On the Fringe

When it comes to hairstyles, there are two types of women in the world: Ones known for their bangs (Taylor Swift, Lili Collins, Brigitte Bardot) and ones who aren’t (I’m looking at you, Jennifer Aniston). Even though my stylist says I have a face for fringe, I tend to go back and forth between the two camps. Maybe part of that has to do with the fact that, while I always like bangs once I have them, there’s a bit of childhood trauma relived every time they’re cut.  My mother made me wear a homemade bowl cut when I was four or five while all the other girls had long, parted hair done up in shiny ribbons and sparkly barrettes. And she wasn’t so great about keeping them even. (In my kindergarten class photo, I’m tilting my head to one side in a vain attempt to try to level them.)

Do try this at home

Mostly, though, I’m just too lazy to keep my bangs professionally trimmed and often opt for DIY upkeep using a pair of nose hair scissors and the twist-and-snip method, which is this: Grasp a small piece of bang, hold it perpendicular to your forehead, twist it and then cut the ends from beneath with the scissors making little snips into the hair until you’ve cut through the strand. Repeat. I resort to this because my stylist, whom I otherwise adore, regularly jets to Paris and Milan to cut models’ hair during fashion week and charges clients accordingly. Given her rates, I can only afford to book her once a year. But every time I see her she she exclaims over how much better I look after she’s cut them professionally for me. Cheekbones! You have cheekbones!

Bangs aren’t for everyone, though, and can be somewhat tricky to get right. My friend Nancy says her hair is way too curly for them. And while I know I will get blowback for this from any Swifties lurking here, Tay-tay does not rock them all that well in my opinion. My stylist agrees. They are thick and look a bit old-fashioned—Barbara Stanwyck in Double Indemnity. They need to be “piece-ier” as they say in the beauty biz. And there are some versions of bangs I just can’t get behind. I’m thinking of the ones often seen as part of the “jellyfish cut” (not to be confused with the “octopus cut,” an update on “the Rachel” and now I’ve run out of silly things to put in quotes), a style that mimics the look of the blobby sea creatures by combining a blunt bob on top with long, tentacle-like layers underneath for a mullet-like effect. Jellyfish bangs (made famous by bang-lover Lili Collins) have pieces cut at the cheekbones to resemble long spitcurls. Not really my thing.

You're never too old (or too young)

Still, for women of a certain age (that is, several decades older than a kid whose mom makes her wear a bowl cut), bangs work to soften the face and are cheaper than Botox for camouflaging forehead lines. Caveat: For those with thinning hair, bangs, because they pull forward and allow less flexibility for sweeping hair wherever needed on the crown, can lead to some visible scalp if you aren’t careful. Avoid short, hard-lined bangs, too. Longer and softer, the way Jane Fonda wears them, is the way to go if you’re over 40.

For younger women, full bangs can have a flirty charm. There’s a reason Lili Collins says she’ll never go without her “Birkin bangs”: “There’s a certain Frenchness to them that I like,” she says. And while they can seem little-girl-like, they can also have a bit of an edge. This slightly androgynous shag is my idea of the perfect way to wear them if you like that idea. The smudged eyeliner just adds to the swagger.