Mandy Moore Shared Photos of Her Very '90s Homecoming Dance Hairstyle

Mandy Moore is the reigning queen of Throwback Thursday and Flashback Friday and old-photo-for-no-particular-reason posts on Instagram, sharing adorable shots of herself from childhood and the earliest years of her rise to stardom as a teen. On more than one occasion, she uses the captions to poke fun at a style choice that was unique to the era — more often than not, the 1990s — like when she glued red crystals to her zigzag part or when she permed her bangs in elementary school. And on Friday, she looked back with self-deprecation on yet another hair look that anyone who went to a school dance in the late-'90s (hi, hello, that's me) will reluctantly recognize.

"Homecoming dance ‘98. Freshman year.... Right before I left school to start recording my first album and I had the BIGGEST crush on my date," Moore wrote in the caption, followed by, "And yes, someone was paid to make my hair look like that. 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️" She's referring to one of the biggest and most inexplicable trends of the '90s, updos with tendrils. And not just any tendrils — oh, no. As you can see even more clearly in the second photo slide, Moore's tendrils are, like so many at the time, the central element of the hairstyle. Let's dissect them, shall we?

Although it's unclear exactly how Moore's hair is pulled back — let's assume it's a bun or twist of some sort at the back of her head — we can see that the base of her updo is sleek yet a bit voluminous. But despite most of her hair being slicked back into the style, two pieces are very intentionally left out at the front. They criss-cross over each other, reaching down to her mouth and swooping up at the ends to create a J shape. But those aren't the only tendrils; a closer look reveals that a couple of pieces have been left out at the back of her neck for that paradoxically wispy-yet-stiff look that was so chic at the time.

The post is getting an enthusiastic response from fans and fellow celebrities alike. "I want that do stat," Katie Couric declared, while Vanessa Carlton commented, "Incredible hair. Incredible." Claire Holt, meanwhile, made a very bold prediction: "Still cute. I feel like this look is going to come back."

If anyone can pull off an updated version of '90s tendrils, it's Mandy Moore — but no one would blame her if she decided not to try.


More on Mandy Moore:


Now check out even more 1990s beauty trends:

Watch Now: Allure Video.

Follow Marci on Instagram and Twitter, or subscribe to Allure's newsletter for daily beauty stories delivered right to your inbox.

Originally Appeared on Allure