The Stunning Hair Transformation Of Reese Witherspoon

The longer a celebrity spends in the limelight, the more likely they are to undergo a major style transformation, and hair is one of the easiest elements to change. But sometimes, a star will shine on the global stage for years and hardly stray from their signature look. Reese Witherspoon is one such A-lister who has mastered the medium between experimenting with new dynamics and staying true to what we associate with her: blond, side-parted, and ultra-glam tresses. 

There have been occasions in Witherspoon's hair journey where she's veered off in surprising directions — for example, going brunette for her depiction of June Carter in 2005's "Walk the Line" and sometimes switching up her side part for bangs. But as the years go on and trends change, the Louisiana-born leading lady tends to come back to the blond, side-parted look that suits her so well. The shade of her fair locks varies between the seasons of her life, too, but her highlights and lowlights (yes, they're different!) are clearly here to stay regardless of what tone she reaches for. " ... it takes three hours to have my highlights done, no joke," the "Legally Blonde" actor told Allure in 2019. "I go every seven or eight weeks. I'm starting to get gray around the edges of my hairline. Lorri [Goddard, her colorist] doesn't like to call them grays, though. She says they're 'hyper-blondes.'"

As Witherspoon goes through the same aging process that we all do, her locks may continue to evolve in subtle ways, but not even aging can take the glam-factor out of this star's look. As we run through the ebbs and flows of her low-key hair transformation over the years, it's clear that long or short, platinum or golden, Witherspoon's strands are always red-carpet ready.

Before she became a household name at the turn of the millennium, Reese Witherspoon had appeared in a collection of films in the '90s, her mainstream break coming from 1999's "Cruel Intentions." She was beginning to attend high-profile events, showing up to Jim Carrey's "Liar Liar" premiere in 1997 with a golden-blond bob. The rom-com bob — aka the movie star way to do short hair — would become one of her go-to looks over the coming years (it doesn't get more iconic than Melanie Carmichael's chic, cropped cut in "Sweet Home Alabama"). She maintained the blond, side-parted style through 1998, when she attended the "Pleasantville" premiere with a super-glamorous updo complete with sleek side bangs. The side part made another appearance that year at the "54" premiere, though her tresses flowed to shoulder length with blunt ends this time, and the bangs were flipped over — a look she would return to. 

Then, 2001 marked the beginning of Witherspoon's "Legally Blonde" legacy, but Elle Woods' long, glossy mane was short-lived. The star instead rocked a similarly sleek side-parted rom-com bob to the "Gosford Park" premiere in 2001, maintaining the shorter style at the Teen Choice Awards that year. That bob is synonymous with "Sweet Home Alabama," but Witherspoon went with some unexpected bangs for the premiere in 2002 and curled her 'do.

It seemed the rom-com bob was there to stay, as she chose a more glamorous variation at the Oscars that year, though she added some length to her choppy and wispy cut at 2003's "Legally Blonde 2" special screening in New York. But in a change that made our jaws drop at the time, she left behind her fair-haired signature and opted for brunette as she filmed "Walk the Line" in 2004. These early years in her career were rife with experimentation, resulting in some styles that she would stick to for the long term. 

Her portrayal of June Carter in the Johnny Cash biopic cemented Reese Witherspoon as an actor with serious talent. Understandably, her career exploded from here, and with it, we saw her venture into uncharted territory with her hair. At the 2005 premiere of "Just Like Heaven," she went max glam with a teased headband look full of body. The height and drama perfectly matched the new pinnacles that her career was reaching, and she maintained that energy over the next few years. We saw a slightly more relaxed version of the volumized headband look at the 2006 Screen Actors Guild Awards, and in 2007, she wowed with full, side-swept bangs at the Golden Globes and the Oscars. 

Bangs would be something that the New Orleans-born star would keep in her arsenal throughout the rest of the noughties and 2010s, going for similar looks at the Los Angeles premiere of "Penelope" in 2008 and the "Monsters vs. Aliens" premiere in 2009. Though she'd found her sweet spot for the era, she did continue to experiment with different bangs styles, rocking curtain bangs to both the 2010 premiere of "How Do You Know" and her Hollywood Walk of Fame star induction ceremony that December. Bringing together two of her favorite looks, she switched to side bangs for the London premiere of "Water for Elephants" in 2011. As anyone who's had bangs knows, this high-maintenance style can become a nuisance after a while, but Witherspoon led the way by simply pinning them up for a photocall in Spain that year. This is the best route for someone who doesn't want to get rid of their fringe but just needs a break, and the A-lister clearly fit into that category, as she rocked her bangs again at the "This Means War" premiere the following February.

Reese Witherspoon started rocking her side part in the '90s, but she mastered the look in the 2010s. At the 2013 Oscars, the "Wild" star went for a super-glam vibe with a deep side part and Old-Hollywood curls. She leaned even further into that Marilyn Monroe energy at the Met Gala in 2014, when she wore not only a satin figure-hugging gown but also a side-parted asymmetrical vintage-glam 'do. We saw Witherspoon with the same side part at the Screen Actors Guild Awards in 2015, but this time, she pulled her mane into an elegant updo.

A break in tradition came in 2016, when the actor briefly explored a middle part while wearing her long blond locks in carefree waves to the premiere of "Sing." Notably, Witherspoon kept her roots dark, adding some rockstar-like edge to the look. While her roots sometimes appeared darker, her tone of blond stayed the same throughout this period, maintaining its cool base with lowlights and highlights. She moved back to her beloved side bangs for the Vanity Fair Oscar Party in 2017, ditching the fringe later that year but keeping her side part for the Tiffany and Co. Book Collection Gala. 

By the 2018 premiere of "A Wrinkle in Time," Witherspoon was sporting the same part line and dark roots with elegant structured curls that tumbled down her crimson gown. The pattern continued at several other events that year, including the Screen Actors Guild Awards, where the star paired her satin emerald frock with a flipped-over side part and bouncy curls. In 2019, she shook things up with a chop, returning to her shorter roots in the way of a lob that didn't quite graze her collar bone for the Hollywood Reporter's Power 100 Women in Entertainment. But, of course, the ever-present side part finished the look, this time with long, face-framing side bangs and denser platinum highlights. 

Ending the 2010s with a bang — otherwise known as cutting off the long hair she'd sported for most of the previous decade — Reese Witherspoon entered the 2020s with her lob looking as chic as ever. She attended the Vanity Fair Oscar Party that year with her go-to side part and golden strands in structured, piecey waves. Of course, we didn't see much of Witherspoon or her hair for the rest of the year thanks to COVID-19, but it looks like she kept up her favorite part line at the InStyle Awards in 2021. Looking ever the goddess, she opted for glossy and sleek blond tresses that emitted the usual glamorous energy surrounding her. 

The following year, Witherspoon attended the premiere of "Something from Tiffany's," which she produced for Prime Video, with a point to prove. As stunning as she looks with a side part, she can pull off a middle part just as well. Like a pro, she rocked it with long layers, platinum highlights coming through layers of gold and brond, and plenty of body. That summer, the multi-talented star attended the premiere of "Where the Crawdads Sing" and continued thriving in her middle-part era, this time with a warmer undertone and voluminous waves. As relatable and open as she is, Witherspoon doesn't often give fans a glimpse into her hair routine, but she did post a video on TikTok showing herself driving with damp hair. "A very important summer hair hack," she captioned the post. "Car as hair dryer!

@reesewitherspoon

A very important summer hair hack 💁🏼‍♀️ Car as hair dryer!

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As she gained more length in her hair, Witherspoon fell back into her go-to flipped-over style for the 2023 premiere of "The Last Thing He Told Me." Her brushed-out waves were glossy enough that this could have passed for an ultra-chic semi-wet style. That year, Reese Witherspoon also got new bangs — a masterclass in post-divorce makeovers. 

In her 2019 interview with Allure, Reese Witherspoon admitted that she felt like she'd "earned" her gray hairs, along with her fine lines, through her life experiences. "I have a point of view because I've been on this planet for 43 years, and I didn't feel that same way when I was 25," she said. "I'm 43 and I've had a whole bunch of experiences ...  I so prefer 43 to 25." While we haven't seen the star sport her grays in public yet — other than through a virtual makeover from 2020 — we can imagine her looking stunning with herringbone highlights, the gray hair technique of the future. If she never wants to stop dyeing her hair, though, that's also fine: Her blond is stunning no matter what season of life she's in. 

In 2024, she proudly showed off her dark roots at the AFI Lifetime Achievement Award Gala, which celebrated Witherspoon's "Big Little Lies" co-star Nicole Kidman. She returned to her middle part and kept her stresses straight and blunt, casually tucking the front pieces behind her ears to show off her red-carpet makeup. The brown lowlights were more obvious here than they were the following year, when the actor attended the New York screening of "You're Cordially Invited." Though she had the same dark roots, her hair appeared to have more blond through the top layers, along with face-framing pieces, an off-center part, and an overall cooler tone. 

It's clear that Reese Witherspoon's hair happy place is somewhere between a deep side part and bangs, a bob and long hair, and brond and platinum highlights. There might not be as much variation as we've seen in the hair transformation of someone like Miley Cyrus, but you know what they say: if it ain't broke!