Why Growing Out Your Bangs Is the Best Part of Having Them

One part ’70s bohemian and one part Brigitte Bardot–esque bombshell, sideswept bangs contain a face-framing ease that is both aspirational and laissez-faire, particularly for girls like Suki Waterhouse, who have generated an Instagram phenomenon with their intentionally grown-out pillowy fringe. Cheekbone-accentuating and split in the middle, it’s a hair formula that’s equally as charming falling in the eyes of Velvet Underground singer Nico as it is casually tucked behind the ears of Say Lou Lou frontwomen Miranda Anna and Elektra June Kilbey-Jansson.

Looking at my own long, single-length, blunt-cut blonde waves recently, I couldn’t help but crave the bone-structure enhancing effects of a few choppy pieces surrounding my face. After all, Alexa Chung and Françoise Hardy can’t be wrong—and from the looks of things, growing out your bangs may just be the best part of snipping them in the first place.

For this, I dialed editorial hairstylist Jon Reyman, co-owner of Spoke & Weal salons, whose clients include boho babes Lana Del Rey and Sienna Miller. After a few scrolls through Waterhouse’s Instagram, we settled on a safe chin-length leveling of the fringe, because, as Reyman pointed out, I could always go shorter later, and my bangs might bounce up a bit after they’re cut since they contain a bit of natural curl.

For 15 minutes, he snipped and trimmed with precision. While fluffing and admiring the 2-inch-wide sections of my new chin-length insouciant bangs, Reyman explained the key to pulling off the lived-in look long term: As hair grows, it increases in heaviness. “All you need to do is thin it out and make it lighter [as it continues to get longer], and it becomes easier to manage.”

For girls who already have full fringe but want to grow it out into the aforementioned, more effortless incarnation, Reyman recommends salon maintenance visits during transition, rather than simply letting your bangs grow and hoping for the best. “You need to go to a good hairdresser who can manage your fringe properly, softening up the lines so it grows out and looks meaningful, instead of, like, ‘I’m healing from a wound.’ ” This will help your formerly short strands to blend and blur into the rest of the cut, while continuing to offer up a feature-enhancing frame. For my part, I plan to head back to Reyman’s chair to maintain my non-fringe fringe every eight weeks—it’s relaxed, easy to manage, and harkens back to an era of careless, curated cool. And the best part? No awkward phase.

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