In the last three years, the craze around coquette — the hyper-feminine aesthetic marked by polka dots, doll makeup, Peter Pan collars and bows galore — has notably cooled off, allowing a messier, anti-girly-girl aesthetic to rise in its place. But coquette is due for a comeback — this time, with a softer, more subtle approach.
Elements of the revitalized fad are already popping up in fashion, with brands such as Dôen and Sézane gaining traction online. In beauty, coquette-core is returning in the form of faux freckles, feathered lashes, doe eyes, blurred blush and, now, pigtail braids.
Sabrina Carpenter at the Dior fall 2026 couture show.
WWD via Getty Images
The poster girl for flirty fashion, Sabrina Carpenter, made a case for pigtail braids at the Dior fall 2026 couture show in Paris, where she dressed in a lace gown by creative director Jonathan Anderson. The youthful hairdo, crafted by Rio Sreedharan, was secured with two hair bands folded like mini bowties. With roots in Western style, the pigtails complemented the artist’s recent move into more pop-country music.
A closer look at Sabrina Carpenter’s outfit at the Dior fashion show.
Swan Gallet
Elsewhere in the country category, Megan Moroney has been favoring her own pigtail braids, styling them on stage with bouncy blond curls. At her “Cloud 9” show in Brooklyn on Thursday night, Moroney tied two sections of her hair in loose plaits on each side of her head. From the front, the braids were barely visible; however, from the side, the accents appeared to weave in and out of her voluminous waves.
Megan Moroney performs onstage during The Cloud 9 Tour at Barclays Center in New York.
Getty Images for Megan Moroney
The hairdo fit right in with her all-pink aesthetic — the same style that’s attracted her tween-and teen-heavy following over the last few years. But while pigtails have mainly been reserved for this 13-and-under crowd, the style is starting to pick up in more mature spaces — and in less “country girl” ways. In fact, the look was rife on the Missoni runway during Milan Fashion Week in February, where creative director Alberto Caliri presented his fall 2026 ready-to-wear collection, with a focus on outerwear. Here, pigtails were packaged as a functional hairstyle for women on the go.
Missoni fall 2026
With popped collars and multicolored scarves covering their necks, models were given two hair options: the “Olsen tuck” or braids. Those with two braids kept one in front and the other tucked behind their shoulder.
The return to playful beauty was crafted by hair artist Damien Boissinot, who’s famously contributed to campaigns for a host of fashion houses, including Sportmax, Isabel Marant and Balmain. In the past, Boissinot has relied on texture and frizz to inject life into a look. At Missoni, the hair may not have been as wild, but it was full of energy nonetheless.
