The year is 2014 and American Apparel tennis skirts and The XX vinyls flood your Tumblr dashboard. And in the sea of minimalist black-and-white soft grunge photos, pops of pastel hues are just as constant. The same few Tumblr-famous girls live on your blog, and with as much internet clout as modern-day influencers, they’ve fully convinced you that you need nothing more in life than to have pastel hair—just like them.
If you were a chronically-on-Tumblr teen, dyeing your hair a pastel color was likely one of the only goals you had for the future. And even if you weren’t one of the lucky few that had parents to cosign your decision, you definitely still have those photoshopped pictures of Cara Delevingne with pink hair permanently ingrained into your memory. As a Tumblr teen myself, I spent every hour of my free time reblogging photos of Tumblr-famous pastel goth girls with My-Little-Pony-colored hair and dreaming of the day I could bleach my own hair into oblivion.
For once, the countless hours I spent staring at a computer screen have paid off. With so many Tumblr-era trends resurfacing, pastel-colored hair is yet again rearing its not-so-ugly head—and the health of scalps everywhere will never be the same. Even though it’s been over 10 years since Tumblr queens popularized pastel pink, purple, and blue hair—colored hair is back and it’s bigger than it’s ever been. Whether you’re scanning a crowd of A-list celebrities or fashion kids in Harajuku, you never have to look far to find a pastel colored head living among the brunettes and blondes.
Fashion week street style gives birth to most, if not all, noteworthy beauty trends. And after I noticed so many fashion week guests (from all over the world) attending shows with candy-colored hair, I was transported back to my Tumblr archive. Fashion week guests are the cream of the crop when it comes to the fashion world. Sure, they’re not always A-listers, but they’re fashion editors, creative directors, and couture nerds—and they’re the ones dictating what’s cool for seasons to come.
And even though Megan Fox has donned every possible pastel hair color possible this year, I’m not exactly convinced she was in the Tumblr notes like the rest of us. But regardless, the way that trends make their way back into relevance is influenced by the fashion makers of today. In 2014, they were teenagers with fashion blogs. And in 2024, they’re fashion week guests and influencers posting their pictures to Pinterest.
You could argue that pastel hair never went out—and you’d be right. But I’ve learned the hard way that colored hair only lasts so long before your hair begs to be spared. Sure, stars like Kim Kardashian have hair stylists on call to change their hair color at any given moment—but not even the best stylists can bring back bleach-burned hair. Not to mention, pastel hair isn’t meant to last, and colors that light only stick around for a few washes before they’re due for a retouch. So, yes, pastel hair is impractical, it’s obnoxious, and it gives you tons of unwanted attention—but it looks good. And that’s what the Tumblr-era was all about.
Pastel hair might’ve been popularized on Tumblr in the 2010’s, but the fashion kids of Harajuku, Japan were sporting rainbow hair long before Tumblr even existed. Thanks to legendary fashion photographer Shoichi Aoki, who started FRUiTS Magazine, the world fell in love with the street style of Japanese youth and their colorfully eccentric style. Thanks to them, tons of different aesthetics and internet subcultures were born.
Most of the pop girlies we know and love today, were once Tumblr queens. And on the other hand, a lot of the Tumblr girls I loved in my adolescence, have fallen off into obscurity. (Shoutout to Aly Antorcha for being my personal pastel hair inspo.) The whole concept of an “influencer” was completely unheard of in the Tumblr days, although Tumblr-famous girls had just as much sway and influence on the online community as influencers today do. With their help, we got Tumblr-born aesthetics like soft grunge and pastel goth, which both popularized pastel hair. So if you were also reblogging Sky Ferreria’s pink hair, you’re not so shocked pastel hair is making a comeback.
Celebrities are just like us—they love following trends. Even though colored hair would’ve gotten you tons of dirty looks and a few concerned questions decades ago—today, it’s hard to think of many celebrities that haven’t dabbled with pastel hair. Kim Kardashian might not stick to a single color for too long, but she’ll always go back to her cotton candy pink hair.
If anyone can predict a trend before it’s a thing, it’s fashion week guests. And unlike A-list celebrities, I have no doubt that the fashion elite of today were once on Tumblr running their own fashion blogs. So naturally, they were ahead of the crowd when it came to trading in their dull locks for candy hues. And even though Tumblr is long gone (not actually but practically everyone left it), I know for a fact if it were still around these photos would be all over my dashboard.
