Conventional wisdom states that we change our hair when we’re in the midst of changing our lives. But that particular supposition severely underestimates the potential of going from brunette to blonde, redhead, or beyond. Sometimes, changing your hair is what changes your life—just ask anyone who’s ever found herself sporting a truly extraordinary (or truly awful) new hue.
Marilyn Monroe, the definitive platinum siren, may have remained a sweet brunette factory worker named Norma Jean Dougherty forever if she hadn’t purchased a bottle of peroxide for an early screen test in 1950. Lucille Ball actually stopped being a bottle blonde to differentiate herself from the gaggle of fair-haired Paramount backlot girls in 1942, and the combination of her arresting apricot ringlets and razor-sharp wit made her a B-movie icon even before I Love Lucy turned her into a cultural phenomenon. This week, Amy Adams revealed in an interview that shifting from pale strawberry blonde to a vivid ruby marked a major turning point in her acting career. “It was really fascinating to see just one element of yourself change people’s perception and that became a very powerful tool for me,” she said of the subsequent wave of auditions that led to plum parts and, eventually, five Oscar nominations.
It does not go unnoticed that changing one’s hair identity is risky—just consider Linda Evangelista, who took her natural color from deep brunette territory to a shade that might accurately be described as champagne. Needless to say, it worked: By the early ’90s, the hair chameleon (and supermodel) wouldn’t get out of bed for less than $10,000 a day, fearlessly dipping into a full spectrum of shades. More recently, one need only consider Rooney Mara’s swift transition from shy auburn-maned ingenue to obsidian-haired romantic-goth for her Dragon Tattoo casting to understand the game-changing effects of a good dye job. Or model Edie Campbell, who cast aside her strawberry lengths for a pitch-black shag—and became a Marc Jacobs muse and fashion It girl in the process.
These days, of course, models volley between dramatically different hair colors—oyster blonde! Raven black! Flame red!—as easily as they change their clothes, remaking their careers (and their lives!) in the process. For further proof that a shade metamorphosis can alter your own personal trajectory this season, above are a few of our favorite above-the-neck transformations of all time for inspiration.
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The post The Best Hair Color Transformations of All Time, From Marilyn Monroe to Jennifer Lawrence appeared first on Vogue.
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