The indie fringe

The indie fringe / bangs.

Carelessly brushing the eyes, it's the fringe that makes you look like you've perpetually just rolled out of bed after a big night out. Back for 2012, thick, grungy bangs are one key way of styling a fringe this year. We look at how it's being worn both in the music and fashion worlds, as well as how the effortlessly-cool are rocking it on the street. 

What distinguishes one fringe, one set of bangs, from another is not so much the cut but the attitude with which it is worn. In 2012 there are several ways to carry it that will easily have it classed as being an on trend hairstyle: this is one of them.
Messy, scruffy even if you will, but in that devil-may-care way that looks like you’ve perpetually just rolled out of bed, it’s what the girls chasing the boys who wear the men’s indie rock hairstyle can often be seen sporting. It’s far from alternative or mainstream, but it does connote something that appeals to a particular demographic. It’s youthful with a grungy edge.

Indie bangs: the look

She’s just as likely to pair her sequin minidress with combat boots as she is heels; denim cutoff shorts are her summer staple and borrowing from the boys is a given. You’ll often spot her with the band, or getting muddy at Glastonbury. While good girls wear their bangs neat and groomed, she’s happy to have something of a bad girl rep. For her, the uncombed strands covering her eyes are a sign advertising her carefree attitude.
That’s not to say you have to be a particular type of girl for this hairstyle to suit you. But fashion is often about projecting something, so it’s the perfect style to choose if you want to give off a particular vibe.

Words can only convey so much about a mood or an attitude. So to capture how the style is being worn not just by models and celebrities, but on the street, we enlisted local it girl Michelle Steeper to pose for our cameras. Wearing the style just as she’d normally wear it, it’s the kind of hair that only gets messier (and better) as the night gets darker. That much was captured by photographer Kelly Defina in her playful shots of our indie-fringed muse. The full shoot can be viewed at the thumbnails above.

Who to channel: well-known indie fringes

If you want more inspiration you need only look to the worlds of fashion, music and film:

• You can channel the likes of Zooey Deschaniel for a sweeter look, though in 2012 a little inkling of reckless abandon is a good thing.
• For that, look to Daisy Lowe as inspiration. She rolls the rock star look together with grungy modern pin-up girl.

Daisy Lowe for Esquire.

• The Kills‘ Alison Mosshart epitomises the indie rock queen look with careless hair in eyes. Florence Welch rocks it in red.
• Sweeping, messy bangs seem a part of French DNA: Chloë Sevigny has been sporting some of late while Lea Seydoux (circa Mission Impossible 3) couldn’t have the look more perfectly down pat.

Lea Seydoux in Mission Impossible 3; Alison Mosshart polaroid via Vogue UK; Chloe Sevigny Tomboy S/S 12 campaign.

The cut and how to wear it

There’s not a lot of rules or fussiness associate with a grungy fringe hairstyle – and that’s precisely the point. But if you do want to go and ask your hairdresser for the cut, here are some things to bare in mind:

• This style works best if your hair is straight, or a bit wavy. Slight waves can add to the tousle of the look, but anything more will require regular straightening, so only make the cut if you’re prepared to spend time styling it.
• The thicker the bangs the better. If your hair is thin consider that the fringe will have to be quite deep (i.e. start from far back on the crown) in order to achieve thickness.
• Don’t go for wispy layers – as with bangs generally in 2012, a blunt cut is best.
• Length-wise you want below the eyebrows or just sweeping the eyes.
• The rest of the hair can be bobbed or long – the key is just to keep it relatively straight but tousled.
• Use a texturising product to get that messy effect even on cleanly washed hair.
• For a styling variation messily curtain the hair from the centre sweeping out.

For some more visual inspiration on styling grungy bangs for yourself, click on the thumbnails above for our full shoot of Michelle Steeper as photographed by Kelly Defina (kellydefina.com).

Related Editorial X