Fringe benefits: Do like a starlet and get yourself some trendy bangs

Like everything '80s, bangs are back — and there's nary a can of Aqua Net in sight.

The look debuted in high fashion circles a year ago, and Jennifer Aniston newly sporting chunky, sideswept fringe, has now sanctioned the trend. The Oscars showed the debut of flattering fringes by the likes of Jennifer Garner and Lara Flynn Boyle.

"I love bangs. They're a great tune-up for any look," said Ken Pavés, Los Angeles-based hairstylist to Boyle, Jessica Simpson and Kim Cattrall. "We're seeing a few different kinds of bangs: the blunt bangs and the sideswept bangs as well. It's still very fresh and very current."

Sure, Beyoncé can pull it off. And all the cool kids are doing it, from Hilary Duff to Kate Hudson to Mischa Barton from "The O.C." But for 20- and 30-something women still haunted by high-school prom pictures, bangs can be like a ghost of adolescence past. In other words: downright scary.

"I haven't had bangs for, like, 15 years," said Joli Kitchen, 30, of Seattle. "I've had split-down-the-middle long hair since I had ratted-up bangs in high school."

But bored with her look and emboldened by her recent birthday, Kitchen — taking her cue from "Heidi Klum and those models" — cropped bangs into her honey-blond locks about six weeks ago. Her stylist cut brow-length, sideswept bangs to complement Kitchen's square jaw.

"I was totally worried because I thought it would make my face look chopped-off and chubby and stupid," Kitchen recalled, "but it made it look way better, and I don't know why."

Stylists say sideswept bangs can make a fuller face appear smaller, while blunt bangs broaden a long or narrow face. Bangs accentuate the eyes and cheekbones and can flatter a variety of face shapes.

"I really look at hair as a picture frame," Pavés said. "Bangs bring all the attention to the eyes. If they're longer, they're a bit more flirtatious, a bit more mysterious. For a woman who's getting older, bangs make her look younger."

The look has caught on in Seattle salons, where local stylist Tamara Hamry has been cutting more bangs in the past six months.

"(Clients) are bringing in magazine photos and asking for bangs," said Hamry, of Aria Salon on Capitol Hill. "They're actually pretty versatile. You can be very sweet and soft when they're rounded under a bit or if you flat-iron them stick-straight for a sharper look, you can be edgy."

Hamry recommends thicker, chunky bangs — "nothing thin or wispy," she said. "For a younger crowd, if you want to be really funky, you can color your bangs a different color."

The look is hot, but commitment-phobes, beware: the grow-out period can mean up to a year of wearing headbands and bobby pins. And the eye-skimming bangs that are en vogue now mean you'll be en route to your stylist for a bang trim every two weeks.

But Pavés expects bangs to be around for a while. Plus, "if you look at (Vogue editor) Anna Wintour, she's had bangs and that bob for 25 years. So if it works for you, you should stick with it."

And Hamry, who has bangs herself, insists growing them out isn't so bad.

"I've had extremely short bangs to bangs that are cheekbone-length," she said. "I think with the way you style them, you can enjoy all the stages of the grow-out."

Just don't revert to the mall-rat look. Please.

"There is no excuse for mall bangs," Pavés said, rather vehemently. "I am a licensed hairdresser, and if I see that on the street, I will arrest you."

Pamela Sitt: 206-464-2376 or psitt@seattletimes.com