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Love or hate romantic comedies—you can't deny their beauty influence. Think Meg Ryan in When Harry Met Sally, or Whitney Houston in Waiting to Exhale. Clearly, midlength haircuts with voluminous curls and waves clearly make for serious main-character energy.
Such was especially the case in the late 1990s and early 2000s, when rom-com stars wore layered haircuts that hit just above or below the shoulder. Julia Roberts (My Best Friend's Wedding, Notting Hill, Pretty Woman, Mystic Pizza), Angela Bassett (How Stella Got Her Groove Back), Jennifer Aniston (Along Came Polly, Rumor Has It, The Break Up), Queen Latifah (Just Wright, Last Holiday), and Cameron Diaz (The Sweetest Thing, The Holiday) all rocked takes on the layered look, which had incredible movement as they did things like chase after their loves in airports.
After binge-watching some of my favorite films recently, I was inspired to chop several inches off my hair to get the same layered look. I opted for a face-framing butterfly cut, which my sister described as “rom-com hair.” As a beauty editor, this was the ultimate compliment.
Because even modern versions of rom-com hair consist of midlength haircuts with the same dramatic volume and movement. See Constance Wu in Crazy Rich Asians, Jennifer Lopez in Shotgun Wedding, Priyanka Chopra Jonas in Love Again, and, to bring us full circle, Meg Ryan in What Happens Later. Time—and trends—are a flat circle!
If you want to get a rom-com haircut in 2024, you'll have plenty of inspiration. According to celebrity hairstylist Marc Mena, the look is an evolved version of what was worn in the ’80s, ’90s, and 2000s. “It's something that already exists; it's just a different way of styling it,” says Mena, who cites the butterfly haircut and kitty cut as references. Rom-com hair is the perfect midpoint between long layers and a shag.
“It's a haircut that you can have fun with without feeling like it's such a long commitment, because the layers aren't as short as those on a shag, and will grow out pretty quickly,” says Mena, who just gave Madelaine Petsch her own version of the chop.
“It's a romantic hairstyle without taking itself so seriously, because it's still playful and approachable,” Mena adds. Plus, it evokes strong main-character energy. “The first thing people look at is hair,” he says. “So when you think of a romantic-comedy leading actress, we're paying attention to her and know to look at her because she has bouncy hair that moves. It's what draws your eyes to the lead.”
When I asked Mena to give me my very own rom-com haircut, I requested lots of layers and face-framing curtain bangs. I have yet to experience a meet-cute (probably because I've been married for six years), but I did accidentally step on a razor during New York Fashion Week, which feels very rom-com-coded. And I am a woman who lives in a big city working at a fashion magazine. I'm not not a rom-com main character!
To get the look yourself, Mena suggests asking your stylist for a haircut that lands in between a shag and long layers. “Ask for the layers to be long and just a little choppy, but make sure they're not too blunt,” Mena says. “If you wear it straight, it needs to be able to blend, and if you decide to put curl or have texture in it, you can see the layers.”
And, most important, always come with reference photos (there are plenty in this story for you to choose from). I like my rom-com hair falling closer into the “long hair” category, but it can and should be worn at any length with which you're most comfortable.
Finally, there's styling. “Because of the ’90s influence, I love a voluminous mousse for this look,” says Mena. “I also like thickening spray because the ends of your hair are going to be shorter and seem finer, so adding the thickening spray is going to just kind of swell everything up a little bit, and take some of the weight out of it.”
Otherwise, Mena suggests a round brush and blow-dryer—or blow-dry brush like the Dyson AirWrap (which I use)—to get the most volume out of the look. If that sounds too high-maintenance, Mena says that's cool too: “It can be messy. You don't have to have such finished, done hair with rom-com hair. It's effortless.”
So embrace that laid-back lazy-hot-girl hair; you're the main character with or without a hot brush. Shop everything you need for rom-com hair below, and get ready for your next meet-cute.
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Danielle Sinay is the associate beauty editor at Glamour. Follow her on Instagram @daniellesinay.
