Suki Waterhouse’s aesthetic is built on retro romance: it’s been a subtle transition from Brit it-girl bedheads to boho glam, Birkin-esque hair, and groovy makeup details, leaning more into the ’70s rock star vibes. For her latest performance, the singer—whose 2024 album was called Memoir of a Sparklemuffin—added another vintage element to her signature shaggy blonde hair.
Performing the dreamy “Weirdo” on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Waterhouse threaded fine strands of silver tinsel through her hair, worn straight and just a little longer than the clavi-cut of the moment, with her choppy bangs skimming her brows. The metallic strands were dispersed delicately through her longer layers and concentrated towards the back of the crown, creating something of a reverse halo effect. The finishing touch was a sparkling tiara nestled on top.
The rest of the look stayed within the same whimsical, slightly off-kilter register. Waterhouse performed in a cropped baby-blue Nude Project cardigan and creamy high-waisted knickers, with Tiffany & Co. jewels adding yet more sparkle. Disco dolly.
Photo: Getty Images
Hair tinsel itself is more Y2K than Studio 54. The shimmering extensions took off alongside the booming hair-extension market of the late ’90s and early 2000s, when beauty was increasingly punctuated with rainbow eye shadow, rhinestone decals, and anything that caught the light. But the instinct behind it stretches much further back. There were crystal-strewn headpieces and embellished wigs seen on the flappers and burlesque performers of ’20s and ’30s, then there came the unabashed shimmer of the disco era (hello, Cher!): glittering hair has long been one of beauty’s easiest routes to fantasy.
Lately, those tiny metallic threads have been finding their way back into the pop-cultural bloodstream. Mikey Madison’s pink- and purple-flecked tinsel became one of the defining beauty details of Ani in 2024’s Anora, while Zara Larsson has made shimmering, maximalist hair a fixture of her Midnight Sun era. Waterhouse’s take is subtler: blink and you might miss those glints among the blonde.
Waterhouse often works with hairstylist Jacob Rozenberg, who has crafted her blonde hair into a reverent, glamorous bedhead.
