Anne Hathaway Proves the Classic Ponytail Is Spring’s Best All-Purpose Hairstyle

Anne Hathaway can do no wrong in my book. Every time I see her, no matter what she’s wearing or how her lipstick was handled, I’m delighted. Probably because she’s Anne Hathaway, and when you’re Anne Hathaway, that’s all you need to be. However, it doesn’t hurt that the 41-year-old has a stellar glam team behind her. They listen to her ideas (please see this video for proof) and give her the gift of multipurpose makeup and hairstyles when she has to run to four separate (!!!!) appearances in a day.

This time around, the collaborators settled on an elevated ponytail to do the heavy lifting—and oh what a ponytail it was.

On April 29, the power of the pony was proven once and for all when Hathaway wore the same style with two very different outfits. Between events, she only tucked back a few face-framing strands to change things up—no need for an accessory swap or anything else of that sort. The ponytail stood its ground on its own, and worked so well with both looks that silly little me—someone who has never done a press day for a new movie, apparently—assumed she’d just worn a similar hairstyle on two different occasions.

Created by celebrity hairstylist Orlando Pita, the ponytail in question was full-bodied and slightly wavy, centered high (but not too high) on its wearers head. Hathaway’s heavy French girl bangs made an appearance in both iterations of the style, framed by some loose wavy strands for her first look: a black Fleur du Mal bodysuit and bedazzled Des_Phemmes pants that she wore on The Tonight Show.

For the night’s main event, the official New York premiere of The Idea of You, she changed into a strapless red Versace gown, throwing on some dangly earrings for good measure. While Hathaway often wears her hair down for events (there’s a reason: her dark locks are nothing short of luscious), I do hope more updos are in the cards. If the Princess Diaries star needed proof that they work, this was it.

Now, the next time you need to go from talk show to red carpet… or trousers to gown, if that makes this scenario more imaginable… you’ll know exactly what to do with your hair.