In the category of ‘honest confessions nobody will be shocked by’, I’ve never cared much about Bella Hadid. I mean I don’t dislike her in any way, but I’ve known her because of who her sister is or her boyfriend was and/or is, but never really thought “oh I need more of her in my life”.
Last night changed that totally. And it’s all because of the haircut.
Okay, fine, it’s not a haircut, it’s (probably) a wig. But it should be a haircut, immediately. I think it could change her whole profile, even though I know Bella Hadid is not hurting for people to care about her. Stay with me here:
I realized tonight that all the people who were really killing it were … it pains me, but this is true – they were mostly the newer celebrities, the ones who are still in risk-taking mode. Who still have enough flexibility in their comfort zones to try new angles to their self-image. This is a gamechanger, this hair. The dress is good, and the jewels up her arm and the cutout on the hips are really quite excellent – but it’s the hair that takes it into camp for me; I immediately have Madonna-circa-Papa Don’t Preach vibes in the best way possible, like anything could happen, and I hope it did inside the venue. I hope this hair and the corresponding adventures I think it could inspire are a permanent fixture.
Similarly, Gal Gadot always looks stunningly beautiful, because obviously she’s basically a genetic experiment in how perfect a human being can be physically – but so far, her style has been fairly straightforward. Column gowns, sleek suits, ball gowns… basically everything your mom would think is ‘just so classy’.
But what I love about her last night, in Givenchy Haute Couture, is that she gets to look like she’s having fun. She’s got the mother-of-pearl crown and headpiece, and the thigh-high lace boots and winged tunic, and she looks utterly current and like she’s allowed to be her age, instead of representing sort of demure beauty to everyone everywhere.
You see it, right? Look at her smile, and her stance. She seems casual, she seems untied in the best way possible. I don’t think it’s necessarily a new evolution in her style or anything like that – this is pretty close to as conservative as it gets for last night – but it’s so nice to see her let her hair down… you know, in an elaborate updo with a pearl crown. Whatever works, and it really, really does.
