(Culture)
You'd be hard pressed to find someone in Hollywood with more influential hair than Jen Aniston, mother of The Rachel. Over the years (nay, decades), the 50-year-old has tried out almost every look in the book, from chic bobs to dreadlocks, and most of them wound up being the trend du jour. Admit it: You rocked a few of Jennifer Aniston's iconic hairstyles in your day, too.
If you've never brought a magazine clipping with Aniston's face on it to a salon, then you weren't a girl living in America during the '90s. Or the aughts. Or the '10s, for that matter, because that's how long the actor has been churning out hair trends like nobody's business.
2020 marks 30 years since the actor's small-screen debut (in a short-lived TV series called Molly) and since then, she has risen to the top of the TV ranks, made her way down at least a hundred red carpets, and become an all-around beauty sensation to boot.
It all started with a single hairstyle. The hairstyle that influenced every other hairstyle that came after it and is still a source of inspiration today, literal decades after it debuted.
The Rachel
The Rachel wasn't just popular back in the day. It's popular even now, despite the fact that thousands of Gen Zers don't have the first clue as to what it is—hence how it became a trending term on Google in 2018. Now that's what you call timeless. Perhaps the cyclical tendencies of fashion and beauty will resurrect the uber-choppy lob in 2020.
Butterfly Clips
Speaking of cyclical trends, Aniston was on board with butterfly clips long before Bella Hadid was wearing them. The updo she debuted at the New York screening of The Object of My Affection in 1998 is proof. Those twisty, face-framing pieces were a recurring theme, too.
Blunt Bob
Whereas many of her earlier looks showcased perfectly (and purposefully) tousled waves, Aniston cleaned up her look in the early aughts with the bluntest, just-above-the-shoulder bob. Though a major departure from her hair M.O., which at the time was a sort of just-woke-up look, the style was a perfect representation of the powerhouse Aniston was becoming.
Sleek Chignon
This classic updo worked its way into many of the actor's (and Rachel Green's) looks in the early aughts. Sometimes, she'd put her own little Aniston twist on it by leaving a few pieces hang down oh so casually, like when she sported one to the Golden Globes in 2002.
Beachy Waves
Aniston's longtime hairstylist, Chris McMillan, has said that her natural hair is actually quite curly. She certainly hasn't been shy about letting those beachy waves out to play over the years. This was taken at the Emmys in 2002, but she's worn those same curls as recently as last year.
Straight & Layered
Around the turn of the decade, Aniston settled into the style that she's still rocking most of the time today: the layered and straight. The actor has been sporting these piecey, face-framing layers — in a number of variations — for the past 10 years and she doesn't seem to be switching it up any time soon.
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