If there’s one hairstyle that will be a key trending hairstyle in 2024 (and no doubt into 2025), it’s the bob.
Stars like Julia Roberts, Penélope Cruz and Jennifer Aniston have all said goodbye to their long hair this year and opted for the mid-length cut. Every single one of them looks fantastic with it, which makes sense given that a bob can flatter any and every face shape and hair type.
New to the bob club, though, is Alicia Vikander.
The Swedish actress was photographed in London on August 27, and it’s immediately noticeable that something is ‘missing’, with the Oscar winner having cut off her longer hair in favour of a lob.
Sitting just above her collarbone, the cut almost passes for a clavi-cut (a clavicle cut, for the uninitiated).
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Alicia Vikander’s new cut is the perfect hybrid of a clavi-cut and long bob
In a long bob, the hair is cut just above the collarbone so that it hits just above the shoulders without touching them. If you have a lot of hair or fine hair like Alicia Vikander, the half-length cut works particularly well when the ends are given a little extra texture.
Essentially, the hairdresser doesn’t just cut the hair straight, but slightly frays the bottom few centimetres. If that sounds scary to you, don’t worry too much, as when it’s done well, rather than making it look thinner, it actually creates a lot more bounce and volume.
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The slightly graduated cut also makes a wavy style look even better. There is a very simple trick to making waves in the hair look as casual as Alicia Vikander has: simply twist individual, irregularly wide strands over a curling iron as thick as possible. Avoid the roots, though – if you create too much volume here, your hair will quickly look over-styled.
Likewise, try not to twist the ends too much to prevent corkscrew curls. If the waves still look too ‘done’ despite this, you can gently pull the untwisted strands into length with your fingers while they’re still warm. This will help them to hang out a little and after styling, you can mist on some dry shampoo instead of hairspray to ensure that the minimal bounce still holds. The powder particles it contains mattify and give the hair more grip so that it doesn’t get limp so quickly – win-win!
This feature originally appeared on Vogue Germany.