Everything old is new again, with the happy return of Apple’s iPod Shuffle this week. For several years, young people have been repurposing the Shuffle as hair accessories, brooches, and more, using the clips on the back of the device to decorate things like hair and Levis.
After a December 2021 video of TikTok creator Kira Lyn Vaden using Shuffles as hair clips garnered more than 350,000 likes, Mashable’s Elena Cavender predicted the trend would grow in 2022. And, while it may not be on our 2024 bingo cards, it’s back and better than ever.
One of the photos that sparked this year’s Shuffle look craze appears to have been originally posted to Instagram in 2019 by user Victoria Camaratta. This image has gone viral in the past (in January 2021, it received over 21,000 comments on Tumblr, X / 123,000 likes on Twitter September of that year), but the current interest rate is higher.
March 13, X user @voguepearls This photo was released as part of the “Tech is Fashion” series.This episode was forwarded by fashion influencer dov clark, he added the note “This will go double platinum on tumblr in 2014.” Clarke’s repost received more than 228,000 likes, and versions of the image have been shared on the feeds of large aggregation accounts on Instagram, including betchys (141,000 followers) and Structuredmag (376,000 followers).
Now, It girls are trying out this look. On March 14, pop artist Slayyyter post photo Two matching blue second-generation iPod Shuffles are pinned to her hair, and a wired headset hangs from one ear.
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On March 17, Instagram and TikTok creator Madeleine White posted images, scrolls and TikTok of her fourth-generation orange and blue Shuffles hair clip. “It’s time to raid your parents’ random electronic bags,” White wrote in one of her posts. After reading it, the millennial turned into a pile of dust.
Mashable’s Elena Cavender has documented Gen Z’s repurposing of Y2K technology in detail, and Gen Z frugality icon Emma Rogue explained the appeal in an interview with Mashable last year. “They’re going through something they’ve never experienced before,” she said of her generation. “They’re turning back time.”
Gen Z Frugal Icon Emma Rogge on ‘Childhood Nostalgic Core’ and the Future of Fashion
Growing interest in retro tech has prompted brands to repurpose it into modern accessories. Last year, for example, fashion brand Coperni launched a wallet that doubled as a CD player, and several consumer product lines have incorporated flip phone imagery and graphics into their designs.
