How I gave Meghan show her PONY
He’s Meghan’s hairdresser – and now he reveals how he created this iconic look, now copied by Kate... and says a ponytail has suddenly become a cut above
SEEING those pictures of the Duchess of Cambridge this week, wearing her hair in an effortlessly chic yet understated ponytail, it felt like the start of a more modern chapter for her image.
Of course, this isn’t the first time we have seen Kate’s hair styled this way. Normally, though, she would team it with casual clothing while typically attending a sporting or outdoor event.
This week’s engagement was in the more formal setting. Worn with an elegant navy dress with a structured collar, on Kate the ponytail looked truly regal.
Admittedly, there’s every chance that, like so many women right now, she was simply looking to tidy up her grown-out, lockdown hair by tying it back until she can get a long-awaited trim.
But oh boy, the way she created that bit of lift at the top, positioning it just so in the middle of her head. It meant she pulled off a fun and youthful ponytail that still somehow looked totally fitting for a royal trendsetter.
The ponytail really is having a moment. In fact, let’s call it the power pony because, as Kate and indeed her sisterin-law Meghan have shown, it’s a simple style that can be worn several ways. And, when you get it right, it creates a truly wow look.
Eternally youthful, thanks to those nostalgic schoolgirl connotations, there’s a power pony for every woman with hair long enough to tie back, whether you go for a high or low look.
It’s fun but it also shows you mean business, with no stray hairs flying across your face as a distraction.
Kate looked amazing this week — but the true queen of the ponytail will always be Meghan.
I’m biased, of course, it being my great honour to have styled the Duchess of Sussex’s hair on many of her highest profile engagements, including her wedding.
Doing Meghan’s hair always felt like a collaboration. She knew what she wanted, which helpfully segued perfectly with my own ideas for a thoroughly-modern, yet highly-sophisticated look.
A running theme became the ponytail and she has truly made it her own.
I joined Meghan and Harry on their Australia tour back in 2018. With so many daytime and casual engagements the ponytail served her well — relaxed, off her face and always appropriate to the situation.
But perhaps the pony that Meghan will be most remembered for is the one I gave her for the night she and Harry performed their last public engagement — an awards evening at London’s Mansion House — before they left Britain for a new, lesspublic life earlier this year.
LIKE so many people, I gasped when I saw those iconic photographs of the couple, taken underneath that umbrella, the camera lights flashing through the raindrops like a scene from a movie. I felt pride that, once again, I’d had the privilege of styling her hair for the occasion, a ponytail positioned low with a sleek and glossy texture.
It was always such a pleasure to work with Meghan — and I do still look at those images and think, ‘Gosh, we really did go out with a bang’.
When it comes to your own power pony, positioning is important; leave the uberhigh ones to your daughters, the cool 20somethings who look good with so much height and swing to their ponytail.
The middle of the head is the safest bet once you’re over 30, because that placing is easy to wear whatever your age group.
And remember, if you take it low, be sure to keep it sleek and tight. Otherwise, you could end up looking like your granny when you were aiming for chic.
Here’s my verdict on the celebrity ponytails of the moment.