Political Ladies Who Are Almost Unrecognizable With Their Natural Hair Color

Women in politics are often breaking stereotypes, opening new doors, and paving the way for new generations. They are also showcasing that it is possible to reinvent yourself, change your style, and embrace a new look. In fact, many of the women in today's political landscape are actually not rocking their natural hair color.

Bleaching their hair blond seems to be a very popular choice, and the look has even been dubbed "Republican hair." Of course, going for highlights doesn't necessarily have to have anything to do with one's political affiliation. In 2018, Melania Trump's hairstylist Mordechai Alvow explained to Refinery29 that Melania's fair hair is all about achieving a signature look. "When someone is going to be in the eyes of the public and will constantly be on the news, there is a look that people want to understand and be comfortable with and associate with," he explained. "There is a look about her where it's almost like she's the mother of the public. You want your mother to have one steady look." 

It might not be about creating a familiar look for the other ladies in the political world, but one thing that these women do have in common is just how different they look in photos taken years ago. Sure, time has passed, and they have aged, but figures like Pam Bondi and Hillary Clinton have also decided to make a drastic change when it comes to their hair colors.

Ivanka Trump is almost unrecognizable with her natural hair color, which she hasn't rocked since the '90s. The daughter of President Donald Trump is actually a light-brown/dark-blond shade, one that she regularly dyes into her recognizable platinum blond. "Ivanka's blond is created by weaving foil highlights on her natural base color," her hairstylist Kyle White explained (via New Beauty). "The highlights are woven with a medium-size thickness and lifted to a pale baby blond." In the late '90s and early aughts, Ivanka was rocking a blond much closer to her natural hair color, but over the years her preferred shade became lighter and lighter.

Melania Trump's natural hair color is also so different from her usual look. Back when we first got to know her as Donald Trump's girlfriend, Melania was rocking her naturally brown hair. However, the more she was in the spotlight, the lighter her hair became. The stunning hair transformation of Melania Trump shows that the FLOTUS became nearly all blond in 2025 for her husband's second term, which marked a change from the bronze color she'd previously been rocking.

Former First Lady Hillary Clinton is also a brunette who embraced blond hair as her career evolved. In fact, in 2015, the politician said, "I've been coloring my hair for years" (via The Hill), letting the world know that we wouldn't be seeing any gray hair from her anytime soon. The icy-blond highlights that Clinton is known for today are undoubtedly a stark contrast to the brown shade her hair used to be.

It's clear that plenty of women in politics prefer lightening their hair, and Pam Bondi is almost unrecognizable with darker hair in a throwback photo. In a snap posted to Instagram in 2017, the United States attorney general is holding her baby nephew Jake, and her hair is blond, but it's nowhere near as light as it is nowadays. In fact, the visible roots suggest that Bondi's hair is naturally even darker, but she has bleached it regularly.

Unlike the rest of the ladies on our list, United States Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem actually seems to prefer being a brunette. Noem shared a pageant photo of herself from her youth, and many were surprised to learn that she used to have blond hair. Now, while we can't confirm that she's a natural blond, her roots in the photo certainly seem to be a lighter shade than the deep-brown color she rocks today. Apart from the difference in color, the wild curls also make Noem completely unrecognizable.