When Dame Helen Mirren and Andie MacDowell appeared at Cannes last month, they were twirling, dancing, and posing up a storm on the red carpet. The moment felt in line with a new, refreshing, and very welcome era in the world of celebrities: Famous women are embracing the aging process and having fun while they’re at it (just check out those wide smiles for proof).
In the past, a female star with even a hint of gray hair was a rare sight on the red carpet. Now, many are making it a focal point of their look, embracing silver with confidence and ease. MacDowell went gray over lockdown, but confessed that she struggled to find other famous women to serve as inspiration as she made the transition. Instead, she turned to Instagram. “I was looking at real women out there who were transitioning to gray, as well as younger women in their fifties who were choosing to go natural,” she told Vogue. “I think that [going gray] is a power move and that’s what I kept telling my managers.”
Below, revisit some key red-carpet moments where silver hair took the spotlight.
Dame Helen Mirren
Poker straight, ultra-long silver hair and an embellished dress to match… whoever said being in your seventies means being a wallflower? Dame Helen Mirren has got red-carpet beauty nailed.
Sharon Stone
Sharon Stone’s silver and gray strands add dimension to that voluminous, textured updo and stellar quiff.
Maye Musk
From her oxblood red lip to the near-white short haircut, Maye Musk (yes, Elon’s mum), is glamour personified at 74.
Whoopi Goldberg
.jpg)
At the 2021 Met Gala, Whoopi Goldberg showed off half-up half-down locs with a smattering of silver around her hairline—and she looked luminous.
Andie MacDowell
Since she allowed her natural salt-and-pepper to shine through, Andie MacDowell has assumed a new and enviable confidence on the red carpet.
Emma Thompson
At a recent premiere in Tribeca, Emma Thompson walked the red carpet with a wide grin, luminous skin, and brushed-back gray hair. (She’s also busy being a vocal champion of the importance of female desire and sexual satisfaction right now.)
Rita Moreno
At this year’s Critics Choice Awards, iconic actor Rita Moreno, 90, paired her sideswept pixie cut with glowing skin and a voluminous gown.
Jane Fonda
Jane Fonda decided to embrace her gray hair in 2020, at 83, and has been key to putting the glamour into the gray hair movement. “I’m so happy I let it go gray,” she said in an interview with Ellen Degeneres. “Enough already with so much time wasted, so much money spent, so many chemicals—I’m through with that.”
Kristen McMenamy
Mermaid-length silver hair looks chic on Kristen McMenamy at the 2021 Fashion Awards.
Meryl Streep
Meryl Streep delivered a masterclass in the art of chic gray updos at the premiere for Don’t Look Up in New York.
Dame Judi Dench
Dame Judi Dench’s pearlescent silver crop has been her signature for years. At the 2022 Oscars, she paired it with an all-white ensemble to angelic effect.
Jamie Lee Curtis
If anyone is proof that segueing to your natural gray is a great way to enhance the complexion, it’s Jamie Lee Curtis.
Diane Keaton
With different tones running through her mid-length lob, Diane Keaton proves that gray doesn’t have to be boring.
Jodie Foster
Jodie Foster’s face-framing grays set off her blue eyes in California in June 2022.
Erin O’Connor
Striking, bold and dramatic, Erin O’Connor’s silver hair is second to none—especially when paired with a pink suit and bold red lip.