Love or hate romantic comedies—you possibly can’t deny their magnificence affect. Suppose Meg Ryan in When Harry Met Sally, or Whitney Houston in Ready to Exhale. Clearly, midlength haircuts with voluminous curls and waves clearly make for severe main-character power.

Such was particularly the case within the late Nineteen Nineties and early 2000s, when rom-com stars wore layered haircuts that hit simply above or under the shoulder. Julia Roberts (My Finest Good friend’s Wedding ceremony, Notting Hill, Fairly Lady, Mystic Pizza), Angela Bassett (How Stella Received Her Groove Again), Jennifer Aniston (Alongside Got here Polly, Rumor Has It, The Break Up), Queen Latifah (Simply Wright, Final Vacation), and Cameron Diaz (The Sweetest Factor, The Vacation) all rocked takes on the layered look, which had unimaginable motion as they did issues like chase after their loves in airports.

After binge-watching a few of my favourite movies lately, I used to be impressed to cut a number of inches off my hair to get the identical layered look. I opted for a face-framing butterfly lower, which my sister described as “rom-com hair.” As a magnificence editor, this was the final word praise.


As a result of even trendy variations of rom-com hair encompass midlength haircuts with the identical dramatic quantity and motion. See Constance Wu in Loopy Wealthy Asians, Jennifer Lopez in Shotgun Wedding ceremony, Priyanka Chopra Jonas in Love Once more, and, to convey us full circle, Meg Ryan in What Occurs Later. Time—and tendencies—are a flat circle!


If you wish to get a rom-com haircut in 2024, you will have loads of inspiration. In accordance with superstar hairstylist Marc Mena, the look is an advanced model of what was worn within the ’80s, ’90s, and 2000s. “It is one thing that already exists; it is only a totally different method of styling it,” says Mena, who cites the butterfly haircut and kitty lower as references. Rom-com hair is the proper midpoint between lengthy layers and a shag.

“It is a haircut which you can have enjoyable with with out feeling prefer it’s such an extended dedication, as a result of the layers aren’t as brief as these on a shag, and can develop out fairly rapidly,” says Mena, who simply gave Madelaine Petsch her personal model of the chop.

Madelaine Petsch

Instagram/@madelame

“It is a romantic coiffure with out taking itself so significantly, as a result of it is nonetheless playful and approachable,” Mena provides. Plus, it evokes robust main-character power. “The very first thing folks have a look at is hair,” he says. “So whenever you consider a romantic-comedy main actress, we’re being attentive to her and know to have a look at her as a result of she has bouncy hair that strikes. It is what attracts your eyes to the lead.”

After I requested Mena to offer me my very personal rom-com haircut, I requested a number of layers and face-framing curtain bangs. I’ve but to expertise a meet-cute (in all probability as a result of I have been married for six years), however I did by chance step on a razor throughout New York Trend Week, which feels very rom-com-coded. And I am a lady who lives in an enormous metropolis working at a trend journal. I am not not a rom-com major character!

Danielle Sinay

To get the look your self, Mena suggests asking your stylist for a haircut that lands in between a shag and lengthy layers. “Ask for the layers to be lengthy and just a bit uneven, however be sure they don’t seem to be too blunt,” Mena says. “If you happen to put on it straight, it wants to have the ability to mix, and should you resolve to place curl or have texture in it, you possibly can see the layers.”

And, most essential, at all times include reference pictures (there are a lot on this story so that you can select from). I like my rom-com hair falling nearer into the “lengthy hair” class, however it might and ought to be worn at any size with which you are most snug.

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Lastly, there’s styling. “Due to the ’90s affect, I like a voluminous mousse for this look,” says Mena. “I additionally like thickening spray as a result of the ends of your hair are going to be shorter and appear finer, so including the thickening spray goes to only type of swell all the pieces up slightly bit, and take a number of the weight out of it.”

In any other case, Mena suggests a spherical brush and blow-dryer—or blow-dry brush just like the Dyson AirWrap (which I exploit)—to get essentially the most quantity out of the look. If that sounds too high-maintenance, Mena says that is cool too: “It may be messy. You do not have to have such completed, carried out hair with rom-com hair. It is easy.”

So embrace that laid-back lazy-hot-girl hair; you are the principle character with or and not using a sizzling brush. Store all the pieces you want for rom-com hair under, and prepare to your subsequent meet-cute.

Aveda Thickening Tonic

$37

Nordstrom

Bumble and Bumble Thickening Spray

$32

Sephora

Dyson Airwrap Multi-Styler Full Lengthy

$600

Amazon

Balmain Hair Ceramic Spherical Brush

$67

Saks Fifth Avenue

Danielle Sinay is the affiliate magnificence editor at Glamour. Comply with her on Instagram @daniellesinay.