band, so that only the front layer is visible. The customer can then cut the front layer as desired to reveal an area of the differently coloured layer directly behind. Alternatively, the accessory could be sold with two or more layers of different lengths overlapping so as to present, in use, different coloured portions of respective layers. Each layer could comprise material of more than one colour, with for example a common colour such as silver being present in each layer.

The invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings in which:

• Figure 1 is a view of an embodiment of an accessory according to the present invention;
• Figure 2 is a view of the accessory of Figure 1 on the head of a user;
• Figure 3 is a view of a second embodiment of an accessory according to the present invention on the head of a user;
• Figure 4 is a view of constituent parts of the accessory of Figure 3;
• Figure 5 is a view of a third embodiment of an accessory according to the invention on the head of a user;
• Figure 6 is a view of the constituent parts of the accessory of Figure 5;
• Figure 7 is a view of a fourth embodiment of an accessory according to the invention where the fringe comprises strips;
• Figure 8 is a view of the accessory of Figure 7 on a wearer;
• Figure 9 is a view of a fifth embodiment of an accessory according to the invention comprising differently shaped strips;
• Figure 10 is a view of a sixth embodiment of an accessory according to the invention comprising strings of beads;
• Figure 11 is a view in more detail of part of the accessory of Figure 10 showing two strings of beads on a securing means; and
• Figure 12 is a view of the accessory of Figures 10 and 11 on a wearer.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2, an accessory is shown comprising a fringe 11 and a securing means. The securing means comprises a head band 13 composed of firm plastics material in an arch in the shape of a horseshoe. The free ends of the band are resiliently separable to facilitate engagement and retention on the head with ends 17 located behind the ears of the user. The rear underside edge of the band is formed with a row of serrations 21 which assist in retaining the fringe in position. Fringe 11 is composed of synthetic hair and the upper edge is glued between a double length of fabric strip 23. One edge of the strip 23 is glued to the underside of the band 13 forwardly of the serrations, to extend along most of the length of the band so that in use the fringe extends substantially from ear to ear of the user.

In use, as shown in Figure 2, the accessory is positioned on the user's head with the serrations engaging the hair or head of the user 15 and the fringe 11 overlying the forehead on the user, the fabric strip 23 being hidden beneath the band 13.

Referring to Figures 3 and 4, there is shown a second accessory comprising a fringe 51, in two layers 53 and 55, attached to a hair band 13 of the same kind as the band shown in Figures 1 and 2, having serrations 21.

The securing means of the accessory also comprises subsidiary bands or strips 57 and 59 consisting of double lengths of fabric similar to strip 23, with the edges of layers 53 and 55 of the fringe 51 glued between the two lengths of the respective strips 57 and 59. The layers 53 and 55 are composed of imitation hair, layer 53 being light in colour and layer 55 being dark. The lower edges 61, 63 of the layers are cut to similar zig-zag shapes, with the length of hairs in the darker layer being on the average longer. To form the complete article shown in Figure 3, the two strips 57 and 59 are glued to the underside of the head band 13 so that in use the strips are not visible and the darker layer 55 lies beneath the lighter one 53 with the zig-zag lower edge 63 appearing beneath the similarly-cut edge 61 of the layer 53 to display the two colours and the zig-zags in a striking manner. The accessory can be supplied complete and in order to wear it, the band 13 is positioned on the head of the user so that the ends thereof lie behind the user's ears and the serrations 21 engage the user's own head or hair, with the two layers of the fringe 51 extending forwards. The central portion of the band can be moved up and down the head to select a position for the fringe extending over more or less of the user's forehead, as desired.

Figures 5 and 6 show a third embodiment of the invention which has a similar construction to the embodiment of Figures 3 and 4, the main difference residing in the layers of the fringe 69, of which there are four: 71, 73, 75 and 77. The two layers 71 and 77 are the same colour whilst the layers 73 and 75 are both different colours which contrast with the first colour. For example, layers 71 and 77 could be black, layer 73 blue and layer 75 white to give the effect of an eye in the complete fringe. Layer 71 is attached directly by any suitable means to band 13, whilst the other layers 73, 75 and 77 are attached to respective fabric strips 81, 83 and 85. In the complete article the strips are attached to the underside of the band 13 in front of the layer 71, layer 77 foremost, layer 73 on top of rear layer 71 and layer 75 between this and the front layer.

It will be appreciated that any number of accessories all differing in appearance can be made by varying the colours and materials of the layers, their lengths and the shapes of their lower edges, and by appropriate attachment of the upper edges of the layers so that at least a portion of each layer is visible. Fringes with one or more layers of real or synthetic hair resembling the colour of the user's own hair could be used to create a fringe or to supplement an existing fringe. For more noticeable effects, the fringe could be formed of straight, brightly coloured real or synthetic hair, or formed of ringlets in one or more colours. Both ends of the fringe material could be joined to the hair band or the double fabric strips so that the fringe is formed of loops. Furthermore, layers could be attached by stitching rather than glue to the strips such as 23, or the fabric strips could be replaced by plastic or metal strips with the fringe material (e.g. plastic imitation hair) glued or fused thereto. The strips need not be permanently connected to the head band 13, and attachment means such as releasable poppers or "Velcro" (trade mark) could provide the connection. One side of the "Velcro" could be attached to the strips supporting the fringe layers and the other side secured, instead of to a hair band such as band 13, to the underside of an elasticated hair band formed in a loop, for example, or a head scarf, hat or any kind of head- dress. Alternatively, the layers could be attached directly to band 13 by any suitable means such as glue or fusing. The layers could also be sewn or otherwise attached to a woven layer which is attached by glue or the like to a head band. The horseshoe-shaped band 13 with serrations is convenient because it is easily received and retained on the head and is adjustable for height. However, it could be replaced by a complete loop such as a wire circle wrapped in silk or satin, with a fringe attached to one section thereof. This form is particularly suitable for the attachment of soft ringlets.

Instead of being provided as a complete article, the accessory of Figures 3 and 4 or Figures 5 and 6 could be supplied in the form of a kit of parts comprising a head band and a plurality of strips with layers of fringe attached thereto. Accessories could be provided with fringe layers pre-cut to the desired shape or, preferably, there could be several layers, all of a uniform length and in different colours. A user can follow a pattern or design a fringe by cutting some or all of the layers before or after attaching them to the head band. If the layers are removable and some layers remain unused, different fringes can be created from the kit.

The material of the fringe need not resemble hair, but could be composed of strips of materials such as metal, plastic, fabric or the like. Examples of such fringes are illustrated in Figures 7 to 12.

Referring now to Figures 7 and 8 there is shown an accessory for the hair comprising a fringe 91 formed of a large number of strips 93 having elongated diamond shapes, all attached to a securing means consisting of a hair band 95.

The strips 93 are formed of brightly coloured plastics material with a metallic finish and each strip at its upper end is attached to the hair band 95 by glue, heat welding or any other suitable means. The strips are thin and lightweight so that they hang in overlapping fashion and tend to swing and vary in relative positions as the wearer moves. There are three different colours of elongated diamond-shaped strips 93 (e.g. red, pink and orange), giving a striking effect.

The hair band 95 is a resilient strip of firm plastics material, similar to band 13 of Figures 1 to 6. The band is curved, so that the two ends 97 can be located behind the ears of the wearer, to retain the fringe in the desired position, and the rear underside edge (not shown) is formed with a row of serrations as in band 13 to assist in retaining the fringe in position.

Figure 8 shows the fringe 91 and band 95 on the head of a wearer 99. The fringe is worn with a matching belt 101 having the same colour scheme and comprising plastic strips 103 attached to a band 105.

Figure 9 shows a second kind of accessory having plastic strips instead of real or imitation hair, again with a resilient plastics head band 95, but with differently shaped plastics strips 111 forming a fringe 113. The strips 111 all have the same basic zig-zag shape and are cut to length to give a straight edge to the fringe. The strips 111, like strips 93, are made of lightweight plastics material with a metallic finish and they are attached to band 95 so as to alternate in colour with slight overlap of the zig-zags.

Referring now to Figures 10, 11 and 12, these Figures show a head band 95 with a fringe 117 comprising strings 119 of beads 121. As shown most clearly in Figure 11, a number of threads is attached to the band 75 and each thread carries a variety of small beads 121 of different colours and sizes. As shown in Figure 12, the beads of the fringe 117 can be co-ordinated with similar beads of a necklace 123 on a wearer 125.

Strips similar to those in Figures 7, 8 and 9 could be formed of any suitable material such as metal, plastic or fabric, in any desired shapes. They could be attached to the head band by stitching, glue or fusing for example, or in a releasable manner using poppers, hooks, "Velcro" (trade mark) or the like. Instead of being flat, the strips may be coiled or crimped to create special effects. Strings of beads, if used alternatively or in addition to strips, can include beads or similar objects of sizes, shapes and materials as desired. The beads could be permanently strung on threads of cotton, nylon or the like if the threads are fixed to the head band. If the threads are looped so as to be engaged on hooks on the head band, or are otherwise removable from the band, the beads could be replaced by different beads to suit the colour combination of particular clothes or accessories of the wearer.

Accessories such as those shown in Figures 7 to 12 could be made up from a kit of parts consisting of varieties of strips and/or beads or strings of beads so that the wearer can choose the kind of fringe to attach to the securing means. The accessory or kit of parts could be sold with matching accessories of different kinds, such as belts, necklaces or bracelets.