I don’t need to see any further proof that Florence Pugh is the queen of transitional hairstyles and hair colors. I mean, I want to see further proof — nothing delights me quite as much as seeing the acclaimed actor’s latest look tweaks — but this year alone has shown that she makes faded hair dye and slightly grown-out buzz cuts look like anything but awkward phases. And as her hair gets longer, she’s taken to retro styles to give it a boost of nostalgic chicness.
In early October, Pugh attended Paris Fashion Week with a wispily spikey take on a 1950s pompadour hairstyle, slicking back the sides and fluffing up the middle. And now, nearly two months later, her hair has time-traveled to the 1980s.
Pugh appeared with fellow Oppenheimer castmates at an event in London on Thursday, November 30, wearing a wide-neck, black dress, strappy heels, and silver drop earrings. It’s a timeless ensemble, no doubt, but paired with Pugh’s current hairstyle, it looks like an outfit from a 1980s Garry Marshall movie.
Arguably bixie-length now, Pugh’s currently buttery blonde hair captures two of the most ubiquitous ‘80s hairstyles: mullets and gravity-defying height. It meets at an incredible intersection of Sheena Easton, Melanie Griffith, and Marie Fredriksson of Roxette (look ‘em up, youn’uns) with its deliberately overgrown back and voluminous top. But because it doesn’t have the hairspray-induced crunch factors of so many ’80s looks, it feels refreshingly modern with its soft, shiny, just-messy-enough finish.
LONDON, ENGLAND – NOVEMBER 30: (L to R) Emily Blunt, Cillian Murphy and Florence Pugh attend a special screening and Q&A of “Oppenheimer” at Princess Anne Theatre on November 30, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Dave Benett/Getty Images for Universal)Getty Images