In the ‘90s, your hair either had to be interesting or accessorized, no ifs, ands, or buts. Were you all about the butterfly clips? The pixie cut? Or maybe you liked to be a little more out there with a space bun or two? Perhaps you rocked all of the above! If so, then you’re a true ‘90s girl, and we salute you and your awesome hair choices.
Today, we’re taking a look back at 10 of the most popular ’90s hairstyles, and if your ‘do didn’t match any of these, then did you even really live in the ‘90s?
Want to read about guys’ hairstyles in the ’90s? Check out our article: 10 Awesome (or Awesomely Bad) ’90s Mens Hairstyles
The Rachel
Let’s just get this out of the way at the top — “The Rachel” was iconic! Chunky layers, highlighted pieces framing the face. Everyone wanted to be as stylish as Rachel on Friends, and one of the easiest ways was to try to emulate this oh-so-’90s haircut.
Feathered Bangs
These bangs are sort of a crossover between the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, as you can see on three of our favorite TV characters of that era – DJ Tanner in Full House, Kelly Kapowski in Saved by the Bell, and Kelly Bundy in Married… with Children. These bangs were all about some serious forehead volume action and required some dangerous levels of hairspray to attain.
Butterfly Clips
Butterfly clips were so ubiquitous in the ‘90s! Seriously, did anyone escape them? Personally, I had a full-on butterfly clip and curl situation for my Winter Formal in high school. They were so cute! So fanciful! So fun! With so many different styles and options! What wasn’t to love? In the photo above you have Sarah Michelle Gellar, Mila Kunis, and Melissa Joan Hart all rocking the butterfly clip look.
Pixie Cut
If you were tres chic with some high-powered cheekbones, then maybe you decided to try pulling off the pixie cut. Winona Ryder, Halle Berry, and Gwyneth Paltrow above all really worked this hairstyle in the ‘90s. Seriously, have any of them ever looked better?
Claw Clips
The claw clip was so versatile. You could pull all of your hair back, or just half of it. It was great if you were just getting out of the shower and didn’t want to deal with doing anything fancy with your hair — just wrap it up in a claw clip and you were good to go, with bonus waves at your disposal once your hair dried as well. In our pic above we have Jennifer Aniston in Friends (Rachel was seriously very on trend), Julia Roberts in Erin Brockovich, and Michelle Pfieffer in One Fine Day.
Flipped Ends
This look was so flirty and fun! Flip out the ends of your hair and you instantly felt like you were on another level of cuteness. It definitely worked best on shoulder-length hair, where your shoulders naturally encouraged the flip, as you can see in our photo above featuring one of the Olsen twins (um, Ashley? It’s too hard to tell!), Drew Barrymore, and Gabrielle Union all sporting a shoulder-length flipped ‘do.
Pigtails
If you wanted to be a little more cutesy, then pigtails were certainly a way to go. Britney Spears rocked multiple different versions of pigtails (she even did some high up on her head as well), but perhaps even more known for the pigtail was Baby Spice. Pigtails were her look, I guess because they make you think of a young girl or something? In that case, it’s kinda gross that girls in pigtails were also sex symbols.
Space Buns
If you were more of a rocker girl (or, Ceetus-Lupeedus, from the future!), then maybe you pulled your hair into some killer space buns to show you were so cool and hip and alternative. Yep, we’ve got your girl Zenon rocking some space buns, as well as Scary Spice and Gwen Stefani, so you know they were legit.
Cute Pins
A cousin to the butterfly clip was the use of bobby pins or other cute hair pins to pull back certain pieces of your hair. They sold special bobby pins with fun designs, but I came up with the idea to just paint my plain black bobby pins with nail polish and use those instead of paying more for special ones. In our photo above we have Gwyneth Paltrow displaying just a simple single pin, Lisa Kudrow as Phoebe in Friends doing a clip and fancy pin action, and one of the Olsens (uh, this time Mary-Kate, maybe?!) giving us a little bang clip-ness.
Messy Bun / Up Do with Tendrils
Ah yes, that crazy partially pulled back, pinned up in some interesting amalgam of sorta cornrows situation we have here. Yes, technically Lizzie McGuire is from the early 2000s, but she’s basically a holdover from the late ‘90s with the likes of Alicia Silverstone and Kirsten Dunst giving her some examples to follow. This type of look always needed to have a carefully placed tendril or two around the face as well — that was super important, you know?
These 10 hairstyles are certainly not all of the hairstyles that existed in the ‘90s, but they are certainly some of the most memorable. Did you sport any of these classic ‘dos? What was your favorite? Let us know in the comments!
- Jennifer Aniston’s hairstylist Chris McMillan came up with “The Rachel” haircut partway into the first season of Friends. While it looked great when he did it, Aniston has since said it was a nightmare for her to try to style on her own, and she would never get it again.
- Supposedly, the name “Space Buns” originates with Princess Leia in Star Wars wearing her hair in two buns on either side of her head. George Lucas was apparently inspired by Mexican revolutionary women who wore their hair similarly, in particular Mexican soldadera and guerrilla fighter Clara de la Rocha.
- Pixie haircuts were first popularized by Audrey Hepburn in the 1950s when she made her debut in Roman Holiday, and again by Mia Farrow in the 1960s with Rosemary’s Baby.
- Bobby pins got their name in the 1920s after World War I when “the bob” haircut became popular, as the pins were used to hold the hairstyle in place. Though other hairpins had been produced before, the one we know and love was created by Luis Marcus in San Francisco.
- Claw clips and banana clips (which were more popular in the ‘80s) have their origins in decorative hair combs, which have been around for a loooong time, even as far back as the Stone Age. But why the tortoiseshell plastic? Well, maybe because in Ancient Rome they used actual tortoise shells to make their decorative hair combs!
- Jennifer Aniston’s hairstylist Chris McMillan came up with “The Rachel” haircut partway into the first season of Friends. While it looked great when he did it, Aniston has since said it was a nightmare for her to try to style on her own, and she would never get it again.
- Supposedly, the name “Space Buns” originates with Princess Leia in Star Wars wearing her hair in two buns on either side of her head. George Lucas was apparently inspired by Mexican revolutionary women who wore their hair similarly, in particular Mexican soldadera and guerrilla fighter Clara de la Rocha.
- Pixie haircuts were first popularized by Audrey Hepburn in the 1950s when she made her debut in Roman Holiday, and again by Mia Farrow in the 1960s with Rosemary’s Baby.
- Bobby pins got their name in the 1920s after World War I when “the bob” haircut became popular, as the pins were used to hold the hairstyle in place. Though other hairpins had been produced before, the one we know and love was created by Luis Marcus in San Francisco.
- Claw clips and banana clips (which were more popular in the ‘80s) have their origins in decorative hair combs, which have been around for a loooong time, even as far back as the Stone Age. But why the tortoiseshell plastic? Well, maybe because in Ancient Rome they used actual tortoise shells to make their decorative hair combs!
