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Key Takeaways
- Fall’s hottest hair trend is super simple: a single hair pin holding a deep side pin.
- The “Prep School Pin” has been spotted on so many It Girls like Lily Rose Depp, Elle Fanning, and Sabrina Carpenter.
Truth be told, I’m sad the Gossip Girl reboot was canceled. It didn’t beat the original—nothing could!—but I thought it was fun in its own way. The cast was cutie, and I’d love to see how the costume team would’ve worked with Matthieu Blazy’s S/S 26 Chanel, the ballet flat boom, and this fall’s rugby shirt trend.
Honestly? We might’ve felt more at home and able to accept the modernity of it all had it come out a few years later. Instead of trying to mirror its predecessor’s styling in a way that felt trite, they would’ve had the advantage of ’07 prep school style actually being in.
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Luckily, we have real life It girls that are embracing the look. They might not currently be college bound or give us literal episodes worth of messy drama every week (probably good for their psyches), but they can show us how prep is done in 2025. Case in point: the Prep School Pin hair trend.
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The Trend
Characterized by a simple deep side part held back with a bobby pin or barrette, the Prep School Pin has been modeled in recent months thanks to the influence of the likes of Lily-Rose Depp, Lila Moss, and Elle Fanning. These three are obviously all blondies (or were, have you seen Depp’s fresh brunette dye job??), but it’s a look anyone can rock.
Emi Jay
The trend is nothing new—it’s a school picture day staple, actually. Thus, now is the perfect time for its popularity to soar. It’s been warm enough this fall that no one wants to lean into their winter bangs just yet, but we still want to get a taste of that nice back-to-school energy. This look is proper and poised but can still offer some edge if you let your natural texture do its thing, like Depp did at the aforementioned Chanel show.
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How to Wear It
Besides a simple air dry, this might be the easiest hairstyle to achieve ever. All you have to do is find a pin (you can go fancy, but a simple bobby pin will more than do the trick), part your hair to the side, and slide said accessory right in. Just remember: This isn’t the edgier, hundred pins up and down the hairline look that was so popular last year. One or two will more than suffice.
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With your hair out of your eyes, you’ll have no distractions as you study for your SATs or perfect your lash flutter. University, flirting, fall outfits—there’s so much to prep for, actually.
