Whether it is on a pencil case, a shirt or in their hair, female students are reclaiming bows.

Students around campus are wearing bows, reflecting a national trend. Pinterest reported a 190% increase in searches for “bow necklace” and a 180% boost in requests for posts on “bow outfit” in 2024.

One reason is the cuteness, according to fans.

“I think they’re pretty cute,” first-year undecided student Lily Fulton said. “I don’t know. It’s very girly. And I think I’m pretty girly.”

Some students wear bows for practical reasons.

Others see the popularity of bows as a way for women to reclaim repressed femininity.

“When you’re a teenager, you’re kind of growing up, and … feeling like you need to reject that … element of femininity and girliness that you used to dress in,” second-year graphic design student Zingray Germershausen said.

She continued, “I started to grow up more and realize, like, I don’t actually care. And … I just … love being girly.”

Other students, like Fulton, said they wear bows to express themselves.

“It’s the way that I express myself, and if I want to present myself as being young and youthful,” Fulton said.

New York Fashion Week featured bows prominently.

However, business professor Stephanie Goldenberg pointed to a clear-cut reason for the rise in popularity in bows.

“One, you stand out to be different, or one, you join in with a fashion or a group or a trend to have community,” Goldenberg, the academic chair for entrepreneurial studies, said.

One of those trends might be the coquette aesthetic.

Popularized by artists like Lana Del Rey, Laufey and Sabrina Carpenter, the staples of bow fashion include pearls, lace and pastel colors.