Coquette hair: the hairstyles that are trending at TikTok

We’ve recently seen this look on social media and we can finally tell you all about Tik Tok’s new girly trend: Coquette hair.

This season, the “coquette hair” trend linked to the #balletcore aesthetic has become even more popular. It is not only present on TikTok and in the streetstyles of Generation Z, but also on the red carpets with Elle Fanning, Joey King and Dove Cameron and on the catwalks. Chanel opted for XXL bows for its OI22 Haute Couture show, while Dior chose casual ponytails for the SS23 season.

“I’m at a stage in my life where I’m dressing completely for me and I don’t really care how I’m perceived,” explains Camri Hewie. The model has been wearing hairstyles that could be conceived as flirty for years. “For so long, femininity has been belittled and seen as frivolous, and now we’re all coming together to embrace those parts of ourselves. We dress in a way that our young people would appreciate.”

“There’s something hyper-feminine and beautiful about wearing bows in your hair now,” adds maximalist fashion stylist Sara Camposarcone . “I often pair the hair vibe with a pink outfit, pearls and lace, so I don’t doubt that people would perceive me differently than if I wore an all-black outfit. But I’m a girly girl at heart and I can’t resist wearing things that make me feel empowered, while embracing my femininity at the same time.”

Most ancient societies used fabrics to knot or decorate the hair, so it is difficult to put a precise date on when we started to see these accessories. Men also wore them a lot, with the Lovelock trend in the 16th century, and even in the army and in the 18th century when it was popular to wear wigs decorated with bows. The side-parted ponytail version has been known throughout human history as a children’s hairstyle.

In the 1960s, longer, looser hair started to be worn, and that’s when we started to see those real Brigitte Bardot classic ponytails, then in the 1970s it became part of the hippy look. It could be considered that recovering this aesthetic is nothing more or less than rescuing hairstyles that always come back. It could even be seen as a nostalgic celebration of embracing your inner child.

While decorating your hair with bows, braids or pigtails has always been linked to the construction of femininity, this season the delicacy of this aesthetic is combined with gorepunk. And while you may see it as a way to express yourself and even empower yourself, there’s also the possibility that this trend could be linked to paedophile culture. But who are we to tell you what to wear?

What we can tell you is that there is a kind of conscious ostentation that comes with this type of hairstyle linked to femininity, whether it’s ponytails, braids or buns combined with ribbons. And at a time when many haute couture brands are trading maximalism for absolute, austere minimalism, “Coquette hair” is here to stay because it’s the perfect combination of both worlds.

This is the product Bella Hadid uses for her iconic hairstyle.