Photography by Nicholas Hunt/FilmMagic

Is Crimped Hair Back? 12 Photos That Prove the ’80s Trend May Just Be Cool Again

Date August 29, 2016

If you haven’t watched Can’t Buy Me Love then you’re seriously missing out. Not only does the 1987 teen comedy feature a killer soundtrack and young Patrick Dempsey (miniature Seth Green too!), but the most memorable moment is hands-down Cindy Mancini’s effortlessly crimped, sun-soaked strands, which gave pretty much every girl growing up in late ’80s major hair envy.

Since then, we’ve witnessed many a manifestation of crimped hair. The look remained popular in the ’90s, thanks to Mariah Carey, Jennifer Love-Hewitt, and of course, Boy Meets World‘s Topanga Lawrence. The rigid waves also carried on into the early aughts, as endorsed by Britney Spears and Hilary Duff in Lizzie McGuire. However, by the mid-2000s, we began to see a decline in the once popular hairstyle, with people trading in their crimpers for flat irons (baby pink Chi, anyone?). Soon enough, crimped hair was deemed downright embarrassing. Case in point: this incredible photo of a beaming Zac Efron pre-High School Musical. Ask anyone what their biggest beauty trend fail was growing up, and they’ll likely respond with crimping (I sure as hell would).

With all of this being said, over the past few seasons there’s been a resurgence in the face-palm-inducing look, with top-notch houses like Stella McCartney and Maison Margiela sending models down their runways sporting crimped hairstyles. At Gucci’s Fall 2016 show, one model sported delicate, ruffled waves that translate to geeky romantic as opposed to teeny-bopper try-hard. Model Gigi Hadid recently snapped an Instagram of herself exhibiting a tightly crinkled style—reminiscent of Christina Aguilera circa Moulin Rouge!—and Ariana Grande donned crimped strands pulled up in her signature high-ponytail at last night’s MTV Video Music Awards.

Seriously though. Crimping is totally a look we’re expecting to see more of . “I crimped someone’s hair recently and it looked really cool,” celebrity hairstylist Harry Josh told us, who tends to the glorious manes of Gisele Bundchen, Chrissy Teigen, and a number of the VS Angels. “I think that everything can be altered and modified to look current.” We couldn’t agree more with Josh. Check out the gallery below for the best crimped hair looks we’ve seen lately.