Excellent summer hair is all about ease. Spending too much time on styling is a no-no when you could be making the most of longer, lighter days and the heat—which is why the undone bun just works.
Case in point: Sienna Miller, who wore an artfully messy bun to Wimbledon. “A bun like this is such a good look for summer,” says Luke Hersheson, the man behind Miller’s hairstyle. “It’s got an effortless, thrown-it-up-myself vibe and doesn’t feel too contrived, coiffed, or polished.” It can be dressed up or down, and it’s a great way to keep hair away from the face, while still lending enough detail to make it an interesting and flattering look.
Perhaps one of the most famous undone summer buns is that worn by Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, on the evening of her wedding day in May 2018. “She became known for this slightly messy bun,” her wedding hairdresser George Northwood recently told Vogue of the look, which featured slight volume at the crown of her head, tousled tendrils around the front, and an imperfect but still polished bun at the back.
Other fans of the look include model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Lori Harvey, Nicola Coughlan, Dua Lipa, Gemma Chan, and Naomi Campbell, all of whom have sported the style at both low-key and high-profile events. But how to style it yourself?
According to Hersheson, it all starts with creating texture in the hair, so that when you pull it back there is effortless movement and natural body. The other thing to keep in mind? The style doesn’t look too slap-dash. For Miller’s look, he “curled her hair first using our wand, then cut some face-framing pieces around her face, [and finally] pulled her hair into a high ponytail on the top of her head.” To achieve that perfectly imperfect bun, he placed his finger in the middle of the ponytail, and then twisted the hair around it. This way, you achieve an “off” shape, so it doesn’t feel like a classic bun.
“I also left some ends out around the nape, the front of the hairline, and around the sides so the style felt a bit disheveled,” he explains. “If you’re getting it done professionally, the style needs to look like you’ve done it yourself, so it’s a bit more whimsical.”