Meryl Streep, who turns 77 today, is a master at shapeshifting on screen. To play Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada, she styled her hair in a silver quiff that became instantly iconic—and was, naturally, brought back for the recent sequel. She’s played a coiffed and prim British prime minister in The Iron Lady (2011) and a decrepit witch in Into The Woods (2014). Death Becomes Her saw Streep play with high glamour to sport Hollywood waves and Bette Davis brows, while her boho side came out to play for Mamma Mia! as the fresh-faced, flaxen-haired Donna. There have been brief dalliances with brunette—a side-swept pixie in The French Lieutenant’s Woman (1969), curled and naturally voluminous in Out of Africa (1985)—but in recent years, it’s been all about silver.
In real life, the once suburban Jersey girl turned Hollywood legend tends to wear lighter, peachy tones to enhance her porcelain skin tone, while experimenting with darker colours around her eyes for definition: a hint of eyeliner, a gray smoked out eye. On the red carpet, she’ll still favor the fresh-faced and most luminous bases. And always, her day-to-day beauty is founded in the most natural beats, centering on that incredibly captivating smile.
Forward-thinking when it comes to aging in the film industry, Streep has financially supported screenwriting labs for women over 40—the age at which Hollywood bosses have a habit of dismissing female actors as “too old.” “That’s the key, I think, to being alive: always breaking new water. Always breaking the waves. And we’re not done yet,” she said in her Vogue cover interview with Anna Wintour and Greta Gerwig, while reflecting on aging.
To mark her birthday, Vogue shares some of Meryl Streep’s best looks from over the years.
2026
Photo: Getty Images
1980
Photo: Getty Images
