Pigtails for grown ups: how to make it work

Can pigtails for grown ups ever work, or are they forever destined to be associated with bad Britney Spears impersonators? Contrary to the damage done by certain midriff-bearing popstars at the dawn of the 2000s, there's still plenty of ways to make adult bunches work. The key to making this cutesy style work outside of the playground is to look a little further back than Britney's bunches; ideally to the 1960s when bombshells like Brigitte Bardot and Claudia Cardinale combined serious volume, matte texture and plenty of backcombing to create pigtails that were about as far removed from schoolgirl style as it's possible to get. Away from the sex-kitten style of these pin-ups, Audrey Hepburn and 60s model Pattie Boyd showcased a more gamine take on the trend - and proved in the process that pigtails for short hair can be a seriously stylish option. More recently we've seen pigtails on the catwalks, with modern updates that take them from cutesy to seriously cool. The Prada Spring/Summer 2010 featured some of the most memorable runway hair of recent years, with matte side-parted styles by  Guido that took an innocent style and turned on its head for something impossibly stylish. Jeremy Scott has also showed his fondness for reinventing pigtails, with neon styles for Autumn/Winter 2011 showcasing a raver take on the trend and Spring/Summer 2012 bringing to life a backwood Barbie look - not dissimilar to styles worn by another pigtail icon; Dolly Parton. Take a look at some of our favourite takes on pigtails for grown ups below - and don't miss more inspiring hairstyles in the HJi gallery.

Pigtails for Grown Ups

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