Can You Do a Bouffant With Long or Short Hair?

The best thing about a bouffant is that it’s versatile. Celebrity hairstylist Gregg Lennon Jr. says that a bouffant can be styled on anything from a bob to a long layered cut. As long as you can wrap it around a roller or curling tongs, you can achieve this larger-than-life hairstyle. Celebrity hairstylist and founder of Sally Hershberger Nomad Salon, Sally Hershberger , says it’s easier to achieve more volume and height with long hair, while for shorter hair you may need additional techniques or styling aids to raise your hair to the roof, such as hair paddings, hair pieces, or hair donuts.

When Was Bouffant Hair First in Style?

The bouffant hairstyle surged in popularity during the 1950s and 60s, thanks in part to the advent of aerosol hairsprays, says Lennon Jr. This trend, embraced by youth culture, led to increasingly voluminous hair. Jackie Kennedy, a quintessential style icon of the 60s, solidified the bouffant's status, a look initially inspired by European aristocracy. In the 1800s, a towering bouffant was a symbol of wealth and social standing—essentially, the higher the hair, the higher the class. Hershberger notes that iconic figures like Elizabeth Taylor, Brigitte Bardot, and Dolly Parton also further cemented the full-bodied hair look in pop culture.

What Hair Tools Do You Need to Create a Bouffant?

To achieve maximum volume, Hershberger suggests beginning with a thickening mousse or volumizer on wet hair. Next, Lennon Jr., Hershberger, and Farris all recommend blow-drying the hair and setting it with Velcro rollers. For a boost of volume, backcomb the hair using a fine-toothed comb or teasing brush. According to Lennon Jr., the final, most crucial step is to use a strong-hold hairspray to lock down the style and ensure hours and hours of volume. If you're creating an updo, secure it with bobby pins to complete the look.

How to Get Bouffant Hair—Step by Step Tutorial

bouffant-is-back-realsimple-GettyImages-1486939454 — Photo:
Cindy Ord/MG23/Getty Images

Are you ready for a big hair era? Well buckle up, because the iconic bold hairstyle of the ‘50s is back in a voluminous way.

The bouffant hairstyle, known for its glossy puff often at the crown of the head, has been a staple for women across decades. The look is said to have started in France, then made popular in the ‘50s thanks to the likes of Marilyn Monroe and Jackie O, and now celebs everywhere—from Anne Hathaway to Sydney Sweeney—are rocking the voluminous ‘do, too.

“I think the modern way is to not wear it as perfectly as it was in the ‘50s,” says Nunzio Saviano, hairstylist and founder of Nunzio Saviano Salon. “It’s a glamorous hairstyle but you can add simple accessories like headbands to make it wearable for every day.”

If you’re ready to embrace all that volume and puff, keep reading to find out how to style the bouffant.

What Is Bouffant Hair?

When it comes to bouffant hair, think BIG, says celebrity hairstylist Cherilyn Farris. “The word bouffant stems from the French word bouffant, which means to puff or fluff up, and the style is executed by setting, teasing, and spraying hair into a voluminous look, often piled, rolled, or pinned high on the head.”

Nunzio Saviano is a professional hairstylist and founder of the Nunzio Saviano Salon in New York City.
Orlando Pita is a celebrity hairstylist and the founder of the product line Orlando Pita Play.
Lisa Niebrugge-Epperson is a hairstylist at the Frédéric Fekkai Soho salon in New York City.

How to Create the Bouffant

If you’re trying to create a more glamorous bouffant a la Anne Hathaway at the Met Gala, we asked her hairstylist Orlando Pita how to achieve the look.

First, make sure you’re working with clean hair and apply a styling foam, like Orlando Pita Play Great Inflate Air Whipped Styling Foam, to bring on the fullness before prepping the hair for styling. After a blow out and quick styling using a one-inch barrel curling iron, apply a volume-boosting hairspray to increase fullness and shine. Tease generously and complete the look by wisping your hair back. You can also add a hair piece in the back to create that perfectly romantic half-updo.

For a more every-day puff, Lisa Epperson, stylist for NYC salon FEKKAI Soho, recommends an easy three-step process:

Apply mousse or a volumizing spray to wet hair to give you visible lift at the root and give the appearance of thicker hair (pro tip: use a product that also has a heat protectant agent, like the FEKKAI Root Lift Volume Spray).
Blow out hair with a large round brush and use Velcro rollers to set each section for extra volume
Comb out and backcomb hair at the crown while leaving out some face-framing pieces. Either pin the sides up for a half-up half-down hairstyle or leave down. Finish off the look with a hairspray.

But…How Do You Undo It?

All that hairspray can be daunting to remove, but it’s not difficult to undo.

First and foremost, you must brush out your hair starting from the ends and moving your way up to the crown in sections. “The trick is to make sure you’re using a flexible hold hairspray as it gives you all the hold you need while being able to brush out easily,” says Epperson. “Once brushed though, make sure to follow up with a scalp massage and use a scalp scrub to remove any product build-up.”

Frequently Asked Questions

Can You Do a Bouffant With Long or Short Hair?

The best thing about a bouffant is that it’s versatile. Celebrity hairstylist Gregg Lennon Jr. says that a bouffant can be styled on anything from a bob to a long layered cut. As long as you can wrap it around a roller or curling tongs, you can achieve this larger-than-life hairstyle. Celebrity hairstylist and founder of Sally Hershberger Nomad Salon, Sally Hershberger, says it’s easier to achieve more volume and height with long hair, while for shorter hair you may need additional techniques or styling aids to raise your hair to the roof, such as hair paddings, hair pieces, or hair donuts.
When Was Bouffant Hair First in Style?

The bouffant hairstyle surged in popularity during the 1950s and 60s, thanks in part to the advent of aerosol hairsprays, says Lennon Jr. This trend, embraced by youth culture, led to increasingly voluminous hair. Jackie Kennedy, a quintessential style icon of the 60s, solidified the bouffant's status, a look initially inspired by European aristocracy. In the 1800s, a towering bouffant was a symbol of wealth and social standing—essentially, the higher the hair, the higher the class. Hershberger notes that iconic figures like Elizabeth Taylor, Brigitte Bardot, and Dolly Parton also further cemented the full-bodied hair look in pop culture.
What Hair Tools Do You Need to Create a Bouffant?

To achieve maximum volume, Hershberger suggests beginning with a thickening mousse or volumizer on wet hair. Next, Lennon Jr., Hershberger, and Farris all recommend blow-drying the hair and setting it with Velcro rollers. For a boost of volume, backcomb the hair using a fine-toothed comb or teasing brush. According to Lennon Jr., the final, most crucial step is to use a strong-hold hairspray to lock down the style and ensure hours and hours of volume. If you're creating an updo, secure it with bobby pins to complete the look.