There’s a new trend among the hipster girls to dye their hair silver. Yes, the It Girls of England, like Pixie Geldof, are choosing to go gray, as blonde apparently is passe and pink is played out. Silver tresses are reportedly all the rage amongst people who have not yet had to deal with actual silver strands popping up in their hair, which makes one wonder if gray hair is going to be a trend that everyone embraces, or if it’s only considered cool when accompanied by a wrinkle-free face. According to Hanna Hanra of the Times of London, “growing numbers of women are no longer eschewing the very thought of gray, but embracing a gunmetal mane with pride – and attitude.” Oh, and most of them are under 30.
“Grey has always been seen as distinguished on men,” says Neil Moodie, of Bumble and Bumble. “But on women it’s seen as ageing, which isn’t necessarily true — the model Kristen McMenamy looks incredible [with it]. Normally, if you bleach hair, you can put in an ash tone to stop the brassiness, and it goes a slight grey-blue, so it also has that punk element. This turnaround is really cool.”
But this trend is strictly for the young. Hair fashion experts agree that this is no Helen Mirren moment. Even Kate Moss – at a mere 36 – was frowned upon after presenting herself with cutting-edge grey streaks last month. She washed them out again within 24 hours. “Proper grey hair has no pigment in it at all,” said hairdresser Stephani Paul from Glasgow, where the clubs are full of young grey-streaked heads. “To get steel grey you have to have pigment to dye, and it really looks better if you have other warmer tones to balance it. The older you are, the less flattering grey usually is, so I don’t think the older women are going to stop coming in for their cover-ups.”
