It Seems Like Every Major Star Is Unveiling A Chic, Short Haircut

If a celebrity gets a major haircut and doesn’t do a dramatic reveal on Instagram or the red carpet, did it even happen? Obviously, yes, fine, but half the fun of a new style is the reaction it gets from family, friends, and for the super famous, hordes of devoted fans online and IRL. Especially for for celebrities, short haircuts and styles are particularly impactful if they’re a major departure from their usual look. Regardless of if the transformation takes the wearer from hip-length waves to a choppy pixie, or from a polished bob to something bold and trendy like a shag or wolf cut, nothing makes a splash like a short hair — of any kind.

You probably remember when Miley Cyrus literally shed her Disney star image with a bleached blonde rock-and-roll mullet, or when Beyoncé broke the internet with her Anna Wintour-style blunt bob and bangs. In just the past year alone, there has been a slew of celebrity hair transformations that caused social media impressions to surge and proved that your favorite stars really can pull off anything (think: Zendaya, Gigi Hadid, and EmRata).

Ahead, take a walk down memory lane and revisit some of the most dramatic celebrity short haircuts in recent memory — you might just get the inspiration to try something new yourself.

Gigi Hadid

Hadid’s undergone plenty of major hair shakeups over the years — who could forget the power of her red era? — but her 2024 chop might be the biggest and boldest of the bunch. She shed at least a foot of glistening blonde hair, revealing a voluminous, shoulder-clearing bob.

Kerry Washington

Few stars are as fashionably experimental as Washington, as evidenced by the sudden Instagram debut of her wavy-center parted bob. Judging by the fanfare in her comment section, the full, blunt cut is a crowd favorite.

Eva Longoria

Proof you don’t actually need shears to have fun with short hairstyles? Longoria at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival. One day, her rich brunette hair is long and straight, falling nearly to her hips in shiny sheets. The next, it’s a shoulder-length lob — a temporary hairpiece — with a deep side-part.

Jennifer Aniston

Aniston has some of the most influential hair in Hollywood history — and even she goes short, she maintains her signature style. When she cut a handful on inches off at the start of 2024, she kept her bright blonde highlights and face-framing layers completely in tact.

Ayo Edebiri

A crash course in it-girl hair, courtesy of Edebiri: she went from a gorgeous medium-length cut with hyper-trendy curtain bangs to an even cooler lob, complete with tons of volume, body, and classically glamorous waves — all in the span of a few months.

Hailey Bieber

Bieber’s sudden transition from long, flowing waves to a clean, even bob wasn’t so much a shock as a mild surprise — anyone who wears slicked-down buns that often is clearly tired of managing the length. Essentially, Bieber’s hair stayed the same (there was no extra layering or added bangs that time), there’s just less of it now. It’s a prime example of not necessarily needing a drastic makeover to make maximum impact.

Zendaya

Anyone who thinks short hair limits styling possibilities simply lacks imagination. Zendaya’s own voluminous bob, cut in 2022, saw more varied hairstyles in one year than some celebrities try in a lifetime. At the 2023 SAG Awards, it was in peak, retro-inspired form with a deep side part and serious volume.

Sadie Sink

Considering Sink is practically synonymous with long, red waves, many think her surprising, shoulder-skimming chop doubles as an easter egg for the upcoming fifth season Stranger Things. With the show’s final batch of episodes set to feature a time-jump, the new, tapered layers seem like they would fit right in with the ‘90s.

Kendall Jenner

Time, money, hard work, and industry connections all certainly played a role in Jenner’s ascent to supermodeldom, but so did a commitment to change. In a move right out of an America’s Next Top Model makeover episode, Jenner shared back in 2016 that chopping her long waves into a much shorter, layered haircut was a “prerequisite” for her first-ever Vogue cover. She even posted a photo of the cut happening in real time on Instagram.

Emily Ratajkowski

A forever beauty chameleon, Ratajkowski loves switching up her hair length with extreme extensions, wigs, and clip-in bangs. At the start of 2023, the model made headlines when she arrived at a Marc Jacobs fashion show in a wavy micro-bob complete with short bangs. Reminiscent of Joan of Arc or Uma Thurman circa Pulp Fiction, she surprised fans again upon revealing its temporary nature.

Taylor Swift

So many of Swift’s most memorable “eras” are defined by significant hair changes. In the case of her angular, side-bang bob, the haircut bridged the gap between her Red and 1989 eras, leaving any country-inspired sounds behind with the extra inches shed.

Ciara

There’s not a length, style, or color Ciara hasn’t already experimented with — and pulled off beautifully. In 2023 alone, the star’s toggled between extra-long lengths and sharp, asymmetrical bobs, both of which play into the year’s biggest hair trend.

Kim Kardashian

Basically anything Kim Kardashian does gets worldwide attention, and her recent big hair chop is no exception. Especially after doing a Rapunzel-inspired photoshoot, the Skims owner shocked the public when she and her hair stylist, Chris Appleton, debuted her blunt lob — one of the most popular haircuts this year. Keeping the same bleached color, her new angular trim is chic and similar to her older sister’s rock-inspired cut.

Selena Gomez

Always a beauty chameleon, Selena Gomez wowed social media when she debuted her voluminous wavy bob with bangs earlier this year. Her beachy waves make a strong case for running to the salon this instant or letting your hair get tousled by the wind outside.

Billie Eilish

What can’t the superstar pull off? Transitioning from her Marilyn blonde, Billie Eilish went back to her roots with this jet black hairstyle. Not only that, but after making a strong case for the trendy octopus hair shag, Eilish signaled to everyone that it truly is the lob’s time to shine.

Emma Chamberlain

Previously known for her mousy brown locks, Emma Chamberlain showed up to the 2022 Met Gala with a fresh chop and chic color change that took place just before the red carpet. Now she sports the bleached chin length bob, which she styles both straight and wavy for her ultra cool day-to-day looks. As Chamberlain continues to stake her place as a fashion industry darling, this short haircut exhibits how trendy the social media cool girl really is.

Kourtney Kardashian

Kourtney Kardashian shocked her millions of followers when she revealed her new bob haircut. The eldest Kardashian had previously been known for her long strands, but ever since she made the chop, she’s stuck with short hair. Some might say the fresh style has something to do with her whirlwind romance with Blink-182’s Travis Barker, but either way, the star is clearly loving her new look.

Florence Pugh

Florence Pugh going from her signature blonde hair to brunette was shocking enough, but shortly after, the actor took her transformation even further. In November 2021, Pugh debuted a mullet on Instagram, proclaiming, “I did a thing” — and just about a month later, she dyed her freshly chopped hair a bold platinum blonde. Then, at the 2023 Met Gala, she went for the shortest haircut of them all: a chic buzzcut.

Kelly Rowland

Kelly Rowland’s recent bixie cut brought with it a wave of Destiny’s Child nostalgia. The short, layered style is reminiscent of the hair looks the singer was fond of in the late ‘90s and early 2000s — but with a chic, grown-up twist.

Laura Harrier

Model and Spiderman actor Laura Harrier cut a lob in December 2021 and apparently loved it so much that she went even shorter a couple months later. Her new, wavy bob sparked a ton of commotion on Instagram and is sure to inspire plenty of haircuts.

Beyoncé

Leave it to Beyoncé to use an Ivy Park campaign to reveal her most dramatic cut in years. The star appeared in her brand’s Valentine’s Day campaign sporting a blunt bob with bangs, causing fans to compare the look to Anna Wintour’s iconic style. It seems like she’s since gone back to her signature long waves, so either the look was a wig or she’s now rocking extensions, but there’s no denying she looked absolutely fierce in a bob.

Jessica Alba

For years, Jessica Alba was basically the poster child for beachy waves. In November 2021, however, she decided to flip the script on her signature style, revealing a jaw-skimming bob in a rich chocolate brown shade. The Honest Beauty founder has played around with both middle and side parts and seems to be loving the shorter look.

Miley Cyrus

Once Miley Cyrus began embracing a vintage vibe, it was only a matter of time before she cut a mullet. The singer and former Disney star first revealed the chop at the beginning of 2020, and over the past two years has experimented with shorter and more dramatic variations on it, proving herself to be a true hair chameleon.