After a brief unofficial investigation, the origin of The Bangs seem to be traced back to a few sources: Ashlee Simpson, early pioneer of The Bangs, circa her 2004 Autobiography album, Kristin Cavallari on Laguna Beach in 2005 (later to be followed by both LC and Heidi on The Hills), and the crop of Disney channel starlets popular at the time (Miley Cyrus, Vanessa Hudgens, and Selena Gomez) who were presumably trying to add a little edge to their look while trying to remain family friendly.
But perhaps the most horrific revelation is that like The Bump (or Pouf?), it’s been a long enough time that The Bangs might very well cycle back into modern-day hair lexicon. Case in point: Taylor Swift is wearing them on the latest cover of British Vogue.
I have a lot of questions for our past selves. Who impressed upon millions of girls across the country that a chunk of bangs was the look? Why did we insist on frying them with a flat iron (in my case it was a bang-size hot pink one) but crunching gel through the rest of our hair to create “waves”? Why were we always so...greasy? In an attempt to understand—and, perhaps, warn a new generation of impressionable young women—I asked the Glamour team to share what pair of bangs inspired them to get the cut, as well as photographic evidence of how it actually turned out. Join us for a stroll down memory lane.
“I don't remember having any specific person inspiring me to get bangs, but I was into emo music, so maybe that was it? Around that time I also felt deeply connected to Rory Gilmore and Zooey Deschanel—two women who have had excellent bangs over the years.” —Anna Moeslein, senior editor
