Bella Hadid’s Braided “French Riviera” Pigtails Are Summer’s Easiest Hairstyle
A model-off-duty hair look that’s equal parts functional and stylish
Reported by Harper's Bazaar.
There is something almost irritating about how good Bella Hadid looks doing absolutely nothing. Case in point: a recent paparazzi sighting at La Guérite, the boat-access-only restaurant and open-air club on the French Riviera where your salad arrives with a live DJ. Hadid showed up in braided pigtails — two of them, loose and effortless — and somehow made the most elementary hairstyle in existence look like a whole moment.
According to Harper's Bazaar, the look was equal parts practical and aesthetic: pigtails keep hair controlled on a windy boat ride while reading as beachy rather than battle-ready. She stacked them with oversized gold hoops, metallic sunglasses, and armfuls of bangles. The dress was vintage Jean Paul Gaultier. The heeled sandals were Jimmy Choo — worn across sand, docks, and presumably a gently rocking vessel, because Hadid has never once dressed for logistics.
The Hair Detail Worth Stealing
Hadid has been working a honey-blonde since last year's Cannes Film Festival, a rapid color shift she credited to colorist Jacob Schwartz, who reportedly took her from brunette to blonde in under 24 hours. She still works with him on both cut and color. The warm, sun-faded tone makes the braids feel decidedly more Riviera and less grade school — context, as always, doing heavy lifting.
What makes this worth paying attention to is not the celebrity factor. Pigtail braids are genuinely one of the most versatile hairstyles alive. Hadid has worn them at Walt Disney World and on Christmas morning — proof that the style travels well beyond coastlines and yacht clubs. The technique is basic: two sections, two braids, two matching elastics or bows. The one real tip worth keeping is that this style performs best on second- or third-day hair — enough grip and texture for the braids to actually hold shape and look intentional rather than hasty.
The French Riviera framing is fun, but the honest takeaway is simpler: sometimes the most enduring style move is the one you learned at age seven, worn with good earrings and zero apology.
Read the original at Harper's Bazaar.
