The Sixties-inspired bouffant, popular with fashion-forward Londoners last season, is currently experiencing an Eighties makeover. Forget the perfect, neat curls of the Mad Men era, the capital’s focus is now on grungy, rebellious tufts, as seen sprouting from the heads of some of our most stylish women.
It has been dubbed the Cockatoo Crop, and the look’s most loyal ambassador is Pixie Geldof, below left, as she — and her perfect example of a swept-back-and-full-of-wax crop — sat front row at Jonathan Saunders during London Fashion Week. Her particular brand of wayward locks — routinely teamed with bright eyeshadow, heavy brows and doorknocker earrings — has bred an allegiance of undone up-dos that bear more than a passing resemblance to the classic Eighties mullet.
Kelly Osbourne, below centre, recently coiffed up her lilac-hued barnet in a frothy, textured chignon with plenty of volume on top for the E! Upfront party, while the androgynous styling of The Voice’s Bo Bruce, and her feathery side-flick fringe, has garnered a fair few style admirers.
And at last week’s Met Gala in New York, both Carey Mulligan, below right, and Cameron Diaz swept up their honey blonde crops into simple and chic coiffs. Diaz’s waxed hair wasn’t dissimilar to her There’s Something About Mary days, with a half-up half-down style that gave her red carpet look a laid-back vibe, while Mulligan coupled her shimmering Prada gown with a high style that curved into a soft wave.
“I’ve noticed a steady increase in women coming into Tommy Guns Regent Street asking for a crop with a long sweeping fringe,” says Clive Byles, one of the salon’s top stylists. “Recreating the Eighties vibe by pushing the fringe back is one of the most popular finishing requests as people reference the rock ’n’ roll twist as seen on Carey Mulligan and Pixie Geldof. Once you’ve got the cut, it’s easy to style at home — just apply a little volumising mousse and blow-dry from the root in order to create the all-important lift. Then I apply a little of my Texturizing Paste to the whole style to create a slept-in languid look that will go the distance.”
