When I was in my tweens in the late ‘90s and early 2000s, my friends and I spent hours poring over teen magazines, especially the supersized prom issues. Sure, we had a few years until our own proms, but there was nothing better than choosing your dream dress and matching hair and makeup from those glossy pages. When I saw Rihanna’s latest red carpet look, I instantly flashed back to those halcyon days of Y2K updo inspiration.
Just a few days after popping up at the British Fashion Awards in London, Rihanna and her partner A$AP Rocky landed in New York for the Footwear News Achievement Awards. Rih put a 2024 spin on the ’00s with her updo and choppy baby bangs, paired with a white collared gown and tons of diamonds and pearls—less prom, more couture. Hairstylist Naphia White pulled the star’s hair up into a high updo at the crown of her head, with pieces of hair wrapped, rolled, and pinned together at the base and the lengths feathered out in spiky tendrils of varying lengths. Rihanna’s bangs were choppy and uneven in the coolest way, with the longest portion just touching the arch of her brow and getting shorter and choppier as they moved up her forehead, then descending in length once again.
I could easily see this updo in the pages of any Y2K-era magazine, making a cameo in a teen movie, or popping up in a TLC music video. The messy, ‘90s Pamela Anderson upstyle has been the go-to glamour updo of the past few years, so it’s high time the ’00s equivalent makes a comeback.
Getty Images
