The ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus once said, “Change is the only constant in life”. Now, we’re certain he wasn’t talking about hairstyles, but the same logic certainly applies.
From Brigitte Bardot’s famous bouffant to Cindy Crawford’s voluminous waves and Beyoncé’s two-tone tresses, we’ve witnessed many a look come and go over the last few decades, only to return again completely revamped.
And since we love to indulge in a stylish deep dive from time to time, we thought we’d take a walk down memory lane to uncover the most popular hairstyles in history and the stars who made them happen. Scroll on to see them all.
1965: Brigitte Bardot’s bangs and bouffant
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1966: Twiggy’s pixie cut and deep side part
1967: Cher’s straight and sleek strands
1968: Barbara McNair’s back-combed bob
1969: Elizabeth Taylor’s bejewelled up-do
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1970: Ali McGraw’s sleek centre part
1971: Jane Fonda’s mullet-style shag
1972: Maureen McCormick’s ‘Marcia Brady’ hair
1973: Cicely Tyson’s cornrows
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1974: Lauren Hutton’s glamorous waves
1975: Diana Ross’ bold Afro
1976: Barbara Streisand’s face-framing curls
1977: Farrah Fawcett’s famous flicks
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1979: Donna Summers’ curly fringe
1980: Joan Jett’s rocker-shag
1981: Princess Diana’s polished shag
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1982: Heather Locklear’s grown-out shag
1983: Christie Brinkley’s volumised roots
1985: Madonna’s half-up-half-down ‘do
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1986: Taylor Dayne’s crimped strands
1987: Whitney Houston’s bouncy ringlets
1988: Sarah Jessica Parker’s undone curls
1989: Linda Evangelista’s career-changing pixie cut
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1990: Julia Roberts’ Pretty Woman perm
1991: Courtney Love’s grunge-glam shag
1992: Cindy Crawford’s voluminous, loose waves
1993: Janet Jackson’s box braids
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1994: Drew Barrymore’s grown-out pixie cut
1995: Jennifer Aniston’s ‘The Rachel’ cut
1996: Baby Spice’s dishevelled pigtails
1997: Butterfly clips à la Kirsten Dunst
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1998: Britney Spears’ “…Baby One More Time” Pigtails
1999: Gwen Stefani’s hot pink hair
2000: Beyoncé’s stripey two-tone highlights
2001: Christina Aguilera’s blonde-meets-bandana ‘do
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2002: Halle Berry’s choppy pixie cut
2003: Mischa Barton’s beach-girl waves
2004: Eva Mendes’ tousled layers
2005: Nicole Richie’s long side fringe
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2006: Victoria Beckham’s angular bob
2007: Blair Waldorf’s ‘Queen B’ headbands
2008: Rihanna’s side-swept pixie cut
2009: Taylor Swift’s Fearless–era ringlets
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2010: Jennifer Lopez’s blow-dry with body
2011: Kate Middleton’s half-up-half-down wedding hair
2012: Salma Hayek’s red carpet top knot
2013: Lauren Conrad’s ombré locks
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2014: Jennifer Lawrence’s textured pixie cut
2015: Gisele Bündchen’s sun-kissed balayage
2016: Ariana Grande’s signature high ponytail
2017: Zoë Kravitz’s ultra-short pixie
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2018: Meghan Markle’s messy bun
2019: Irina Shayk’s ‘glass hair’ power bob
Sukriti Wahi is a journalist, copywriter and brand strategist. She was previously the Digital Lifestyle Editor across both ELLE and marie claire Australia.