Here's something I never thought I would write as a beauty journalist: deep side partings are back. In the mid-00s, my parting was so low that it practically danced atop my ear. I paired it with an excessive amount of backcombing and Lee Stafford's Messed Up Putty in an attempt to achieve that elusive, messy, undone look. When I look back at pictures (thankfully not easily accessible; most of them are hidden in the depths of my Facebook), everyone had them. It was a welcome moment when my parting (along with everybody else's) returned to the centre of my head. I've not looked back since. And yet, here I am, typing that I predict deep side partings will feature heavily in 2026.
I first sensed a shift when deep side partings appeared on several models at last year’s rebooted Victoria’s Secret show. Since then, they’ve cropped up increasingly on red carpets, with searches for deep side-part hairstyles up 122%. It’s a return hair stylist Edward James welcomes, noting how limiting centre partings can be: “Deep side partings are definitely back, and I’m pleased about it, because centre partings simply don’t suit every face shape.”
