A barrette is a small clip used to hold hair in place. Barrettes come in countless styles: simple plastic ones that snap shut, decorative ones covered in fabric or studded with fake jewels, or practical metal ones that grip tightly. You might use a barrette to keep bangs out of your eyes while reading, to pin back one side of your hair, or to make a ponytail more secure.

That meaning makes sense when you look at how a barrette works: it's essentially two bars (or one folded bar) that clasp together, with your hair caught between them. Some barrettes are purely functional, meant to disappear into your hair. Others are miniature works of art, designed to be seen and admired as accessories.

People have been using clips and pins to manage their hair for thousands of years. Ancient Romans used bone pins, and Victorian women wore elaborate combs. The modern spring-clasp barrette was invented in the early 1900s and became especially popular in the 1980s and 1990s, when kids and adults alike wore colorful plastic barrettes in all sorts of shapes.