(from left) Kelly Osbourne backstage at the Badgley Mischka Fall 2012 fashion show on February 14, 2012; Lady Gaga leaving her London hotel on October 22, 2010
Most women spend the majority of their adult lives trying to camouflage their gray hairs, resorting to chemical dyes that bring each strand back to its radiant roots.
But what is a mere nuisance for women of a certain age has become a trend-setting style among the fashion-forward celebrity set. Somehow, gray hair, in all its silvery goodness, has become popular.
From Kelly Osbourne’s lilac-gray locks to Lady Gaga’s black-and-silver style, not to mention the granny-esque wigs that have been showcased on runways around the world, there’s no denying that being a silver fox (in hair, but not in age) is en vogue, if not a little wacky. (Case in point, socialite Daphne Guinness’s interpretation of Cruella de Vil’s hair back in 2009.)
(MORE: The War Over Going Gray)
All we can think is, what gives? Jean Godfrey June, beauty director of Lucky magazine, told TODAY.com that going gray for fashion started back in 2006, when Kirsten Dunst starred in Marie Antoinette. “I feel like that whole feeling of beautiful fanciness and very decorative Marie Antoinette hair, that sort of went into everyone’s consciousness,” June said.
But Marie Antoinette lived in another time, when powdering their hair (or donning wigs) was the way to prove that you were a part of the aristocracy. Does the same reasoning exist for today’s celebs who are showcasing the gray-haired trend? Perhaps so. After all, we don’t see many common folk (besides our beloved mothers and grandmothers) dying their hair silver for the sake of fashion, and we’re thankful for that.
PHOTOS: Michelle Obama’s Hair