Hairdressers Bombarded With Requests for Blake Lively's Hairstyle
When Friends was the top sitcom on television, everyone wanted the "Rachel" cut, worn by actress Jennifer Aniston. Hairstylists were hounded to recreate the cut and the look by women of all ages. Now they are being hounded to recreate Blake Lively's hairdo, made famous by Blake's Gossip Girl character Serena van der Woodsen. But it's not an easy do to achieve, unless you were born with fabulous hair. Her hair is long, layered and has a tousled quality to it.
In the last six months, Ms. Lively's cut -- an exercise in studied dishevelment -- has been his most requested. "I didn't really realize the extent of it," Ms. Lively said of her hair’s popularity, though she had an inkling: fashion forerunners like Vogue staffers routinely approach her at events and fixate on her hair, she said.
"That's always kind of odd, but unbelievably flattering," she said.
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"I was born with a head full of hair," said Ms. Lively, who maintains her look is mostly natural.
Aside from frequently applying a conditioning masque, her stylist on the set of Gossip Girl, Jennifer Johnson, creates the unraveling curls by letting her hair dry in a simple chignon. Ms. Lively, who said she doesn't have extensions, says she has her blond hair touched up by her colorist, Rona O'Connor, every six months.
"Trouble is, some girls are born with amazing hair," said Mr. Wilson of Bumble and bumble, adding that hair like Ms. Lively's "sets an unrealistic expectation."
"It looks accidental, but actually it takes work," Mr. Barrett said.
For those who haven't won the genetic lottery, Mr. Barrett adds removable extensions of human hair similar to a fall ($1,200 to $1,500 per piece) and recommends a litany of treatments to maintain Ms. Lively's look. Not including the extensions, just the cut, which costs around $500 at his salon, conditioning treatments and heat styling tally up to around $1,200 a month.
The Rachel was just as hard to achieve, as was the Farrah, which was a national obsession during the run of Charlie's Angels. Those with thin, fine, straight hair are never going to achieve this look without extensions and a stylist. Those with naturally thick, slightly coarser hair with natural wave will have no problems at all if they're willing to put in the work (and deal with the bleach if they aren't already blond).
