Why Winona Ryder's mini bob will be summer's biggest hair trend

The bob just got shorter - and we couldn't love it more.

Winona Ryder & Johnny Depp in Los Angeles, California (Photo by Barry King/WireImage)
(Image credit: Barry King /Getty Images)

Just when we'd reached peak appreciation for bobs as the world's most popular hairstyle, along comes a flashback to Winona Ryder's mini bob circa 1990. 

Effortlessly cool and achieved with just a round brush (or not) bob hairstyles have easy, breezy summer days written all over them. And now that Netflix has announced another season of Stranger Things, we're hoping Ryder will go back to her grunge roots and revisit her iconic mini bob.

Nostalgic hairstyles like the Rachel Green have attracted fresh attention of late but this take on the classic shoulder-bone-grazing bob is a genuine revival of a supremely chic cut. If proof were needed, model of the moment Barbara Valente has been sporting the look on the AW21 catwalks to aplomb. 

The micro version bob is essentially shorter in length, just skimming the jawline and framing the face. Better still, this nonchalant short hairstyle works for any hair type - fine, thick, poker straight or curly.  And, no, you don't need cheekbones sharp enough to cut glass to pull the look off - the mini bob looks just as good on an 18 year-old as it does a hairstyle for women in their 50s.

There's just one rule of thumb: don't make the style too perfect. This isn't about coaxing unruly strands into a super sleek helmet of hair. Play with your natural texture - imagine a bob on a humid day and you get the gist. After all that's what the goddaughter of grunge herself would advocate!

And while razor sharp bobs can involve a great deal of commitment the mini bob becomes even more appealing as it grows out into soft layers.  So now that there's a call to action to save our salons, why not book in for a mini bob a la Winona Ryder and look forward to feeling the warm summer breeze on the nape of your neck.

Fiona Embleton is a beauty writer who is now Acting Beauty Editor at Stylist. She is obsessed with Isabel Marant and cats.