The Outgrown Bob Is the Perfect Transitional Chop This Season

You know us, we’re always in the mood for some great hair inspo and, on one particularly fruitful Insta scroll, we spotted an outgrown bob perfect for the changing season, courtesy of Lucy Hale—a woman who knows her way around a smokin’ hairstyle.

A lot of us can relate to the “chop to not to chop” dilemma, as we head back into salons. On the one hand: hello, length. The extra inches we’ve accumulated on our ends has made us question whether we ought to fully commit to the XXL Rapunzel lengths rocked by the likes of Jennifer Lopez, Kim Kardashian, and Dua Lipa at the moment. On the other, we’re ready to just lop the lot off and be done with it.

However, Hale’s style falls somewhere in between. The outgrown bob is a beautiful middle-ground between going shorter, but not too short. The actor unveiled a slightly shorter, bronde look that just about sweeps her shoulders, even when her hair’s got a bit of a wave to it.

It’s a versatile length that has the cool-girl appeal of a bob, while keeping enough length to be able to style your hair into a low bun, ponytail, or top-knot. It hits the sweet spot between something new and fresh, while not feeling uncomfortably short for those of us whose necks haven’t been naked since our last whopper cut at the start of last year. 

It can also be a transitional step to something bolder in the future (if you fancy taking it even shorter next time), or growing it longer since it’s only a couple of inches off a midi length. If that sounds like your kind of party, here are five ways to wear the outgrown bob.

Sort-of straight

Side-parted

Platinum

Curly

With bangs

This story originally appeared on Glamour UK.