10 Hippie Hairstyles That Defined the 1960s and Still Work in 2026

The 1960s counterculture produced a wide range of hippie hairstyles, from quick messy buns to dreadlocks that demand months of patience. Which one works for you depends almost entirely on how much time you’re willing to invest and whether your hair can skip the shampoo for a day or two. Second- or third-day hair actually holds beach waves and braids better than fresh-washed strands; the natural oils give your texture the grip it needs so the style doesn’t fall flat by noon.

1. Beach Waves

Soft, tousled waves that look like you just left the ocean sit at the heart of hippie style. The goal is lived-in texture, not polished perfection, and that starts with skipping the heavy heat tools.

Second- or third-day hair holds this look better than freshly washed strands. The natural oils give your hair the grip it needs so the waves don’t fall flat by noon. When you’re ready to style, mist damp hair with a texturizing or sea salt spray, then twist sections loosely and let them air dry. For tighter waves, braid your hair before bed and undo the braids in the morning. You’ll get that effortless, slept-in texture that defines the whole hippie aesthetic.

The beauty of this approach is how forgiving it is. A little frizz, uneven sections, waves that fall differently on each side, it all reads as intentional rather than sloppy. That is the point: looking like you didn’t try too hard, because you really didn’t.

2. Messy Bun

The messy bun is the quintessential low-effort hippie updo, and it works because it refuses to try too hard. Gather your hair loosely at the crown or nape, leave pieces falling around the face, and secure it with a scrunchie or a hair stick rather than a tight elastic that fights your natural texture. Dry shampoo at the roots adds volume and grip if your hair is clean and slippery, which helps the bun hold without looking stiff.

This style celebrates imperfection. A few escaped strands aren’t a flaw; they’re the whole point. The bohemian feel comes through even more when you pair it with a scarf or headband, though the bun alone does plenty of work. I reach for this when I want to look like I made an effort without actually making one, and it never fails to read as intentional rather than lazy. The 1960s got this right: hair that moves and breathes beats hair that doesn’t.

3. Fishtail Braid

The fishtail braid only looks complicated. Once the pattern clicks, it is just two sections of hair trading small outer pieces back and forth. Split everything in half, take a thin strand from the outside edge of one section, and cross it over to join the opposite side. Repeat on the other side, working down until the braid finishes. The motion itself is simple; the result reads as intricate, which is why it still shows up on festival grounds sixty years after the Summer of Love.

A tight fishtail can look fussy and finished, almost school-uniform neat. Pancaking the braid fixes that. After securing the end, gently tug the outer edges of each crossover to loosen and flatten them. The braid widens, softens, and picks up the slightly undone texture that reads as genuinely bohemian rather than costume. This disheveled finish is what separates a hippie hairstyle from a gymnastics meet style. The looseness also adds volume for anyone working with fine or shorter hair, since the flattened strands create the illusion of thickness without extra product.

4. Dutch Braids

Dutch braids are reverse French braids, with each section crossing under instead of over so the braid sits raised and three-dimensional against the scalp. That bolder, almost sculptural look is exactly why they fit hippie style so well: they read as intentional but not fussy, structured without looking salon-stiff.

You can wear one down the back, part hair down the middle for two braids, or weave several small ones throughout. The raised texture shows up beautifully in all of these arrangements, and pancaking the braid (gently tugging the loops outward after braiding) softens the whole thing into something fuller and more lived-in. It is the same trick that works on regular braids, but on a Dutch braid the effect is even more dramatic because you are starting from that built-in height.

Medium to long hair carries the style best, and the actual braiding does not take much time once your hands know the motion. I have found that the underhand crossing feels awkward for maybe the first two attempts, then it clicks and becomes faster than a standard French braid because the raised structure gives your fingers more to grip.

5. Side Braid

A loose side braid draped over one shoulder carries that easy, wandering spirit without trying too hard. Sweeping the hair low and to one side creates an asymmetrical frame that softens the jawline and draws attention upward, which is why a narrow headband or a few small flowers tucked along the hairline finish it so naturally. The placement matters more than the weave itself; pulling the braid slightly apart after securing it gives the fullness that keeps the look from going too polished. Keep it slightly undone rather than salon-smooth. That texture is what carries the boho feel from a casual morning into an evening out without needing to be rebuilt. The style works on hair that reaches at least past the shoulder, letting the braid hang with enough weight to stay put while still moving when you do.

6. Bubble Braid

A bubble braid builds its shape from small elastics spaced every few inches down a ponytail or braid, each one pinching the hair into a soft, rounded section. The effect reads as sculptural without being rigid, which is exactly where it connects back to sixties hippie style. Keep the tension loose and the surface slightly fuzzy; a slick, gym-ready finish kills the whole mood.

Texture matters more than precision here. I like to start with second-day hair or a light mist of dry shampoo so the sections have something to grip against. The bubbles sit better when they are not fighting slipperiness.

Ribbons threaded between the elastics, or tiny dried flowers tucked into the gaps, push the look fully into bohemian territory. A narrow velvet ribbon in a muted earth tone works without looking costume-y. If you are adding flowers, secure them with the same elastics rather than extra pins; the less hardware showing, the cleaner the line stays.

7. Afro Mane

The Afro mane sits at the center of Black hippie identity from the 1960s and 70s, and it carries weight that goes well past fashion. Wearing natural volume full and free meant rejecting the straightening combs and chemical processing that had been standard for generations. That choice was personal, and it was political: natural curl pattern became a visible statement that Black beauty needed no alteration to be valid.

Picking out the hair with a wide-tooth comb or afro pick built the rounded shape, while regular moisturizing kept the strands healthy rather than forcing them into submission. The era’s broader embrace of natural beauty found its most powerful expression here, where "effortless" meant stepping away from damage, not stepping away from care. Beads, flowers, or a simple headband could decorate the style, but the texture itself was the point.

What strikes me reading back through accounts of the period is how much maintenance the "undone" look actually required. Air-dried finishes and defined natural curls needed attention to moisture and shape, just not the kind that erased what the hair wanted to do on its own. That tension between looking free and working to stay healthy still shapes how I think about natural texture today.

8. Flower Crown

A flower crown turns whatever you have going on underneath into something intentional. Loose waves, straight hair pulled back, even a messy bun you’ve been wearing for two days: the crown does the styling for you. Fresh daisies, baby’s breath, and wildflowers are the classic choices, the ones that show up in every photograph from 1967 and still read as genuinely bohemian rather than costume.

Real flowers give you that slightly imperfect, just-picked look, but they wilt within a day, sometimes hours in summer heat. Silk or dried versions solve that problem completely. I’ve had a dried lavender and baby’s breath circlet sitting in a drawer for two years that still looks the same as when I bought it. It takes thirty seconds to put on, and suddenly the ponytail I didn’t feel like washing looks like a deliberate choice. The hair underneath matters less than you’d think. The crown is what people see.

9. Half-Up Braids

Small braids woven from the crown or temples and secured at the back give you the practical side of an updo without looking like you tried too hard. The rest of the hair hangs loose, which keeps the whole feeling soft and lived-in rather than pinned-back severe. I’ve always liked this balance for exactly that reason: hair stays out of your face, but you don’t lose the movement and texture that makes hippie hairstyles feel approachable in the first place.

What happens below the braid matters. Pair it with waves or curls underneath and the style gains dimension instead of reading as half-finished. The braids provide structure while the loose section does the romantic work. This combination showed up constantly in 1960s hippie styling, and it translates cleanly to now because the elements are so adaptable.

The real strength here is how forgiving it is across lengths and textures. Shorter cuts can braid just the front sections above the ears. Longer hair allows for thicker crown braids or multiple smaller ones. Tighter curl patterns, straight fine hair, anything in between, the principle holds: secure the top, let the bottom move. You adjust the braid size and placement to what your hair actually does, not fight it into something else.

10. Dreadlocks

Dreadlocks are roped sections of hair formed through matting or twisting, a style with deep roots in Rastafarian culture that crossed into the broader hippie movement during the 1960s. This is not a look you throw together for a weekend festival. Forming real dreads takes months of patience, and the maintenance never really stops. You can start them a few different ways, backcombing or the twist-and-rip method being the most common approaches people still use. Once established, they wear loose, tied back, or decorated with wooden beads and colorful wraps threaded through the length. Both men and women in the hippie scene embraced this style, and that gender-neutral appeal has held steady into 2026.

Hair Accessories That Complete the Look

The right accessory can turn a plain ponytail or loose waves into something that reads as hippie style before anyone notices the hair itself. A leather headband carries a tougher, festival-ground mood, while a silk scarf knotted at the nape feels softer and more pulled-together for everyday wear. Fresh or silk flowers threaded through a braid signal the free-spirited philosophy most immediately; that daisy-chain look is what people picture first when they hear the era mentioned. Feathers, ribbons, and beaded strands add movement and color, and they work whether your base style is a classic shag, long flowing waves, or even a simple afro with a band across the forehead. Colorful accessories were central to the look when the style peaked in the 1970s, and they still do the heaviest lifting today. You don’t need an elaborate cut. A basic long style with the right scarf or a few wooden beads at the ends of a braid communicates the same idea with almost no effort.

Working With Your Natural Texture

Hippie hairstyles start from the assumption that your hair already knows what it wants to do. The look depends on strands that appear to have grown in exactly the configuration you’re wearing, which means heavy product buildup and heat styling are working against you instead of with you. That polished, shellacked finish reads as effort, and effort is the opposite of the point.

What actually supports this aesthetic is a much lighter hand. Texturizing spray gives limp sections the grip they need without coating them. Dry shampoo at the root buys you another day of volume and absorbs oil that would otherwise flatten everything out. Sea salt spray does the heavy lifting for wave patterns, encouraging what your hair already does rather than forcing it into submission.

Second or even third-day hair often cooperates better than freshly washed strands. The natural oil distribution gives braids and twists something to hold onto, and the slight grit keeps pieces from sliding loose ten minutes after you finish. If you’re someone who shampoos daily out of habit, this is the place to break it.

From the Sixties to Now

The hippie hairstyles we talk about today started as something bigger than fashion. In the 1960s and 1970s, long hair on men and natural texture on everyone carried real political weight. Letting your hair grow out or refusing to straighten it was a quiet act of rebellion against mainstream expectations, tied directly to the counterculture movement’s push for peace, freedom, and social change.

These styles echoed a natural, unrefined aesthetic that rejected the polished looks of the previous decade. The generation wearing them wanted to look like themselves, not like something manufactured.

Modern versions keep that same spirit but update the execution. Today’s braids, waves, and flowing lengths borrow the effortless, undone finish while welcoming hair of every type and length, from short cuts to long manes. The techniques have evolved, and the inclusivity has expanded, but the core idea remains: hair that moves freely and looks like it belongs to a real person, not a magazine spread.

Frequently Asked Questions

What hair accessories were popular among hippies?

Hippies wore leather headbands, silk scarves, feathers, ribbons, beads, and fresh or dried flowers in their hair. Shell clips and charms also fit the beach-inspired side of the look. These pieces did the styling work so the hair underneath could stay simple and natural.

Can hippie hairstyles be worn by both men and women?

Yes. Men in the 1960s grew their hair long and loose, and both men and women wore dreadlocks. The style was never limited by gender, and that openness still holds in 2026.

What hair products should I use to achieve a hippie hairstyle?

Reach for texturizing spray, dry shampoo, and sea salt spray. These add grip and volume without the polished finish that fights the whole point of the look. Second- or third-day hair often cooperates better than freshly washed strands because the natural oils give braids and twists something to hold.