Kristi Noem Is Almost Unrecognizable In Throwback Pageant Photos

Few politicians have wilder throwbacks than United States Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem. Turns out the blond 'do that made her nearly unrecognizable in her wedding photos wasn't a one-time experiment. Two years before she tied the knot, she won the 1990 South Dakota Snow Queen contest, sporting dramatic blond hair and a winning outfit that embodied all the things people found attractive in the '80s. She wore a floor-length, shimmery white gown with exaggerated shoulder pads, which were an absolute staple of the decade.

Noem paired the look with white gloves and beaded tassels, leaning fully into the '80s maximalist vibe. To top it off, she teased her curls to high heaven, with her naturally dark roots fully visible beneath the dark blond. Sharing the image on Facebook in 2015, the former governor couldn't help but poke fun at the throwback. "Snow Queen Days. Wonderful program for young women," she wrote. "But what was I thinking with all that hair??"

Noem clearly put a lot of heart into her outfit, but she told Aberdeen, a South Dakota-based outlet, that her win was based on so much more than appearances. "They weren't looking for the best interview or who gave the best speech, but a well-rounded person who can handle themselves in a variety of situations," she said. Nonetheless, considering her shimmery dress and hair, we have no doubt she made quite the impression.

If there's one thing to notice about the wave of '80s hairstyles making a major comeback, it's that volume is everything, as evidenced by Kristi Noem's throwback pageant photos. The "big hair, don't care" era was in full swing during that decade, with volumized haircuts like crimps, mullets, sky-high curls, and gravity-defying bangs. Haircare brands fueled these trends by churning out mousse, hot rollers, and hairspray en masse, making it easier than ever to go big. 

But it wasn't just the hair that was bigger in the '80s; everything was extra. From loud neon fashion, to out-there makeup trends, to bedazzled everything, it was the peak of self-expression. Noem's pageant look might seem amusing now, but it was peak '80s country-girl glam and is a reminder of how fashion constantly evolves and, of course, circles back. 

Currently, we're not that far off from a return to the big-hair era. Short crops are quietly stepping aside as super-long extensions have been creeping back in since 2023. They're so popular now that some public figures, such as Kristi Noem, look completely different without hair extensions. So if you thought the former governor's big-hair era was over, think again. The blond is gone, but the added volume is clearly still in the length.

After winning South Dakota's Snow Queen in 1990, Kristi Noem's life changed fast. She earned a scholarship to Northern State University and married Bryon Noem in 1992. Two years later, her father died in a farm accident, forcing her to drop out and return home to help run the family farm. By 2006, she had contested and won her first political post. Gone was the wannabe-blond Snow Queen and the country glam she had once committed to. In her place was a mother of three clawing her way into the political scene. Naturally, she had to dress the part.

Noem kept her natural hair color in a practical, layered short cut. She morphed into the ideal conservative woman of the era with tailored blazers, minimal makeup, and a no-nonsense image that fit the mold neatly. She held onto the short layered cut until the Republican party began to shift in 2016. With Donald Trump on the scene, the new blueprint for MAGA women became long hair, glam polish, and Instagram-ready faces. By 2017, her hair was a bob. By 2018, a lob, and by 2020, it had reached shoulder-length. Plastic surgeon Dr. Joel Kopelman believes Kristi Noem's Botox-assisted face transformation began around this time.

Finally, by 2023, Kristi Noem had become the hair-extension-wearing, suspected-lip-filler-having politician we know today. Not everyone's a fan of the glow-up, or what it represents, but honestly, with a beauty track record this dramatic, we probably shouldn't be surprised. The more interesting question is: Has Kristi Noem maxed out her hair transformations, or is there one more left in the bag?