For five years straight—between college and post-grad—a ponytail was basically the only hairstyle I wore. I pulled my hair up for work, dinner, workouts—really, everything. It wasn’t because I lacked imagination; the style could become whatever I needed it to be. A sleek, glossy pony felt clean. A high one with curled ends made much more of a statement. Even now that I’ve expanded my repertoire, I still think of the ponytail as the ultimate hair cheat code. It takes minutes, and a small change in placement can make it feel like a completely different hairstyle.
"The power of the ponytail is that it can give structural angles as well as a snatch," explains celebrity hairstylist Adir Abergel. (Remember that Anne Hathaway ponytail everyone went wild over?) "The positioning, whether high, low, or mid, can have a transformative effect on the silhouette of not just the face but the entire body and the fashion being worn."
