The first time I got curtain bangs, I was 14 and armed with school scissors and the misplaced confidence of someone trying to be Effy Stonem. Two weeks later, they’d grown past my chin and I learned the universal rule of fringe: either you cut it yourself or you live in denial. Jenna Ortega, thankfully, doesn’t need my scissors.
At the 2025 Emmys, the Wednesday star arrived in Givenchy by Sarah Burton with bangs that looked like they’d missed their appointment—and that was the point. Loose, jaw-grazing, refreshingly undone. Ortega has long been a curtain-bangs loyalist. During the Wednesday press tour, her fringe leaned glossy goth, polished to perfection. But the latest version is what we’re calling no-commitment bangs. Forgot your appointment? Congrats, you’re basically on trend. That puffy, sculpted morning-shed-bang chaos? So performative. Turns out, grown-out, greasy bangs could actually be styled in a way that’s not hidden into slick-backs or tucked into half-up dos.
Her New York look took it further—a wet, borderline-greasy fringe that read less “red carpet”, more “out of dry shampoo”. Paris offered a slightly more experimental take: an overgrown curtain-hime hybrid. Hime bangs are a straight, blunt-across, cheek-skimming fringe with longer side tendrils: think classic Japanese princess meets grown-out curtain. Ortega’s version was slightly awkward, completely effortless, and perfectly imperfect. Intentional or not, it works.
