Photo: Getty Images Save Story Save this story Save Story Save this story It’s not fair. My messy bun looks like I slept in it (probably because I did), but Florence Pugh ’s messy bun looks like it hired its own creative director. Thankfully, I can pretty much pinpoint and poach exactly what takes her hair from afterthought to elegant: a silk scarf —arguably the hair accessory of the year.
Spotted at the Venice Film Festival, Pugh wore her hair in an imperfect updo that looks, at first glance, like she might have twisted it up without bothering to locate a brush. Rather than smoothing her hair into submission, Pugh’s crown has visible bumps and irregularities. Wispy ends escape the bun in multiple directions, including in front of the knot, while a couple of loose tendrils fall around her face.
By no means is this the sort of messy bun you achieve by spending 45 minutes carefully engineering the appearance of having spent 45 seconds on your hair. It’s absolutely an “I put my hair up because it was annoying me” bun—but then the scarf changes the equation.
Photo: Getty Images The long, silky swathe is tied around the base of the bun, with the ends pulled down the back. Because of its placement and length, it almost reads as a printed ponytail at first glance. I haven’t been able to figure out the scarf’s designer as of writing this, but even if it’s a nearly priceless Pucci or an impossible-to-find Chanel piece, it’s the concept of the look that we can all copy. The charm is in the contrast, not the cost.
The rest of Pugh's look is both relaxed and refined, just like her hair. She wore a sleeveless, navy jumpsuit with a defined waist, strappy stiletto sandals, chunky Max Mara sunglasses—polished enough for Venice but unfussy enough that the bun fits right in with the overall vibes.
Turns out that the fine line between “I couldn't be bothered” and “I couldn’t possibly let myself be seen as anything short of stylish” is apparently several inches of silk.