Versace Just Served Up a Jaw-Dropping New Take on I Dream of Jeannie Hair
“Donatella wanted a few exaggerated looks,” said backstage hairstylist Guido Palau ahead of tonight’s Versace Pre-Fall 2019 show at the American Stock Exchange in New York City. But even by Versace standards, that might have been putting it mildly.
The Italian fashion house’s flair for the dramatic was taken to a new level of extreme when model of the moment Grace Elizabeth swanned down the runway draped in a paisley-printed blazer, patchwork patterned silk blouse, and glossy crimson side-slit skirt with an embellished, ceiling-bound hairstyle that was nothing short of sensational.
An equal parts hyperbolic and opulent take on the voluminous, half-back updo that’s become ubiquitous in Hollywood (see Kim Kardashian West sporting the style front row at the show), it’s cheekily reminiscent of Barbara Eden’s iconic style in the 1960s fantasy sitcom I Dream of Jeannie. Not to mention, fantasy beauty at its finest.
“We’ve been seeing the [sleek], pulled-away look on a lot of celebrities, so we exaggerated it as a nod to Versace’s heritage of excess,” explained Palau while meticulously amplifying Elizabeth’s mane with an abundance of hair extensions, endless teasing with mists of Redken’s Triple Dry 15 Dry Texture Spray and Guts 10 Volumizing Spray Mousse.
“I’ve got little neck pillows to hold up all my hair,” laughed the 21-year-old runway star in a post on her Instagram Stories, referencing the oversize foam rollers nestled at the nape as her extra-large coif was being set in the hours leading up to the big event. Slicked taut in the front with a skyscraping, shoulder-blade-grazing backdrop of hair, Elizabeth’s high-slung ponytail was topped off with a trio of crystal hair ornaments in jewel tone shades of emerald, lapis, turquoise, and gold along the crown.
Versace’s take on the tie-back may be maximalist (and that’s putting it mildly), but with the collective craving for head-swiveling holiday beauty in the air, it was a welcome display, ripe with inspiration to take hair to jaw-dropping new heights. “[It’s] the return of volume,” smiled Palau. “And it’s a real celebration of power and glamour.”
