PHOTO BY SHELBY MAZNIO Christina DeKok and Carly Rozeboom purchased C.C beanies after seeing their Social Work classmates wearing them.
Girls at Northwestern are gearing up for the winter months with a new favorite accessory: C.C beanies. These hats, complete with a small leather tag saying “C.C”, can be spotted all over campus.
The exact origin of the beanie trend is unknown, but seniors Elisabeth Kahanic and Heidi Gritters were among the first few students to have them.
“Heidi and I joked about getting social work department beanies,” Kahanic said.
After that, word of the beanies spread around campus. Both girls purchased their C.C beanies last fall semester on Amazon. Gritters bought hers for $11, and Kahanic scored her beanie for $5 plus free shipping.
The market for winter beanies contains a variety of brands, and C.C beanies are on the long list of hats. So what makes them so special? Warmth, style and the low prices.
“It’s hard to find beanies that look good,” Gritters said. “C.C beanies look good on everyone.”
With over 20 colors to choose from, customers can find the perfect colors to match their wardrobe. Kahanic owns a plum-colored beanie, and Gritters can be seen sporting a rust or white beanie around campus.
“I want to get another color that goes with more things,” Kahanic added. “Having two beanies is plenty for me.”
Trends will come in with the new school year and leave the next, and Kahanic and Gritters think the trend won’t last past this year.
“What’s weird is that it is the exact same hat,” Gritters said. “It’s a unique trend. But it’s that one hat. It can’t spread.”
Kahanic compared the trend to that of the Neff beanies.
“It’s just a trend for this year,” she said. “I don’t know if it will go into next year.”
Carly Rozeboom is the owner of two beanies, one charcoal gray and the other white ivory, and also purchased hers on Amazon.
“I purchased a C.C beanie because a bunch of the girls in my social work classes were wearing them and told me how affordable they are,” Roozeboom said.
Rozeboom also likes that the hats have a cute style that sets them apart.
“I couldn’t help myself,” she said.“I think the wide variety of colors is a factor that attracts a wide variety of individuals with different styles,” Rozeboom said. “I also think the affordability attracts college students.”
Another perk of the inexpensive beanies is the thickness.
“They are warm enough for winter, but not so thick that they can’t be worn while in class,” Rozeboom said.
This allows one to wear the hats both inside and outside, which means no hat hair while in class.
As for the trend growing or not, Rozeboom is confident that NW will be seeing C.C beanies for years to come.
“Honestly, the C.C beanie could stay popular,” Rozeboom said. “They seem high enough quality to last years.”
Christina De Kok purchased her beanies, white and rose, a few weeks into the school year, unaware of the ever-growing trend.
“I got them before people started wearing hats,” De Kok said.
She discovered the beanies while browsing on Amazon for winter gear, and the C.C beanie appeared in the boxes for suggested purchases. Hers cost less than $10, and De Kok likes them more than other beanies.
“They are girlier,” De Kok said. “They’re cute and thicker than other beanies.”
She doesn’t think the beanie will be going away anytime soon, either.
“Neff was a huge deal last year, and it’s still going strong,” De Kok said.
Emily Wallace also searched online for her C.C beanies and owns three: beige, burgundy and black. She discovered them through a Google search when she was preparing to move to NW from her home in Arizona. Wallace was searching for a beanie to help her stay warm in the cold winter months, and C.C beanies came up first on the search page.
“They are cozy,” Wallace said. “You can wear them on a bad hair day and no one will know.”
Surprisingly, it appears that this trend is not as popular outside of NW as one might think. But despite arguments that the beanies will disappear as a new trend takes over the spotlight, Wallace thinks otherwise.
“Northwestern is pretty much a hipster campus,” Wallace said. “The saggy beanie stereotype will probably stick around.”
Regardless of the beginnings of this fast-growing trend, C.C beanies are rapidly taking over campus. Thanks to the long cold months coming up, they will more than likely stick around.
