I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but we appear to be in the midst of a vibe shift. The minimalism and quiet luxury of the early 2020s has made way for something bigger, brasher and dripping in excess. Big jackets and even bigger ties. Vintage fur and 20 denier tights. Click-clack heels and fat ’80s watches. Which brings me nicely to the hairstyle I keep seeing on the streets of Soho after 8pm, as well as among the fashion week street-style horde earlier this year. I’m talking about the slicked bob, which is sleazy, smart and a little bit corporate.
The slicked bob, which is defined by the way it’s swept and gelled backwards, like if Christian Bale’s Patrick Bateman was a woman, is different to the ’60s flipped bob (a la Gigi Hadid and Elle Fanning), which feels a lot more demure and classically feminine. No, the slicked bob is all about power-dressing your way into spring. The ends aren’t flipped, they’re pushed backwards; an ideal way to enhance a heavy-shouldered suit jacket or turtleneck.
Basically, the bob – which can be any length, and either slicked with a parting or just fully swept backwards from the hairline – is saying “Give me a promotion… now!” Or actually, maybe it’s saying “I’m the one who gives the promotions.”
Though the style is different to the flipped bob, the styling technique is fundamentally the same. Hairstylist David Stanwell recommends Olaplex No 10 Bond Shape Curl Defining Gel and No 7 Bonding Oil if you want to really sleeken up a bob. “It creates a gel-like serum that creates a wet-look effect,” he told British Vogue earlier this month, explaining how you can comb the mixture through, section by section, until the hair is entirely coated. “Once it’s brushed and sculpted, just leave it to set!”
The best thing about the slicked bob, in my opinion, is that it’s smart but also pretty easy and effortless. And you can get away with it if you’ve got greasy hair. Perfect for the “work hard, play hard” among us, then. Boom boom, etc.
