Gabrielle Union is no stranger to switching up her look. And since she's been in the spotlight for more than a decade (!), we've been lucky enough to see some killer hairstyles from the star over the years. Union's signature look has become of the long, beachy wave variety, but more recently, the actress went outside of her comfort zone in terms of hair length — with a chin-grazing bob. And we have to say, it’s giving us some major hair FOMO.
Somehow, the soon-to-be beauty maven (Union is launching her very own haircare line in March) was able to keep her trendy new cut under wraps for weeks. Her bob debut was back on February 23 at the Essence 10th Annual Black Women in Hollywood Awards Gala in Beverly HIlls. But it wasn’t until she showed up at the annual Vanity Fair Oscars Party on Sunday night that we really took notice — and boy, are we glad we did.
The latest style is thanks to celebrity hairstylist Larry Sims. The pro is responsible for some of our favorite looks from the Oscars this year — including Tracee Ellis Ross and Mary J. Blige, for example — and now he's offering up even more hair inspiration with Union's new style. Her decision behind the major move? Total spontaneity — as with most great cuts. She recently told People, “We were like…‘Let’s go shorter. Let’s go shorter.’ Larry Sims just took a hatchet to it and just hacked it off.” And it all went down just minutes before her arrival to the Essence gala. Union explained that the original plan was to get a lob — something that would merely sweep her shoulders. But immediately after the initial chop, Sims decided to take it even shorter. “I love it. I’m obsessed right now,” Union told the publication. “I didn’t want to leave [the house] because I was sort of staring at it.” Yeah, us too.