This Is The Evolution Of The “It” Hairstyle Over The Years

Blame it on the endless stream of pictures on social media, but in 2016, tracking celebrity hair changes has become a full-blown sport that requires up-to-the-minute refreshing. Like many beauty nerds worth their weight in dry shampoo, we do our very best to follow — and share — hair trends as they happen. It’s a lot. But which of these chops rank as the most covetable in history?

We took this question to some of the biggest hair pros in the biz, who revealed which styles have become the most requested by clients over the past 30 years (along with behind-the-scenes stories of how they came to be). Some of the cuts ahead were done by the stylists who picked them, while others have simply been around for years thanks to their mass appeal. Among them are Sally Hershberger’s shag cut for Meg Ryan, Garren’s chop for Karlie Kloss, and, of course, looks like The Rachel and Halle Berry's "spunky" pixie — all the way to modern shags and lobs from stylists like Anh Co Tran and Jen Atkin. Suffice it to say, there are some cult-status cuts ahead.

Are we pining for one of the most zeitgeist-y cuts on the planet? You bet your ass (and chances are you are, too). Peep the timeline of game-changing cuts ahead, and get ready for a major dose of hair inspo — just in time for the New Year.