Read our guide to the shingle bob.

Read our guide to the swinging bob. 

Read our guide to the razor-cut bob.

As the name suggests, this ultra-chic style hails from France. A nod to the rise in popularity of shorter crops, le petit bob is a shorter, sharper and more cropped version of its bigger sister, the French bob. It’s also the perfect haircut for anybody who’s in that awkward growing-out-your-pixie-cut phase.

Read our guide to the le petit bob.

If you’re a fan of choppy cuts, look no further than the feathered bob. This haircut requires tons of layers snipped into the hair, concentrating mainly on the front sections. The result is a textured finish that falls and frames your face effortlessly, no matter how you style it.

Read our guide to the feathered bob.

We know: the name sounds a little strange, but stay with us. A term coined by hairstylist Tom Smith, the hydro-bob is all about achieving an ‘androgynous, editorial’ finish. With this trend, it’s more about the way you style your bob rather than the cut you get. The key is to drench it in product for a just-stepped-out-the-shower look. For longer-lasting results, be sure to opt for an oil-based product rather than a water-based one.

Read our guide to the hydro-bob.

Much like its designer handbag namesake, the Birkin bob is the sexy, chic, lived-in haircut. Light, wispy and care-free, this bob is all about the way it frames your face. Hairstylists recommend pairing it with another big trend of the moment: Birkin bangs. Cut in the same choppy style, you’ll recreate the timeless cut of iconic muse Jane Birkin.

Read our guide to the Birkin bob.

Cut just below the bottom lip line, this type of short, super-blunt bob bends around the face, softening its impact slightly. 

Read our guide to the short blunt bob. 

Nestled into the nape of the neck, the ends of this bob sit high off of the shoulder blades. Flicking them out with a straightener or round brush creates a subtle preppy aesthetic. 

Read our guide to the nape bob.

Reminiscent of Keira Knightley’s iconic boyfriend bob in Bend It Like Beckham, the short 90s bob style blends swept, long layers with gently rounded ends. 

Read our guide to the 90s bob.

This choppy bob is low maintenance and looks just as good smooth and sleek as it does thrown over to one side and tousled. 

Read our guide to the chunky bob. 

“New on the scene and one for those ready for a dramatic change is the curtain cut,” explains Tom Smith, hair stylist, presenter and Evo international creative director. “No longer reserved for a 90s boy band member, this chic and minimal cut is extremely flattering in the way it frames the face, particularly for those with a longer neck due to the crisp contrast of the horizontal line of the haircut and the long vertical necklines.

“This cut can also be adjusted for those unwilling to lose their length by creating a longer bob – just keep those ends tucked forward.”

Read our guide to the curtain bob.

“The stacked bob (sometimes known as a ‘table-top bob’) is a triangular silhouette that works best on textured or curly hair. Cutting a blunt horizontal line that allows the curls to stack up creates a triangular silhouette that really shows off the beauty of natural curls as they are shown in contrast with a strong silhouette and a structured shape,” says Smith.

“Ask your stylist for a one-length bob that allows your curls to stack out in a blunt horizontal line. This works best with a middle parting but can also work well flipped over for extra volume. It’s the shape and length that defines this trend.”

Read our guide to the stacked bob.

If you want to achieve an effortless feel, opt for a preppy bob. It can sit anywhere between a jaw-skimming length to mid-neck and was designed to be under-styled, so best to let your hair dry naturally this one. When visiting the salon, Adam Reed, founder of Arkive Headcare, says once you’ve decided on the length, make sure you have some softness added around the front and ensure bulky weight on the ends is reduced.

Read our guide to the preppy bob.

“The midi bob has a chunky heaviness on the ends that shows off the neck but is long enough to tie up,” explains Seán Paul Nother, half of leading hairdressing duo The Hair Bros. 

“Because of the slightly longer length, it sits beautifully on both blow-dried and air-dried hair. It’s a tad longer than a 90s bob, which means you can throw your hair up on a hot day and have some beautiful Bardot-esque tendrils of hair frame your face. It also looks fantastic casually thrown to either side with a bit of dry shampoo or mousse.

“The easy way to find your perfect length midi bob is by tilting your head forward. As you tilt your chin down, run your hand down the back of your neck. You should be able to feel a bone that sticks out slightly – think about the joint between the base of your neck and the top of your spine – it should be about where your neck and shoulders meet.”

Read our guide to the midi bob.

“The inspiration for the French bob comes from the 20s and 30s era,” explains leading hairdresser and L’Oréal Professionnel UK editorial ambassador Adam Reed. “It reminds me of Louise Brooks – it has that sultry jazz singer feel. It’s sassy and elegant.

“It is a sharp, outlined, chin-grazing bob and the point of the bob should hit the corner of the mouth,” he adds. “The fringe should sit just above the brow – slightly shorter than a usual fringe but still super chic.

“I recommend prepping the hair with heat protector, styling mousse or gel before blow-drying as this will give the hair a great mouldable hold,” says Reed, before adding that you can finish with hairspray for extra hold.

Read our guide to the French bob.

The work of Nick Latham, the other half of the Hair Bros duo, the neck-grazing Italian bob is versatile and full of volume, with defined, heavy ends.

In a detailed post on TikTok, Latham breaks down the style: “We start by cutting the length and finding a good base and really lightly graduating it into the baseline to make sure it’s got a bit of a softer finish. [Then we] work our way around to the front, making sure that the front corners aren’t left too long, and follow that up by adding a bit of face-framing shape.”

Read our guide to the Italian bob.

A safe first-step to bob territory, the collarbone bob skims the shoulders, resting gently just below the clavicle. Lovely on all hair types, shorter layers add shape and volume to the mid-length hairstyle.

Read our guide to the collarbone bob.

A style that eschews the straight bobs loved in the 90s and 00s, the rounded bob channels 80s energy and works beautifully on curly, wavy and textured hair types. Soft and rounded-under, it feels full of body, lift and organic movement.

Read our guide to the round bob. 

An iteration of the popular bottleneck bangs, the bottleneck bob incorporates the slim, softening fringe into a shorter styler. 

“In essence, this hairstyle takes inspiration from the neck of a bottle: starting slim and short in the middle, curving longer around the eyes, and then longest following the line of the cheekbone,” explains leading hairstylist and Evo international creative director Tom Smith. 

“This allows the length and angle to be adjusted depending on whether you want to make your cheekbones appear wider or stronger, or maybe you’d prefer to slim and narrow a wider face, drawing focus to your eyes and lips.

“Bottleneck bangs also soften the face when tying your hair up into a bun or ponytail as you can leave them out to frame the face. You could also leave just the shorter softer fringe pieces or longer face-framing tendrils out, too.”

Read our guide to the bottleneck bob.

Forgoing the tousled, easy-breezy finish of most bobs, the Hollywood bob is all about elegance and glamour. It’s cut just above the shoulder and requires a lot of long layers for volume and bounce.

Read our guide to the Hollywood bob.

The flicked-out (or flicky) bob, so-called for the way the ends of the hair flick out away from the face, brings to mind a 50s-esque, preppy aesthetic. We’re not quite at rollerskating waitresses and a bumping jukebox, but we’re not far off.

Read our guide to the flicked-out bob.

How to make a bob feel infinitely fresh again? Add a curtain bang. Curtain bangs are (as the name suggests) a fringe that separates much like a curtain being pulled open. Draped across the forehead, they can sit long or short, be heavy or cut into to create lightness and fluffy volume. They can be rolled towards the face or swept away. They can be curly, straight, coily or wavy. Basically, anything goes.

Read our guide to curtain bangs.

Flicky, smooth and jaw-skimming, this cute haircut throws us back to the romcoms of the early 00s. Pair with an off-centre parting and blunt ends for the ultimate throwback.  

Read our guide to the romcom bob.

For this cut, think lots and lots of layers. The key is having multiple soft layers that are focused around the face, so when they fall they sit just like butterfly wings. However, Paul Smith at Smith England tells us: “Unlike the standard bob, which best suits a straight, sharp finish, this cut works well when styled with gentle movement and lightly tousled.”

Read our guide on the butterfly bob.

Bobs are often viewed as a haircut that can be difficult to style, but the Botticelli cut changes that. This hairstyle involves getting a bob cut that works with your natural waves to create a thatched, slightly triangular silhouette. “If you don’t have natural waves and your hair is healthy and you’re really committed to trying the Botticelli wave trend, you could consider a perm,” says Tom Smith, international creative director at Evo. “However, many people may prefer to set the wave with braids or a small curling iron to achieve this look.”

Read our guide to the Botticelli bob.

Deeply chic, the power bob is blunt, sleek and has seriously sharp ends. You should pick the length according to your hair type, but the main aim is to keep the ends razor-sharp for a thicker-looking finish.

Read our guide to the power bob.