In probably the most shocking and pleasing moment of my year in celebrity news so far, Britney Spears got her hair done. By Chris Appleton, who is this generation’s most famous celebrity hairstylist because of his work with Kim Kardashian, Drew Barrymore, Jennifer Lopez, among others.

Chris posted a photo with Britney in pin-straight hair parted in the middle part and a heartfelt message about his life-long love for her and how this was a dream come true for him.

Well sh-t, the man has done what all of us have been praying for because our girl looks f-cking phenomenal – like a version of her haven’t seen in years. For better or for worse, Britney’s hair has always been a Conversation, and I’m talking through every era of her career whether it be the hair extensions falling out on stage or her more recent messy hair look with a fedora. My southern queen has always loved herself a hair extension and frankly I love them for her too. But even I have to admit that it’s BEEN time for her to get a proper hairstyle.

There’s a long story with the hair though. Understandably she has not wanted to sit in a chair for hours after spending years doing so against her will, something that she touched on in her memoir. When you’ve spent such a formative period in your life having others tell you what to look like, she wants that control and I get it. But that’s why this post was such a surprise and so notable. The fact that Chris was invited to do her hair in the chair is probably the most promising sign I’ve seen in anything related to Britney in years.

Brit has loved a crimped or wavy hair style since 2000, I can’t remember the last time I saw her with pin-straight hair. The new style is giving me major flashbacks to her hair back in her 2008 episode of How I Met Your Mother. It’s the middle part – from that scene with Neil Patrick Harris and the matching blue sweaters.

Chris has previous shared on social media his desire to work with Britney, he even replied to a fan’s comment asking him to style her hair saying that he “would love” to do it but would want to do a “whole revamp” with some “big, major comeback hair”. Last summer, he also responded to a fan’s TikTok with a message that fans should “campaign” for their collaboration to happen and to help “bring Britney back”. Admittedly there was a point where I found him a little thirsty, especially doing the video in a Balenciaga x Britney collab T-shirt. But there’s also a part of me that understands his want to help her, especially as a fan.

@chrisappletonhair Replying to @ressariley90 ♬ Welp, Didn't Expect That - Yu-Peng Chen & HOYO-MiX

Britney herself hasn’t posted anything about the new hair yet. Instead, she posted and deleted an old video clip of her dancing in a fedora and bathing suit from earlier this year with the old hairstyle intact. Will she post her new hair? Will she even keep her new hair?

As a hardcore Britney fan, and I’m not the only one, even I can’t deny that she is arrested in time. And I know exactly why, sympathetically. We want her to evolve her look – but only when she wants to, when she’s ready, on her terms. Because that would signify, perhaps, something about her life, and her image, that she’s comfortable with, and how, maybe, she wants to present herself.

Photo credits: Image Press Agency/NurPhoto/Shutterstock

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