It seems that more and more these days, to look ahead at the trends of the beauty world, we need to look back. Say to the ’60s, a period of truly iconic hairstyles—hairstyles that we all seem to be taking to the salon once again.
Back then, there was every kind of hairstyle, from voluminous to coiffed, flipped and cropped, and stars like Jane Fonda, The Ronettes and Brigitte Bardot showed us how it was done. Which means, basically, we’re spoilt for choice when it comes to hair inspiration from this nostalgic, yet still entirely covetable beauty era.
To help you navigate these retro revivals with modern flair, we tapped hairstylist and founder of Raw Hair, Anthony Nader, for all the expert advice you need. Ahead, he breaks down the exact cuts to ask for at the salon and his foolproof styling advice for bringing six iconic ’60s hair moments into 2026.
Image credits: Getty Images
The modern beehive
’60s muse: The Ronettes or Audrey Hepburn
Modern muse: Zendaya
From ’60s girl-group royalty courtesy of The Ronettes, to modern red carpet dominance from stars like Zendaya, the beehive remains the ultimate statement of architectural glamour—only today, it comes with softer edges and a slightly more modern silhouette.
The Cut
“Here’s my biggest tip when wanting to take your hair to new heights: you need length to create the drama, but you also need layers cut in so the hive lasts and doesn’t collapse,” Nader explains. “Make sure you ask for some face framing layering around the face as well. This gives total ’60s vibes to-the-max.”
The Styling
“Always prep your hair wet with either a mousse or volumising mist as you want more ‘grab’ on your strands, otherwise it will slip,” says Nader “Blow dry with a large round brush and give the root area maximum tension, as this is going to help with the volume, rather than blow drying in a downward motion. For extra height, tease or backcomb the crown area concentrating on the roots only. Smooth over the final look leaving the ends to bend loosely, or gather up the length of the tail and secure into a low pony, then give a spritz with a fine dust hairspray for some hold.”
NAK Hair Signature High Volume
Color Wow Cult Favorite Hairspray
Image credits: Getty Images
The bombshell blowout
’60s muse: Jean Shrimpton
Modern muse: Suki Waterhouse
It’s the quintessential It-girl hair cut, made famous by the likes of model Jean Shrimpton that seamlessly translates across eras, resulting in the likes of Suki Waterhouse’s sweeping, effortless shape today.
The Cut
“This iconic haircut is still one of my all-time faves and can still have a modern take in 2026 when cut and styled the right way,” Nader enthuses. “The haircut requires a beautiful energy of seamless layers that just float and mostly have purpose.”
The Styling
“Start off with freshly washed hair and then apply a volumising spray or mousse and distribute through from roots to ends evenly. Blow dry with a large round bristle brush and take your sections in a diagonal from the crown to the hairline, starting at the back and finishing around the face blow drying every section away from the face—this is most important. For extra ‘va va voom’, with the same sectioning pattern, wrap the hair around your big-sized tongs. Do this method all the way to the face again and then when cooled down, shake out with your hands, even tip your head over and then smooth over with your brush into shape.”
Mermade Hair Maxi Round Brush 1056
Color Wow Xtra Large Bombshell Volumizer
(Left to right) Image credits: Getty Images and Instagram.com/nikki_makeup
The ‘Brigitte Bardot’ half up-half down
’60s muse: Brigitte Bardot
Modern muse: Sabrina Carpenter
No doubt one of the most requested retro styles of all time, Brigitte Bardot’s signature crown volume and curtain-framed face is these days getting a soft, romantic revival on modern pop icons like Sabrina Carpenter.
The Cut
“Keep the perimeter long and relatively full. Ends that are healthy and full are the goal,” says Nader. “Then adding subtle layering throughout to encourage that iconic French hair aesthetic—subtle layering through the crown helps give lift and of course sweet gestures of cut in softness around the face so you can have more options when styling.”
The Styling
“Start off with freshly washed hair and apply a volumising product in and use your large round brush here for the whole blow-dry and you want to encourage ‘lift’. Take a horseshoe shaped section from the temples, through to the crown, then lightly backcomb underneath the crown to build the height, then smooth over the surface and without flattening it. Bring the side sections up towards the back and now secure with a few rippled bobby pins. Lastly, now loosen the crown with your fingers and pull out a few face framing pieces and give a light texture spray all over.”
Moroccanoil Dry Texture Spray
(Left to right) Image credits: Getty Images and Instagram.com/haileybieber
The flipped bob
’60s muse: Jane Fonda
Modern muse: Hailey Bieber
While ’60s Hollywood icon Jane Fonda wore her flick slightly wavier and pintucked, a modern interpretation like Hailey Bieber’s bob keeps this hairstyle’s signature upturned ends while leaning into a razor-sharp, more contemporary cut.
The Cut
“You need a cutter who knows precision, as this hair shape will only fall flat if it’s not told in the beginning how it needs to perform,” says Nader. “The baseline needs to be cut super sharp or blunt, as then the edge will flip out with intention and won’t need to be forced, compared to if the baseline is cut with a razor or texturized your bob will look weak and won’t have presence. This haircut shouldn’t have layers, because it will look too feathered and not as contemporary. You want your haircut to have minimal effort, with high impact.”
The Styling
“When blow-drying, use a paddle brush and blow-dry with tension,” Nader advises. “If you want to embrace more shine, I always recommend applying a serum or oil on damp hair. It blow-dries beautifully into each hair strand without leaving the hair looking or feeling oily or flat.”
GHD Sleek Talker Wet To Sleek Hair Oil With Heat Protection
Image credits: Getty Images
The full fringe
’60s muse: Cher
Modern muse: Dakota Johnson
Retro icons like Cher may have made the heavy, eyelash-grazing bang iconic in the ’60s, but modern stars like Dakota Johnson prove that a soft, swinging fringe is still the ultimate cool-girl accessory today.
The Cut
“This shape is refined and iconic ’60s. But don’t try this at home! If you mess this up, it’s going to take weeks, if not months for a hairdresser to fix up your DIY,” Nader advises. “I tend to keep this fringe shape super soft on the ends and shaped longer towards the ends of the eyebrows so the fringe swings. A fringe like this one can’t have a blunt edge to it.”
The Styling
“Blow drying should start on damp hair, so you push the unwanted growth patterns and cows lick out so the length sits where it’s meant to. Then have your nozzle attached on the end of your hairdryer and blow dry with a flat paddle brush from side to side.”
GHD The All-Rounder Paddle Brush
Image credits: Getty Images
The pixie crop
’60s muse: Mia Farrow or Twiggy
Modern muse: Emma Stone
Short, playful, and instantly chic, the pixie crop is still the bold power move that it was in the ’60s on the likes of Mia Farrow and Twiggy. Today’s version, shown on the likes of Emma Stone and Emma Chamberlain, favours piecey texture and soft, feminine contours over rigid structure.
The Cut
“This haircut is technical and takes precise measures, as it’s about introducing a combo of graduating different lengths and adding the texture where it’s needed and not needed,” Nader explains. “When I cut a pixie, I still want to see a haircut that looks really soft, feminine and no harsh lines as I want the hair around the hairline to ‘hug’ and not razored up the head. It’s also a bonus if the natural texture has wave, too, as this adds to the softness, whereas if you have poker straight hair, this could present as more rock and roll vibes, and dare I say ’80s…!”
The Styling
“Go easy on overloading your pixie with products as you want to give it a new life from now. Add a little matte lotion now to give strands more movement and will also add more dimension which is the beauty of this haircut. Even blow dry with your fingers and don’t feel restricted to using a brush, you want your pixie to breathe. If you want more definition once you’ve blow dried, add a little more of your matte lotion.”
Moroccanoil Frizz Control Smoothing Lotion