The Biggest Fall 2017 Hair Trends You Need To Know

We survived 2016—we know to expect to unexpected. Yet we were still surprised when black ribbon and bows became the runaway hair trend in New York, London, Milan, and Paris. At Philosophy di Lorenzo Serafini (left), hair was pulled back into a low ponytail and topped with a coquettish bow. Wrapped in silk, velvet, tied in a ponytail or looped above a bun, the runways proved this season that there's more than one way to wear the ribbon trend.

It was all about a sweet, Victorian innocence backstage at Altuzarra. Hairstylist Odile Gilbert pulled the hair back into a low ponytail, which served as the perfect canvas for the custom headbands.

At Jill Stuart, hairstylists weaved one baby braid on each side of the models' head.

In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death, taxes, and some kind of braid at Valentino. But instead of the long, romantic braids we've seen at so many season's past—the hair was parted down the middle, and two micro braids were weaved along the hairline. It had a Coachella-like quality, adding visual interest to hair that would otherwise just be down. When baby braids popped up at two other shows, it became clear that good trends sometimes come in small packages.

Bits of colorful string were braided throughout the hair backstage at Maison Martin Margiela (not unlike the kind you wore on that cruise when you were a child).

We bet you never thought of wearing a hair pin or barrette the way hairstylists used them backstage at Annakiki, zig-zagging them across sleek buns.

Ashley Williams made quite the splash last season when she sent models down the runway wearing "boys" and "girls" hair pins. This season's slogans were much more fitting for the climate: "paradise" and "paranoia."

At Elie Saab, the only think sparklier than the sculptural headbands were the smoky, glitter eyes.

In the center of the hair room backstage at Marchesa was a table full of fresh-cut flowers, still wrapped in paper from the store. Though they could have been mistaken for a gift, the flowers were actually the starring hair accessory for a handful of lucky models. Hairstylists cut, sewed, and pinned the flowers along their head like a crown. The end result was nothing short of stunning.

At Maison Martin Margiela, string theory took on a whole new meaning. Some models walked the runway with their hair looped into a multicolored chignon, and decorated with bits of string.

Miu Miu is never one to shy away from unabashed femininity, as evidenced by the jeweled headbands and matching teardrop earrings.

The look at N 21—a sparkly pin secured along the hairline—gave off major Margot Tenenbaum vibes.

The hair look at Toga brought to light an important beauty question: why wear one hair pin when you can wear seven?

Not to play favorites, but some beauty looks are just more fun than others. Versace's technicolor hair extensions was one of those looks. Hairstylists cut and styled piles and piles of extensions and placed them throughout the models' hair, both long and short.

No, that's not a headband. That's the model's own hair, coaxed and smoothed into a headband, then spray painted to reference the aurora borealis backstage at Issey Miyake. Is it an odd look and technique? Sure. But the end result—soft waves falling behind a metallic, glittery blue-and-green hairband—is one of the most stunning and inventive hairstyles we've seen all season. It joins a handful of other shows where what was put in the hair made more of a splash then the hair itself.

The hair at Bluemarine was set into curls and then meticulously brushed-out, resulting in this cloud-like volume.

Hairstylist Guido Palau brought back an old school hair technique for the Dior show. Palau and his team coiled the hair in paper towels, baked them with a flat iron, and then brushed through each curl to get the fuzzy bends. "It gives a much softer feel than a curling iron, and of course you get the volume in the hair," says Palau. Other than shampoo and Redken Wind Blown 05 Volumizing & Texturizing spray, no other product was used. "There's this lightness that comes from this very clean hair," he says. "It's soft and floaty and very easy."

It was all about crimped curls backstage at Fendi. If the models didn't have them naturally, then hairstylists parted their hair into small sections and used a curling iron to fake it.

At Max Mara, models had their hair curled and fluffed and then flipped over to the opposite side, to achieve extreme height at the root.

The inspiration for the beauty look at Nina Ricci was a book called Rodeo Queen, which chronicled cowgirls at rodeo circuits in the '80s and '90s. So you can imagine that the beauty look could have gone really wrong, really fast. But hairstylist James Pecis managed to get the height, curl, and volume that we've come to associate with the wild west—but without any of the stiffness or crunch. The key product? You probably already guessed it: mousse. If the hair looked too perfectly curled, Pecis and his team would break it up with water for a fuzzier, softer feel.

Crimped hair was back in style—in a big way— at Ports 1961.

At Louis Vuitton, hairstylists coaxed big, natural curls out of the models' own hair texture.

You know what they say: the bigger the hair, the cooler you are. Maybe the real expression is something vaguely religious, but if there's one thing to do to your hair this season, it's pumping up the volume. At Chanel, it was easy to see where the hair and makeup references came from this for this space travel-inspired season; hairstylist Sam McKnight dubbed the voluminous hair "Chanelarella" on Instagram. The sky-high, '60s-inspired volume could only be achieved by one technique: teasing. And then more teasing. McKnight and his team backcombed and fluffed the hair until the last second the models hit the runway. A headband—either plain black or bedazzled—was then secured right along the hairline.

TRESemmé Global Stylist Justine Marjan called these ethereal crown braids the "perfect combination of romance and edge," backstage at Alice + Olivia.

Backstage at Creatures of Comfort, hairstylist Justine Marjan crafted loose braids that were secured with a single bobby pin—not an elastic (stick the pin straight up into the braid). "It almost looks like the hair is floating in a braid," she says. She also created all this texture without turning on a single curling iron; these are flat iron waves at their absolute prettiest. Marjan says that prepping the hair with mousse is essential to creating the perfect straightener waves. "Today we used the TRESemmé Extra Firm Control Mousse and it gave the hair a really good foundation. So that way it holds the style and has that memory," she says.

The models at H&M Studio wore their hair in glossy braided pigtails and topped off with a black leather headband.

Double braided buns had a Princess Leia quality backstage at JS Lee.

At Balmain, hairstylist Sam McKnight braided three or four cornrows along the center of the head ("in an imaginary mohawk"), then pulled the hair back into a tight ponytail. Extensions were added for length, so that the tails reached the middle of the models' backs. A root cover-up powder in shade darker than the models' hair was used along the braids to cover the skin, and then McKnight's namesake styling products (launching later this year) added the grit and hold needed to keep the look in place. "She's tougher and more warrior-like than in the past," said the hairstylist.

It's rare to see a hair color almost as gorgeous as the hairstyle, as spotted backstage at Emporio Armani's fall show.

The fishtailed braid with bits of copper strung throughout was stunning (and unexpected) at Christian Sirianos fall show.

A new take on hat hair, as seen at Alberta Ferretti's fall show.

We'd be mistaken to call braids a fall 2017 trend; braids have always been in style, and will continue to be in style, for as long as human kind has a say in it. But there was a definite resurgence of woven styles on the fall 2017 runways, one that started way back in September for the spring shows. All you need to know is this: braids of all shapes and sizes—from cool-girl cornrows at Rihanna's Fenty show (left) to loose romantic plaits—will be major come fall.

At Blugirl, like Brandon Maxwell, hair was slicked-down only to the ears and then tucked, leaving the rest of the length to be its textured, fuzzy, self.

It was all about amping up hair's shine-factor backstage at The Brock Collection.

At Brandon Maxwell, hair was gelled down from the roots the mid-lengths, while the ends were curled into fluffy waves.

At Genny, volume at the roots gave hair the lift it needed to be tossed back and over to the side.

Hair was straight, sleek, and tucked behind the ears backstage at Laroche.

Easy, effortless, undone—there's no other way to describe the beauty seen at Michael Kors this season. Hair, keyed by Orlando Pita, was slicked back at the roots with mousse and tucked behind the ears.

At Moschillo, the models' hair had as much gloss as their cheekbones.

At Nina Ricci, where references ranged from Texas rodeos to '80s glam, it only made sense that the hair would be big and bouncy and tossed to one side.

The tossed-back hair at Sportmax wasn't slick or wet but it was definitely shiny.

Though the weather in New York City the night of the Thakoon presentation was far from ideal—a blizzard had just passed through—hairstylist Odile Gilbert served-up a hair look that was tailor-made for crappy weather days. Inspired by the trench coats in the collection, Gilbert soaked the roots of models' hair with a mix of mousse (TRESemmé 24 Hour Body Amplifying Mousse) and creams to give the illusion of wet hair, but with far more control

Slicked-back hair was one of the biggest hair trends for spring 2017. For fall, the trend loosened up a little. Sure, there were still a few slick looks, like the sporty, gym-chic hair at Giambattista Valli. But at so many other shows like Michael Kors, Brandon Maxwell, and Thakoon, the hair was simply brushed back or tucked behind the ears. Basically, as long as there's no hair hanging in your face—you're now on trend.

The ponytails at Aigner were pulled tight, had the elastics hidden by a strand of hair, and then topped with a leather barrette that added to the sculptural vibe.

The hair at Delpozo was described as a little "futuristic." It was also a little complicated. Look closely, and you'll see that two sections of hair were tied into pigtails, with the rest of the hair falling straight behind it. Stylists then grabbed a third elastic and gathered all he hair—the two pigtails and the hair in the back—together to make one low ponytail.

Anything other than a low ponytail with a deep side-part would have felt too glam or precious backstage at Jason Wu.

JW Anderson made a combover look impossibly chic (it helps when you're doing it for the purpose of showcasing ear jewelry). Models' hair was flipped over to one side, slicked down, and then gathered into a low, side ponytail.

The ponytails at Loewe were center-parted and finished with a high-shine gloss.

There were actually two ponytails at Alexander McQueen: one in the front and one in the back. Backstage, hairstylist Guido Palau described the long, crimped hair as both "romantic" and "witchy." He worked Redken Braid Aid 03 through the hair before using a flat iron to create the random, uneven bends. He brushed through the hair vigorously to create a fuzzy softness. It was then gathered into a low, thin ponytail under the chin and behind the back.

Rumpled low ponytails were held together by patent black string backstage at Olivier Theyskens.

A high ponytail can be both sporty and retro. A low ponytail can be conservative and casual. At Prabal Gurung, it was all about finding that happy medium. The hair was slicked off the face and into a ponytail at about ear-height, neither too high or too low.

At Mulberry, a center-parted ponytail served as a the perfect canvas for the statement-making earrings.

When hairstylist Orlando Pita caught a glimpse of the new Oscar De La Renta collection, he was most inspired by its youthful energy. "It's really Oscar for a younger girl," he says. "I thought, you know,what would be the one hairdo a young girl could wear that she's still a bit rebellious when her mother buys her an expensive piece of clothing like this? It's a ponytail. The mother would freak out like, 'You can't wear a ponytail with that!' So if the mother doesn't like it—it's good," says Pita.

Good news: this season's go-to hairstyle is the ponytail. Doesn't get easier than that, right? But don't think you can get away with just throwing your hair up with an elastic, like you're coming from spin class. The ponytails on the fall runway were thoughtful and chic; the mirror-like shine, sleek parts, and positioning were all meticulously and expertly executed (just look at Thierry Mugler's take, left). This is what your go-to style looks like when it's taken beyond the basics.

Jonathan Simkhai's take on the ribbon ponytail: low and wavy, but with a skinny ribbon that's actually a string. The effect is more sleek than schoolgirl.

The hair at Rochas was all about refined, equestrian-inspired glamour. But hairstylist Paul Hanlon didn't want to simply pull it back into a bun. Instead, he parted the hair to the side, swept it back into a low ponytail, and then rolled the hair together "like tails of Dressage horses," notes WWD. A black bow—one of the biggest hair trends of the season so far—was placed just above the base.

At Temperley London, velvet hair bows complemented small black ribbons tied delicately around the neck.

At Emilia Wickstead, hair was pulled into a small half-up section and then secured with a black ribbon. The ends were left hanging loose—not knotted—for a less sweet effect.

At Marchesa, the hair was pulled back into a textured chignon and then a giant stiff bow (about the size of the models' heads) was pinned into the base.

The giant, floppy, black velvet hair bows seen at Tory Burch's fall show kicked off the black hair ribbon trend.