When Ariana Grande posts on social media, the world listens. The 31-year-old singer-songwriter commands a massive audience of 378 million Instagram followers who eagerly anticipate her every virtual move. Most recently, she shared a selfie with side-swept bangs on her Instagram Story, raising the question: Could this once trendy and somewhat controversial fringe make a comeback in 2024?
At least for Grande, all signs point to yes, according to the photo of the former Nickelodeon star, shared by Cosmopolitan UK. In the image, she makes a kissy face in front of the mirror, wearing her hair in a sleek ponytail complemented by wispy, side-swept bangs that take up nearly half her forehead—a hairstyle fiercely reminiscent of the early 2000s to mid-2010s.
Grande has been experimenting with different hairstyles lately—and each has had an impact. At the 2024 Oscars, for example, she wore an intricate updo starring super short tendrils, which in retrospect, could have hinted at her latest transition to fuller side-swept bangs.
It’s been a while since Grande embraced the side-swept bang. One of the last times she sported this look was in September 2021 while judging on The Voice. Previously, she wore a long side-swept bang sleekly swept into her iconic ponytail, but her modern version of the fringe is shorter and choppier.
If Grande’s committed to the side-swept bang look, it wouldn’t be much of a departure from current trends. In an interview tied to this year’s trending haircuts, celebrity hairstylist Artur Kirsh told NewBeauty that side-swept bangs are, in fact, having a moment. “What’s happening for spring haircuts is shoulder length hair or a long bob with side part swept over bangs,” he told us. To perfect the look, “hair should be long enough that you can pull it up, and when you wear it down, it looks like a style. One side should be slightly longer than the other, very slightly.”
