What better place to get inspiration for a new look than celebrity styles? With their vast resources and access to the fashion and beauty world, stars have the ability to dream up and execute even the most extreme makeovers – some even changing their entire appearance! Here, we’ll shine a spotlight on some of the most remarkable style feats spanning the decades.
Willie Nelson
In 2010, the “Red Headed Stranger” and country legend lopped off his famous long braids, resulting in a chin-length bob. It was termed by the press as the “haircut heard round the world”; Nelson’s publicist explained simply that his long hair was “a lot of maintenance.” Nelson maintains a residence in Maui, so perhaps he simply wanted to cool off?
Justin Timberlake
In the early ‘00s, Timberlake was known for trendy-at-the-time acid-washed jeans ensembles, topped off with bleached and gelled hair. More than a decade later, he’s switched his looks a full 180 degrees, choosing a dapper suit and tie as his style of choice. His sleek look, combined with the influence of the hit TV series Mad Men, helped take men’s style in a more formal direction.
Marilyn Monroe
Perhaps history’s most iconic platinum blonde started her modeling career under the name Norma Jeane Mortensen. After pictures of her were taking at the munitions factory where she worked, she was signed by The Blue Book Modeling Agency. They suggested she lighten her brown hair; and later Ben Lyon – an executive at 20th Century Fox – gave her a new name. Her “blond bombshell” look still inspires women to this day.
Joaquin Phoenix
Phoenix stunned everyone in 2009 when he declared that he was retiring from acting … in order to become a hip-hop artist! The catalyst for his change from movie star to grizzled outcast turned out to be for the making of a mockumentary with Casey Affleck.
Diana Ross
When she was fronting Motown’s iconic Supremes, Ross wore sparkling dresses and a beehive hairstyle, matching her fellow Supremes Mary Wilson and Florence Ballard. When she launched a solo career in 1970, she grew out her hair, and wore bold hippie prints as well as androgynous suits. Her free and striking style epitomized the spirit of the ‘70s.
Victoria Beckham
In her role as Posh Spice of the Spice Girls, Beckham mostly wore shift dresses, sparkly eyeshadow, spiky hair, and platforms that went along with the Spice Girl vibe. Somewhere in the mid to late ‘00s, her style changed to a carefully edgy sophistication. Her angled bob inspired many women to visit the hairstylist’s chair, and her extremely thin frame is to this day swathed only in the sharpest designers – including her own line!
Kylie Jenner
The stunning beauty surprised many when, seemingly overnight in 2015, she went from cute teenager to pouty adult. Inspired the “Kylie Jenner Challenge” – a disturbing method of plumping one’s lips via suction — and its less potentially harmful cousin…that is,tracing a generous amount of lipliner outside the natural lip line.