Why the BOB wins all the awards
Naomi’s hair steals the show at the BAFTAs
AT Sunday night’s BAFTAs, unannounced and maybe even a little understated, a classic haircut made its entrance — simple, elegant, low-key and beautifully styled and finished. A reworking of 1920s flapper bob gently ebbed and flowed down the red carpet, shiny, sultry, sexy and effortlessly oozing with class.
And as the cameras snapped and the fashion press gasped, a legend was reborn. The enormity of it was not just evident by the social media frenzy to herald the arrival of a new hair must-have, but hair cutters all over the world will have had red hot phones with eager clients screaming “I want that haircut, like NOW!”.
With all this chaos and mayhem, excitement and desire we had almost forgotten that the haircut belonged to Naomi Campbell.
Now Naomi Campbell is no stranger to the glare of public scrutiny and has had some pretty impressive hairstyles in her time, but as the queen of supermodels enters her sixth decade it would be easy to understand that, maybe like her contemporaries, hitting the headlines for a haircut is not really a big deal.
In fact Linda, Kate, Cindy etc seem to have settled for being simply beautiful, rich, glamorous and intelligent but Naomi, it appears, is not ready to soften the edge.
Not that her haircut was particularly radical, it’s just, well it was so cool, striking, interesting and, of course, brave.
THERE were other notable hairstyles on sassy new actresses. The Crown’s Emma Corrin reminding us of the great Sinead O’Connor with her elfin pixie crop and Bride of Dracula veil looked every inch the gothic enfant terrible, strong androgynous and strikingly beautiful; the look divided the fashion critics — of course Leisa and I loved it.
Then there was ‘I just woke up like this’ look — Edith Bowman always rocks the rock ’n’ roll mussed-up shag but Bryca Dallas Howard, Celeste and Amy Jackson looked like they gave their hairdresser the night off and had a go at it themselves with varying degrees of success.
In reality, awards ceremonies and red carpet events are a bit of a conundrum for the A-listers. All sorts of issues and political agendas come into play — the statement hairdo may get the headlines but if it steals the spotlight from the movie nominated or looks a little ‘trying too hard’- there is often a backlash.
In recent years we have seen the low-key, minimalist hair and makeup taking precedent, with slicked back ponytails, simple updos and subtle accessories being the main requirement of our famous faces.
Even the old avant garde set — Lady Gaga, Madonna, Tilda Swinton and Cher have toned down their public image at major galas and awards events.
A quick run through Vogue’s hot list for the evening is an ensemble of beautifully crafted elegance; Margot Robbie and Emily Blunt with their elegant English rose pin ups, Charithra Chandran and Claire Foy sport mid length lobs, Daisy Edgar Jones tips a hat to grunge with her dip dye (remember that?) Courtney Love homage whilst Dua Lipa and Lily Collins vamped it up with a little old- style Hollywood glamour.
But in all honestly, there is nothing to see here which makes the Naomi bob even more special. I assume she has no dog in the race here, no film to promote, nothing to plug or even endorse and yet she sashays in looking iconic and spectacular and it’s all eyes on Campbell.
But it’s not just the hair — it’s the energy and sheer theatre of it all. She looks deliciously happy, alive and confident. There is a liberating aspect to entire ensemble; the haircut is intentionally imperfect — look at the little fractured fringe — and then there is the finish, almost careless, effortless — not undone but not over-styled either. This is a mature look, a woman’s haircut, it’s a serious shape, it’s not playful, frivolous or cute. It’s strong and dramatic, a haircut that means business, it’s a statement of intent and it lands perfectly.
The question now is will this open the gates to a new generation of women opting for a haircut rather than the ubiquitous hair do? The answer is yes, there is a growing desire to explore all options - long hair, short hair, grey hair, naturally curly hair - the list goes on but the real story is that it’s about what makes you feel good about who you are and how you look.
It appears that our role models and influencers still have a part in our decisions, not because we want to look like them or have their hair, bodies, faces or lives but because we admire their authenticity, attitudes and outlooks. Of course as much as we adore Naomi’s bob she is the real star, not because of her supermodel status, fame, beauty or even her style. It’s just that she looked incredibly happy, light, comfortable in her skin, naturally mingling amongst the good and great, safe in the knowledge she has nothing to prove. She’s in a class of her own, like all powerful women everywhere. @wearestaffordhair