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Www.Guardian.Co.Uk - When Kate Moss changes her hairstyle, it's usually blown up into a Big Style Event - discussed at length by the tabloids and celebrated by the weekly fashion mags. But back in early September when Moss cut her long, bleached rock'n'roll hair into a longish, side-parted scruffy bob, only a modicum of fuss was made. Perhaps we didn't notice because we were all far too distracted by Sarah Palin's demi-beehive or Cheryl Cole's heavy curtain of extensions (which, incidentally, are looking more Audrey Hepburn than Wag by the minute). But now, after almost two months have passed, it seems that Moss's cut was an early indication of a shift in the tonsorial landscape. As if by stealth, scruffy bobbed hair has become the cut to have.Strangely, considering that James Bond films don't usually count as significant in style terms, it is the Quantum of Solace posters that have crystallised this look into the contender for 'do of the year. Witness Olga Kurylenko walking away barefoot from some explosion, but miraculously still clutching her shoes. Yes, the sooty blusher is noteworthy, but it is her artfully dishevelled bob that really steals the scene. And it isn't just on widescreen that the scruffy bob is gaining ground. Kurylenko's hair is echoed on the small screen by the studiously unkempt bob of Alexa Chung. Over on the red carpet, film-maker and style leader Sofia Coppola has freshened up her brunette locks by lopping off a few inches to create a shoulder-grazing bob. Meanwhile, Gwyneth Paltrow has a somewhat less scruffy version of the cut. Even on the campaign trail the bob is winning out. Michelle Obama's relaxed bob with long side-swept fringe suggests both an easy confidence and a woman in tune with the times. Here is a cut that can travel from the clubs of Soho to Hollywood via Washington without losing its shine.In fashion, the trends that stick are rarely the trends that are forced upon us, they're much more likely to be the ones that creep up on us, as if by accident. Think how reluctant we were to take up the jumpsuit, yet with a thousand times less spin, we are suddenly all happily wearing ankle boots. It's the same with this year's reincarnation of the bob. The cut isn't some style diktat from on high, just an easy update that most women can pull off. Marianne Jones, deputy editor at Grazia magazine and long-time bob wearer, thinks that the core appeal of the style lies in this democratic element. "Every other woman in the Grazia office has a bob of some description," she says. "The cut is feminine and manageable at the same time." Jones puts the current proliferation of the bob in the celebrity world down to similar, quite pragmatic reasons. "I think Kate's just got to that age and stage in her life when she realises that a shorter cut is more flattering than wearing it long and flat, which drags your face down. Just look at Gwyneth Paltrow and how much sexier she now looks with her just-hitting-the-shoulder bob."In fact, Moss's bob was not the result of a long consultation with her hairdresser. She cut it herself because, according to her hairdresser and friend James Brown, "she fancied a change". He insists that he was only there to supervise. "I love a cut that looks DIY, even though I wouldn't recommend it, but Kate knows what she's doing. The look comes from 1920s and 30s schoolgirls who had their hair cut by their mums by dividing it into four sections," he explains. So, does Brown think that we are in the midst of a bob moment? "We're having an 'all-sorts' moment, but if there is one look that is more on-trend than anything else, then it is the bob."The DIY aspect of Moss's 'do hints at more subtle semantics of the scruffy bob. It is meant to look hacked off, not carefully snipped, giving the wearer a devil-may-care attitude. It is the hair of the kooky bad-girl of cinema (think Juliette Lewis in Kalifornia) the polar opposite of the sleek, razor-sharp Sasoon-shiny bob. The messed-up bob of Kurylenko isn't accidental either. It is sexy without being try-hard, which in turn makes it the perfect modern Bond-girl baddie cut. For Brown, it is Julie Christie, especially in Shampoo, who is the most iconic exponent of this look. "She's had a messed-up bob pretty much all her career. She looks like the kind of woman who does it herself, rather than spending loads of time and money on her hair," he says.With both credibility and practicality on its side, the bob is likely to be the cut to have well into 2009, and the coming recession adds weight to this theory. Not because hair lengths are in inverted synchronicity with the rise and fall of the economy, but for the more prosaic reason that a haircut is a far cheaper but more dramatic way to change your look, superior to just buying more clothes. Moreover, achieving the completely on-trend version of this look - the hacked-off messed-up bob - is unbelievably easy, because even the cheapest of hairdressers can't get that cut wrong.Kate MossFashionBeautyWomenCelebrityguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds Imogen Fox on Kate Moss and the messy bob | Life and style | The Guardian {...} The messy bob has become the must-have hairdo of the season, says Imogen Fox {...} Published: October 31, 2008, 12:14 am - Indexed: October 31, 2008, 10:54 am - Page Size: 77KB |