Calling It Now: Pigtails Are the Hairstyle of Summer 2017

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(Image credit: Getty)

published 13 May 2017

While you might know that the unofficial hairstyle of the festival season is two small buns in devil's horns formation, this particular sub-sub-set of the population that also invented glitter boobs might not be the best predictor of trends you would like to follow. Instead, consider the humble pigtail—Miuccia Prada and Mary-Kate Olsen heartily support this message.

Earlier this week at the Italian house's first-ever cruise (or resort or what-have-you) show, models wore tight, center-parted plaits either slung over the shoulders or behind them. This is not exactly a revelation, but with Pat McGrath's pressed-on pinky lip and those Art Deco slips and anachronistic bro socks, it kind of was in the quiet way things you haven't seen in a long time are.

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Speaking of tear sheets from the moodboard of my brain, here, I would like to bring up one of my favorite beauty looks ever, also from Prada (Spring 2010). Whereas these pigtails are loose and rumpled with a deep side parting, they're paired with another jewel-like lip, this time a juicy red-orange. (A slick move that says "childhood but make it fashion.")

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What differentiates these from your standard French braids? They start low, behind the ears. They are of the regular, not fancy European, variety. And, as further shown by the MK portion of an MK&A sandwich, they involve an extra, grown-woman touch—hers are a double whammy of earrings and a red ribbon woven in.

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And this is why I believe pigtails should be the next president of the United States of America. (Also because it would just be one pile of hair replacing another.)

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Chelsea Peng is a writer and editor who was formerly the assistant editor at Marie Claire. She's also worked for The Strategist and Refinery29, and is a graduate of Northwestern University. On her tombstone, she would like a GIF of herself that's better than the one that already exists on the Internet and a free fro-yo machine. Besides frozen dairy products, she's into pirates, carbs, Balzac, and snacking so hard she has to go lie down.