The scrunchie is a popular hair accessory that has been around since the 1980s. It’s perfect for keeping a ponytail in place without damaging hair, and it’s also fashionable. The product comes in so many colors and patterns that it’s easy to mix and match to find the perfect scrunchie to go with any outfit.

While the item hasn’t always been popular, since styles do change over time, we grew up wearing scrunchies, and now, our kids wear them too, in their hair and on their wrists as a bracelet substitute.

Have you ever wondered who invented the scrunchie? It was a woman named Rommy Hunt Revson. She originally named the hair accessory scunchi after one of her dogs, but the name has since morphed to scrunchie.

At the age of 78, Revson has died. Her estate lawyer, Alan Rothfeld, confirmed that her cause of death was a ruptured ascending aorta.

It was back in 1986 that Revson came up with the idea for the scrunchie. She was working as a nightclub singer in New York City. After getting divorced from her second husband, Revlon heir John Revson, she was staying in the Hamptons at a friend’s house. It was at this time that she had an idea for a hairband that could hold a ponytail. She got a sewing machine, learned to sew, and came up with the now famous design.

Revson explained that she was “determined” to get this hair accessory idea just right. She said, “I don’t know why, but I became somewhat determined to figure out an invention that used fabric instead of plastic or metal for the hair. My friends tried to get me to put that down and go with them to the beach as summer was about to end, but something told me to keep working on this hair accessory.” She added, “I had been trying to use elastic and ribbons but then it dawned on me that I needed to use fabric. I didn’t sew, nor did I have a sewing machine. I went into South Hampton and bought some fabric and found a $50 used sewing machine in a shop. That was a pretty big purchase for me on a house sitter budget, but I bought it and took it home.”

There’s no doubt that Revson’s hard work and determination paid off. She said, “I don’t know why I used navy blue thread, but I did and the first scrunchie was black and gold. The ugly prototype and the sewing machine are both in the Smithsonian (Museum) today.”

Revson got a patent for the product in 1987. She never manufactured the product herself, but she did sell licenses to companies that wanted to make it, and she successfully sued anyone who tried to copy her design without a license.