Cover Photo Credits: Hair - Sascha Breuer, Photography - RankinArchive — Starworks Artists
Written By: Sascha Breuer
Fluid doesn't mean formless. Au contraire, it’s fashionable, fun and empowering. Fashion has long been known for its innate knack for pushing boundaries and breaking down walls and the meteoric return of androgynous beauty to the mainstream is proof that the unmaking and remaking of ideas is as powerful as the making of them.
Androgynous beauty trends are all about love: self-love and shared love. It’s about seeing people not as someone tells you to but as they see themselves. It’s about letting go in a statement that is as much art as it is politics. And it is the flavor of the season.
Androgyny raises its beautiful, seductive head every few years and leaves everyone breathless. In challenging the normal, androgyny touches something true, hidden deep in us all: a desire to be more, to be less, to be free. Change the way you wear your hair and you could change who you are. Revolution doesn’t always come with picket signs, chants and anger; sometimes it’s the girl with the short-cropped hair on the subway, sometimes it’s the guy with the pixie bangs next door.
Androgyny is not new. It might be new to you today. It might be freaking out your neighbors or your parents, but androgynous discourse has been very real for much of the 20th century. From Coco Chanel popularizing pants for women at the turn of the 20th century to Prince teaching women that they could want him and want to be him, androgynous beauty is older than you and me. And it means serious business. Sure, there’s something to be said for choppy bangs and shaggy hairdos and Doc Martens as aesthetic statements as of themselves, but there is something so deeply brave about refusing imposed identities and reminding society that it was, in fact, conceptualized to serve the individual.
Androgynous hair trends have been major the last few months and we’re reaching a real crescendo as the Spring Summer 2017 Fashion Weeks draw near. There’s no doubt we’ll see a lot of envelope-pushing hairstyles in the coming weeks and here are some tips on how you can get in on the trend early:
- Try the pompadour. It’s not difficult at all. Short hair- backcomb and hold in place with hair gel. Long hair- backcomb and pin down with bobby pins.
- Try slick, slightly greasy texture with wet-look styling products. Combine scruffy masculine energy with styled feminine energy.
- Try long brow-skimming bangs cut blunt and thick, à la Sia. Another androgynous trend for long bangs is to artfully arrange them over the forehead in soft, spiky tips. The look: luxurious bed-head.
- Conversely, short choppy fringes that barely cover the hairline are also a major 2016 androgynous hair trend. This is a great way to open up the eyes and works especially well with short cropped hair on both men and women. Inspiration: Michelle William’s pixie.
- Shaved sides, slicked back crowns and shaggy cuts (think rocker Joan Jett) add balance to both masculine and feminine features and are incredibly low-maintenance.
- Don't over-style androgynous hair: it’s all about natural, free beauty. If you must use a blow dryer, allow your hair to air-dry at least 50% of the way.
- Razor down sides on an existing short haircut to revamp the look and make it instantly edgy.
- Feeling bold? Ready to go one step further? Try the Twiggy pixie. Works with everything, from t-shirts and high-tops to pearl-topped Chanel.
- Groom your brows to match the new you. Men, pay a little more attention to brow styling/setting. Women, let them grow out a bit for a more natural take. Cross on over to the other side just a bit- you might like it here.
So much of the movement is about freeing your inner self that androgynous beauty is extremely personal. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach here. That’s just what we’re trying to break. Find yourself. Try yourself. Reject yourself. Reinvent yourself. That’s what androgyny is about.
It’s a mood. It’s a lifestyle. It’s a conversation.
And you’re invited to join in.
This post was written by Sascha Breuer – For more beauty inspirations be sure to check out his fabulous blog on SaschaBreuer.com and his amazing uploads and travels on Instagram @Sascha_Breuer.
