About Rosalind O

Rosalind O makes hair accessories by hand in a small studio in West London, a few minutes from Goldhawk Road — the street whose fabric shops have supplied students from the nearby London fashion schools, and the costume departments of rather a lot of television, for decades.

She learned to sew at her mother's side. Growing up in Hampstead, close to the Heath, her mother often sewed at weekends for the pleasure of it, making smocks, dresses and accessories for her children. Once Rosalind was old enough she was taught too, and they spent many happy hours together making things from beautiful fabrics.

What she makes

Scrunchies, chiefly, and a growing range of accessories — in silk velvet, duchesse satin, taffeta, chiffon, crepe de chine, brocade, broderie anglaise, Italian linen and printed cotton.

Almost everything begins as the end of a bolt: two metres of fine silk velvet, a length of gold brocade, an embroidered cotton nobody else wanted. It is why the collection changes constantly, why some pieces genuinely cannot be repeated, and why the Opera Scrunchie exists twelve times and will never exist again.

Every piece is made with our signature style wide elastic, for a firm hold that never lets your ponytail down. A thinner, stretchier elastic is available for those who prefer it — please add a note to your order at checkout.

Why we write about fabric

Most guidance about scrunchies is written by companies who sell one fabric and would like you to buy it. We work across a dozen, and we cut and sew every one of them, so we know how they behave — which fray when cut, which hold a shape, which must be cut with the nap running the same way, and which will not survive an iron.

That is what the Fabric Library is for. It is written from the workbench rather than from a desk.

Bespoke work

Almost everything can be made differently for you: a different size, a different elastic, contrast piping, or a colour matched to a dress. We are a short walk from the fabric shops of Goldhawk Road and are very happy to go looking. Please allow four weeks for bespoke pieces.

Where to find us

Rosalind O is based in West London and ships throughout the UK and to the United States. Free UK shipping on orders over £150.