Fringes are magical: not only can they provide a speedy, budget-friendly way to wipe years off your face, but, if chosen wisely, your ‘do can be used to highlight your best feature, whether it be piercing blue eyes or razor sharp cheekbones. This season the A-listers are experimenting with choppier cuts, quite the opposite of girly and groomed. Here’s how to choose the most forgiving fringe for your face.
If you have a round face choose a thick, heavy fringe that can be swept to one side, à la Emily Browning.
A strong, diagonal line instantly elongates the face. Steer clear of anything too blunt – in most cases this will only accentuate fullness. Soft and wispy should also be avoided, although a choppy, textured cut, like a pixie, can prove a remarkable image update for some rounder faces (see Ginnifer Goodwin for inspiration).
For long faces a fringe can become a friend for life. Long, heavy fringes have the ability to even out facial proportions, and they are just as flattering styled to the side or parted down the middle. Alexa Chung has near enough trademarked the heavy parted fringe look, and now we know why!
Avoid anything cut more than a centimetre above the eyebrows as this will only pull the face down.
If you have a square or heart-shaped face, a fringe can be the ideal way to embrace your angular features. Choppy, long and mid-weight fringes are a perfect way to highlight the eyes while also adding softness. Olivia Wilde’s former fringey ‘do undoubtedly inspired a host of imitators, and rightly so. Short and blunt will only highlight angles, creating harshness all round.
If you have an oval face then go forth and experiment, because the sky really is the limit when it comes to fringe shapes. The baby fringe is a hard one to pull off but it can work wonders on this face shape, instantly adding a dose of vintage glamour. Wear it tousled and choppy, as championed by Kristyn Ritter, or slick and straightened, à la Rooney Mara.
Written by Thea Carley
