Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you must be aware of the iconic ‘Rachel’ haircut popularised by the Friends’ star Jennifer Aniston in the ’90s. The quintessential girl-next-door hairstyle sparked a worldwide style craze in 1995 when her distinctive, shaggy and layered chop was coveted by women everywhere around the world. Gen Z, obviously, has presented its own take on this pop culture staple, and has introduced us to a dreamy Rachel-Green-meets-Brigitte-Bardot hybrid, where ’60s style joins forces with the ’90s.
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Last month, we wrote about the ‘Monica’, haircut inspired by Courtney Cox’s underrated hairdo from the first few seasons of the show, which rightfully recognised Monica’s contribution to the mainstream fashion and style landscape. But as we head towards autumn-winter, ‘The Brachel’ is another deliriously delightful hair hybrid that, frankly, we need to try ASAP.
The Rachel Haircut
One person who definitely understands the assignment when it comes to the trend, is influencer, Shay Sullivann. The style maven took to Instagram to share her ’60s and ’90s inspired haircut in all its layered glory, and suitably christened it as ‘The Brachel’ after taking cues from @glamourmag.
We are totally living for the resurgence of vintage haircuts created through a mishmash of iconic styles from different decades, because it’s giving us a gorgeous, universally-flattering hair trend. ‘The Brachel’ fuses together two legendary generation-defining haircuts from two of our favourite decades— the ’60s Brigitte Bardot bangs and Rachel Green’s chunky ’90s layers.
This glamorous haircut includes long, face-framing curtain bangs, launched to fame by ’60s icon Brigitte Bardot, and sprinkles some delicate texture and structure around the eyebrows and cheekbones, giving your face a naturally contoured illusion. Meanwhile, the back of the haircut features staggered, choppy layers that look like they’ve been carved by Jennifer Aniston herself. The voluminous, shoulder-length cut gives off all the attitude and sassy bounce that made it so famous in the ’90s. And it also nods to the viral midi flick hair trend that goes hand-in-hand with the coastal grandma aesthetic.
If this sounds like your cup of tea, consider yourself warned, because there’s definitely some styling and elbow grease involved in getting the best out of this haircut. The supermodel-on-duty chop works best with a blast from your hairdryer, a hot brush or hot hair rollers to give those layers some extra bounce and volume. So, we’re off to retrieve our retro velcro rollers, or a hot-brush from the depths of our mums’ dressers, and you should too!
