I`ve got a reasonable length of hair at the back, bangs at the front and sloping wispy bits at the sides of the front....the legacy of me cutting my own bangs a bit too often, I suppose. The slope goes from my bangs back to about where my ears are, and at that point the wisps are about eight inches short of the rest of the length. There`s a fair amount of hair in there...so I want it to bulk up the length.

I want to keep the bangs. I do want to grow out all the wisps. I had a trim last month and there`s no damage there yet, but most of the wisps are just not long enough to get into a bun or braid. Not only is this messy but it means they blow around and tangle, rub and break on the pillow etc. I can`t see them growing much longer with this sort of treatment. But what I really want is bangs, then long...not this untidy mess inbetween.

I don`t want to cut the bangs back into the hair any more. I`m not sure about using hairclips, because the majority of them are metal. Stretchy hairbands over the front don`t suit me and tend to slide off. None of these can be used at night.

Apart from a satin pillowslip (which is on its way) and gel, any suggestions as to clips etc? How do other folk deal with the inbetweenies?

I have natural inbetweenies (great word!) on both sides of my head. I *think* they are baby growth that is trying to get longer- but I always seem to have some hairs just in that annoying stage.

I prefer a smooth sleek look, so usually I use a little aloe vera gel to tame my hair and then use plain bobby pins to keep inbetweenies in order. As far as I know, regular bobby pins are not damaging. I don't think that metal snap clips are damaging either. Metal isn't bad material unless it is rough, sharp or something in the hairtoy pulls hair.  

A phenomenon that other will attest to - shorter hair frequently grows faster than the longer hair.  With time, your shorter - previous bang hair - will catch up to the longer lengths in the back.  This does not happen quickly, but it will eventually happen. If you trim the length occassionally, the shorter hair will catch up even faster.

Aloe vera gel is great for keeping the wispies, inbetweenies and other unmanageable hair in place.

Headbands. That's how I did it.  ;)  Had many different colours - at least one to match every outfit.

When I was very young, I had bangs and these sort of slanted pieces on either sides of the bangs before the actual length. The longest part of the slanted sides usually ended at the tops of my ears.
   I have no idea why, but most parents that I've known choose to have their childrens' hair cut this way.  ???  It's bloody awful, in my opinion.
   When I was about 11, I decided to grow out these slanted pieces on the sides of my bangs, and the easiest way to hold them back, I discovered, was with headbands. No metal or plastic - just smooth material. You can even use 2 of the skinny kind at once in different colours.

If you have any wisps that stick out, slick them down with aloe vera gel, or whatever you prefer. Oh yes, and be patient, of course.  ;D