She might have the most famous hair on telly: Claudia Winkleman’s long, dark locks and chunky fringe (along with her panda-eye liner and pale pink lipstick) make the Strictly Come Dancing presenter instantly recognisable.
The mum-of-three has rocked her trademark tresses for the best part of two decades, and says she gets hair-spiration from pop stars with similarly in-your-face fringes.
“I love Sia, she’s my hair idol,” Winkleman told me last year when we met to talk about her book, Quite. “I once saw Chrissie Hynde, who’s the coolest girl in the world, and her fringe was so long that somebody asked her a question and she literally had to part it like a curtain. That’s what I’m going for.”
While some celebs like to chop and change their locks all the time, others – Anna Wintour, Ariana Grande and the Queen, for example – have found their favourite style and they’re sticking with it.
And who can blame them? In honour of the Winkleman’s 50th birthday (January 15), these are all the reasons it pays to stay faithful to your signature look…
It saves time
Whenever you get a new haircut there’s that awkward phase where you have to get used to taming it at home without the hairdresser’s assistance and stash of products.
But when your ‘do never changes, you’re so used to styling it yourself you could practically do it blindfolded. It’s fast and fuss-free.
You look more put together
With something classic like a bob or pixie cut that doesn’t require tons of straightening or curling you’ve got an instant ‘look’, even when you haven’t made any effort.
As Winkleman describes her blunt locks: “If you’re on the school run, if you look disgusting, if you are knackered, if you have lost your house keys, if you are in mismatching shoes and the world’s falling apart… if you’ve got a fringe – a heavy fringe – something’s still going on.”
It’s a confidence booster
As many of us discovered when salons were closed during lockdown, losing your signature ‘do can be rather unsettling.
A visit to the hairdressers to refresh your beloved cut and/or colour makes you feel like yourself again and gives you a real confidence boost.
You can ignore trends
When you’re confident that you’ve found ‘the one’ – the ultimate cut and colour to suit your face and hair type – you can let trends pass you by, safe in the knowledge that you’ve already reached the pinnacle of hair perfection.
And there’s no danger of doing something disastrous on a whim, or wincing at old photos because you thought that micro fringe, mullet or buzz cut was a good idea at the time.
You trust your hairdresser implicitly
“Same as usual?” your hairdresser asks when you plonk yourself down in the swivel chair.
Your stylist knows exactly what they’re doing, because they’ve been doing it for years, so you can sit back, relax and let them work their magic.
