You might not have noticed this (unless you’re a TV and/or hair junkie like us), but every woman on every TV show ever has the same exact haircut. OK, we’re exaggerating a little bit, but it’s common enough that it’s got a name: “The Hair”. Straight at the top and then slowly turning into bouncy, wavy curls at the bottom. It’s everywhere, and it was puzzling enough that the writers at Racked decided to investigate.
Now, before we go too much further, it’s important to note that this is not a natural hair shape. There is not a woman alive who rolls out of bed with hair even close to resembling “The Hair”. It just doesn’t happen. The curls are too bouncy, too full, the top is too straight. In short, this is the kind of hairstyle that you really have to work at. In fact, the most common sighting of “The Hair” in the wild is probably at proms and weddings – the kinds of events where getting your hair done is an all-day affair.
So why is “The Hair” so popular on TV? Mostly because it’s easy to manage and looks good on everyone, according to industry sources. It opens up the face and lets you get great shots from any angle without having to put the hair up into a bun or tie it in the back. That’s important, because keeping hair down makes characters feel more natural and relatable. Slightly curly hair makes keeping things constant from one shoot to the next easier, as well: with straight hair, an out of place stand becomes easily noticeable, whereas with wavy hair it’s much more difficult to tell.
So should you go out and get yourself a haircut like this? Maybe, but probably not. While TV and film stylists say The Hair would be easy to replicate in real life, they caution that it might seem way more formal and done up in person than it looks like on TV. Apparently, the things we see on TV don’t look the same in real life. Who knew?