Celebs are bringing back ’80s hair — here’s why they love bouffants, mullets, shags and more again
They say the higher the hair, the closer to heaven — or, at least, the fashion gods.
Teased bouffants, spiky mullets and textured shags are just some of the totally radical, ’80s-inspired ‘dos that are popping up on red carpets, runways and beyond.
Travis Speck, a senior stylist at Soho salon Suite Caroline, told The Post he’s been seeing “so much big hair” à la Patty LaBelle, Janet Jackson, Whitney Houston and even Kelly Ripa in her “Dance Party USA” days.
Much like the coiffed hairstyles, “the spirit of the ’80s was big and loud and expressive,” said Speck, adding that the modern day ’dos harken back to alternative styles worn by ’80s era bands like Siouxsie and the Banshees or The Cure.
While shaggy cuts like the wolf and butterfly cuts — marked by short layers and textured volume — have been en vogue for the past year, celebrity stylist Jerome Lordet, predicts a widespread ’80s revival.
“Miley Cyrus’s hair at the Grammys was the standout beauty moment of the night, and the massive teased volume felt super ’80s, which may bring that look back,” the PM Jerome Lordet Salon owner told The Post.
The Grammy winner’s red carpet ensemble of 14,000 gold safety pins and voluminous blowout brought the old-school “wow” factor, and while some people likened her towering tresses to being “electrocuted,” others compared her to her godmother, country sensation Dolly Parton.
Then, at the premiere of “Dune: Part Two,” Florence Pugh rocked a bleached mullet and Blake Lively sported a head of perm-perfect corkscrew coils at the Super Bowl, and Julienne Moore appeared on The Cut’s latest cover with a head of frizz-chic, brushed-out curls.
Meanwhile, at New York Fashion Week, designers Marc Jacobs and Christian Cowan sent models down the runway styled with supersized bouffants.
The colossal beehives and flashy shags are a stark contrast from the “clean girl” aesthetic — think: slicked back buns and minimal makeup — that gripped the masses in recent years.
“At one time, it was the epitome of glamour and power,” hairstylist Guido Palau, who styled Kendall Jenner’s hair into a fabulous bouffant for Schiaparelli’s September runway, told The Guardian.
But now, after the popularity of mainstream minimalism, sleek beauty trends and quiet luxury in fashion, “it feels subversive to do big hair,” he said.
In the ’80s, big hair was not only a status symbol, but also allowed women to take up space, Rachael Gibson, who runs the account The Hair Historian, told the outlet. It was a statement and, especially for artists in the limelight, “filling the screen with your hair felt like quite a power move,” she added.
In the decade prior at the height of the Black Power movement, activist and academic Angela Davis’ afro was a political statement, serving as the hallmark of her heritage and identity, per The Guardian.
The return of big hair now coincides with the “year of the girl”: more women are nurturing their femininity by leaning into traditionally girlish styles, like the widely adopted bow trend. Or, perhaps, it’s a nod to the “mob wife” aesthetic marked by luxurious leopard print coats and root-teased ‘dos doused in hairspray.
“To see a woman that has spent that much time, it feels like a very in-your-face hairdo,” Palau said of the big bouffants. “And I love it.”
