hippie clothing was often home-made or put together from recycled items. So making a men's hippie headband really channels the spirit of the 1960s hippie movement. Use old items, thrift-store clothing or fabric dye to get a psychedelic, flower-power look. Wear your headband as part of a Sixties costume or to any summer music festival. A headband is a stylish way to keep long hair from falling in your eyes while you are playing folk guitar and a cheap way to pull a hippie party outfit together.

Cut a wide strip of light-colored natural fabric, such as cotton, linen or calico. Coloring these at home is easy.

Wash the fabric. Squeeze out excess water, leaving it damp.

Knot your fabric strip at intervals, or scrunch it up into a tight ball and tie with string. Ensure that your tying or knotting is tight.

Immerse your headband in a solution of cold-water dye. Mix this according to the manufacturer’s instructions. This usually involves dissolving the dye crystals in a little hot water, then mixing into a large amount of cold water. Add the correct proportion of dye-fix and salt. Dye quantities sometimes go by weight but one packet should be sufficient for a headband.

Soak your headband for the recommended time, usually up to an hour. Agitate the solution occasionally.

Remove the headband and rinse it until the water runs clean. Untie the knots and string, rinsing it further with a little light detergent, if necessary.

Leave your tie-dyed headband to dry away from sunlight. Repeat this process several times to apply other colors. Many psychedelic hippie clothes had bright rainbow-effect patterns developed by intricate knotting.

Cut a strip of fabric from some old clothing. Hippie men and Sixties rock stars often wore decorative Eastern and floral patterned fabrics. You could buy a garment with interesting fabric in a thrift store.

Decorate your headband by drawing on it with marker pens or acrylic fabric paint. Try simple flower or peace symbols.

Sew on wooden beads, or use embroidery thread and a needle to add some decorative stitches. The more rustic this looks, the better.