Is Olivia Rodrigo Bringing the Side Part Trend back for 2026?
Just a few years ago, beauty influencers and fashion critics all across social media were combing out a perfectly symmetrical middle part across their scalp and calling for the end of the side part that had taken over hair trends of the 2010s.
However, all of a sudden, the side part is starting to creep back in, with the hairstyle being spotted on numerous style icons, including Olivia Rodrigo, Jenna Ortega and Alexa Demie.
With the announcement of her third album ‘You seem pretty sad for a girl so in love’, Olivia Rodrigo has been all over social media to promote her new music. This has included an interview with Vogue in which she is seen cooking chicken lumpia, mixing a cocktail and discussing the vibe of her up-coming album.
In the YouTube video, Olivia can be seen wearing a light pink polka dot 50s style dress with a white collar and sleeve trim, shoulder pads and a hot pink flower pinned to the collar. Her make-up is subtle with a slight pink lip gloss and blush.
But what’s really interesting is her hair; it’s shiny with a slight curl to the ends, and instead of her classic middle part that we were so used to seeing in both her Sour and Guts era, her hair now lays neatly in a clear side part.
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Olivia has also worn this hairstyle on other album promotion events that she’s done, such as Saturday Night Live, The Tonight Show Featuring Jimmy Fallon and the FC Barcelona collaboration photoshoot.
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Perhaps she’s trying this new hairstyle out to differentiate her ‘girl so in love’ era aesthetically from her previous album eras. Or maybe she’s trying to keep her hair on theme with her 1950s inspired dress, especially since Olivia has been seen recently wearing lots of 50s and 60s styles, including baby doll dresses, peter pan collars, knee high socks and mary jane shoes. As we know, Olivia loves to reference fashion history with a lot of the sour era outfits being a reference to 2000s pop punk aesthetics.
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Other fashion-forward celebrities have chosen the side part hairstyle over the last few months. This includes Alexa Demie on both the red carpet and in the filming of season 3 of Euphoria, as well as Jenna Ortega in numerous red carpet and street style looks.
(Photo Credits: Vazgen H on Pexels)
This trend may inadvertently help hair growth for some as many experts have explained that changing your hair parting is beneficial in reducing the appearance of hair loss. This is because it leads to less tension on the hair follicle and less harmful UV rays hitting the same piece of scalp everyday, which can cause increased hair aging.
Has this trend hit the mainstream yet? Do you think it’s time for the side part to come back into fashion?
Let us know in the comments or on our socials @Fashion_North
