Jane Austen Bangs Are Trending (& the Book Girlies Have *Thoughts*)

In life, I am a devoted student of two things: Jane Austen and beauty culture. Recently, the two collided rather spectacularly with the explosion of “Jane Austen bangs” circulating on TikTok. It coincides with the 20th anniversary re-release of Pride & Prejudice, English director Joe Wright’s 2005 adaptation of what is largely considered Austen’s most popular work. (I recently went to see the movie with my book club, and some die-hard acolytes showed up in their best cottagecore.) Despite the fact that I am an Austenite to the nth degree, when I saw the trend pop up, all I could muster was an eye roll—and I’m not the only one.

Jane Austen bangs take a page from every bookworm’s favorite Austen heroine, Elizabeth Bennet. Specifically, Keira Knightley’s portrayal in Wright’s adaptation. Notably, Lizzie’s younger sisters, Lydia and Kitty, are also sporting their own variations, but they remain thematically the same. Other Austen protagonists, including Marianne Dashwood (Kate Winselt) and Elinor Dashwood (Emma Thomspon) from Sense and Sensibility (1995) wear their hair in a similar fashion. The style is characterized by a fringe cut just above the eyebrows, then curled towards the forehead. (The writer herself has been depicted with the same look.) The result is soft, feminine curls or waves that frame the face. This was inspired by the Neoclassical art movement, which itself took a page from ancient Greece.

Articles with tips on cutting and styling Jane Austen bangs abound, but the thing I found most amusing was that people—in particular, Austenites, weren’t having it.

Fashion historian and YouTuber Abby Cox proclaimed, “The hair was smoking hot garbage and I hated 90 percent of it,” when discussing Pride & Prejudice (2005). “Don’t even get me started on what was going on with Lydia and Kitty’s hair. That was some prime bicentennial…[gags].”

There’s also an amusing thread on Reddit, dedicated to the hairstyle’s Vogue feature. 

“I find it weird and stupid that these wildly period inappropriate bangs are being called Jane Austen bangs,” one user writes. Another added: “The entire gaggle of Bennett daughters (minus Jane) had the worst, scraggliest, unwashed-looking bangs in the 05 movie and I have to believe that this was an April fool from Vogue.”

To be clear, I don’t hate Jane Austen bangs—historically accurate or not. I thought costuming for Pride & Prejudice (2005) was dreamy. But the latter Reddit comment, which did make me giggle, has a point. As a fellow bibliophile, Austen acolyte and beauty writer…it’s too much. First, yes—their hair was just unkempt, and it puzzles me that rat’s nest hair is beauty inspo. Secondly, just because we see something fun doesn’t mean we need to coin a new term. For proof things have gotten out of hand, look at examples such as the hot girlification of everything including girl dinner (snacking) and tomato girl (Mediterranean aesthetic).

May I be so bold as to suggest that we already have variations on Jane Austen bangs? They’re called mall bangs, only with ‘90s flair and shag. But the length and volume are the same. If you’d only taken ten minutes to curl them for a cottagecore vibe over a mall-rat look, you would’ve been there. And maybe it’s because I spend a lot of time looking at beauty trends, but I can also see the ephemeral whispers of the French/Korean aesthetics and micro bangs. Thus, if we really wanted to give credit where credit was due, everything is just a twist on JA’s original fringe. I’m fine with that—only let’s replace scraggly and unwashed strands with freshly crimped hair fit for the Netherfield ball.