Some women are born with great hair; others achieve greatness through their hair. Good hair has made legends out of ordinary women, while sometimes the person responsible for creating a trailblazing style is a legend themselves (as in the case of Vidal Sassoon and Mia Farrow’s famous crop). Other times it’s more a question of fate, good genes, daring and liberally applied hairspray.

Only a few hairdos make it to iconic status. Read on to discover the greatest hairstyles of our times and the stories behind each one.

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For actress Veronica Lake, her unique selling point was her hair. The tiny blonde with high cheekbones and cupid bow lips became synonymous with a hairstyle that fell coquettishly over one eye then flowed in lustrous waves past her shoulders.

Celebrity coiffeur Sam McKnight has cited Lake as inspiration for countless magazine covers. Long waves with a peek-a-boo fringe also helped define the type of roles this actress would play; that of the feisty diva who could switch from temptress to bad-tempered in the blink of an eye (or toss of her hair). Eventually, her Miss Piggy-style act began to mirror ugly real-life dramas. During one diva moment she cut off her hair. Thankfully, her iconic hairstyle lived on.

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It’s easy to see why Brigitte Bardot’s extraordinary beauty was considered female perfection when you see the racy movie And God Created Woman which first shot her to global fame aged 21. From her full, bee stung pout to her luscious curves and tiny waist, her most-envied asset was her crowning glory. Bardot was the ultimate bottle blonde, having been convinced to upgrade her colour by her film director husband, Roger Vadim – she wouldn’t regret it! Her adopted colour set the benchmark for pneumatic blondes. She used her trademark waist length hair to full extent, piling it high on her head then letting it slip to her shoulders whether on the beach of St Tropez.

Throughout her life Bardot championed the same long, flowing free-spirited style. Even when she graced the centrefold of Playboy in 1974, aged forty, her mane of hair shielded her modesty, Lady Godiva-style. Bardot-lookalikes, Claudia Schiffer and Kate Moss, attempt to imitate her style but no one comes close to the original blonde goddess.

Greatest ever hairstyles
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A ravishing blonde whose face is synonymous with several iconic Sixties films including The Thomas Crown Affair, would never surpass her role as the legendary bank robber, Bonnie Parker, in Bonnie and Clyde. Her shoulder-length bob had everything to do with this. The colour of spun gold, blow-dried to give it a bit of volume then curled under just at the ends, this offset Bonnie's signature beret.

Being tossed around in car chases (and sexy trysts) the sharp cut allows it to swing back in place. The hairstyle was tweaked for effect throughout the film; sometimes being given a childish fringe and even a hair piece to give it added volume. Naturalistic photography sees it regularly backlit by dappled sunlight creating an almost halo-effect. The movie about loved-up, gangsters grossed a colossal $50,000,000 and made Dunaway a star. As movies go this one has fashion moments a-plenty, and just like Faye Dunaway’s bob, never seem to date.

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Before she became famous for doing humanitarian work and being 'Mama Mia' to her brood of 15 (4 biological, 11 adopted), Farrow shot to fame with a cropped hairstyle that set trends in the mid-Sixties and is still popular today. Emma Watson, Kate Moss and Victoria Beckham have all rocked the pixie style Farrow first put on the fashion radar. Mia's groundbreaking crop was the handiwork of legendary hairdresser, Vidal Sassoon. Her long hair was hewn on purpose for her role in the stylish Roman Polanski horror film, Rosemary's Baby.

Mia's new husband Frank Sinatra accompanied her to the salon and according to Peter Lamas, Sassoon's assistant at the time, watched in "horror" as his 21-year-old wife’s hair was hacked into the style of “a young boy”. Of course Vidal knew what he was doing. The shorter-than-short hairstyle complimented the micro mini hemlines of the time and enhanced her gamine figure and pretty eyes. Mia’s crop made her a trailblazing star and contributed to her bust-up with Sinatra. He wanted her to leave filming and join him in another movie, but empowered by her new hairstyle, she refused. Soon after they divorced - Mia and her crop went to India with The Beatles to get over it.

Greatest ever hairstyles
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Farrah Fawcett became iconic when she starred in a little known TV show about impossibly glamorous private detectives called Charlie's Angels. The honey-haired actress with the matching syrupy voice was suddenly everyone’s fantasy woman. And it was all down to her gigantic hair; a feat of styling achieved by Carmen rollers, vats of hairspray and strategically applied bleach. Farrah's flicks caused a sensation and nailed the Seventies look. The layered hairstyle was achieved by curling the fringe upwards and outwards leaving tufts of long hair to flick our from the face. Farrah's hair also contained every shade of blonde going, triggering a craze for highlights and curling wands.

Every woman wanted to be Farrah’s TV persona, 'Jill Munroe', who wore flares with high heels to trail petty criminals and solve mysteries. With the help of a wind machine, slow motion freeze frame and current fashions (tight tops worn Seventies-style, with no bra), Farrah also became a pin-up - her photo could also be found plastered to the walls of garages and pubs for over a decade. Fawcett left the series only to be replaced by a string of blondes whose hairstyles never quite outdid hers.

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Linda's hair made global headlines in 1992 when she famously became a redhead for three months. Stepping out on the Chanel haute couture runway to gasps from the audience who were still adjusting to the world’s top grossing supermodel turning honey blonde for the Versace show just months earlier, the flame-haired Linda sent Planet Fashion into a frenzy. Karl Lagerfeld - who was in on the secret - had even created a vivid Lypsinka orange Lurex suit to accentuate her new hairstyle.

Hair played a crucial role in Linda’s career. She became the favourite of photographer Steven Meisel following a drastic boyish crop by New York hairdresser, Garren. Although this initially got her dropped for an entire show season, by the next one, she was the most coveted girl on the catwalk circuit, having killed time posing for Vogue covers and starring in George Michael pop videos. Linda went on to change her hair colour 17 times. Eventually she got signed by L'Oreal and continued to make millions. Because, of course, she's worth it.

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Where would Jennifer Aniston be without Rachel Green? Or should that be ‘the Rachel’? Jennifer played the character who owned the most famous hairdo in American history from 1994-2004. The style is accredited to Aniston's hairstylist, Chris McMillan. Big, bouncy, layered, rough cut at the ends and blow-dried to within an inch of its life.

Sometimes it was sunshine blonde then suddenly it would change to autumnal hues infused with conker brown. It's difficult not to wax lyrical about the Rachel when you consider its global impact. When the show - which regularly attracted US audiences of 52.5 million - was dubbed shown in virtually every country known to man, so the Rachel was immediately copied by at least half the women on Planet Earth (possible exaggeration there.) The style would evolve, getting longer and eventually adopting the 'ironed' look that defined the Noughties. The glossy, high-maintenance style virtually took over the world. Although co-stars Lisa Kudrow and Courteney Cox also had watchable hair, the Rachel had its own Wikipedia site. No competition.

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Sienna had a lot of things going for her - great sense of style, astonishingly pretty face, nice teeth, Jude Law - but the thing that really clinched it was her hair. Pale blonde, bouncy yet tousled with a trademark fringe, it wasn't just her signature 'boho-chic' which earned her the ‘It girl' title, but her glorious shaggy mane. During the early and mid-Noughties, Miller's hippie style made headlines and even knocked Kate Moss off the style pages. Miller's fresh-faced beauty and penchant for exotic tasselled suede boats, printed scarves, ethnic jewellery and squishy ‘hobo’ bags were an instant hit.

Her effortless knack for throwing together long-forgotten accessories captured the zeitgeist but it was always her hair tweaked into a messy ponytail or plaited Heidi-style that we truly obsessed over. In 2005, her trailblazing power ground to a halt when she lopped it off for her role as Edie Sedgwick in Factory Girl (a move that got her the cover of American Vogue and featured in The September Issue). Shorthaired Sienna wasn’t the Sienna we loved though. Even her style took a wobble and after the crop she resorted to hair extensions.

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First you heard the voice. Then you saw the beehive. Now the two are very much joint trademarks of the husky-voiced singer. When Amy Winehouse rocked on to the music scene in 2006 she set the trend for a new generation of British female musicians. She often claimed that the height of her beehive reflected how she was feeling – the higher it was, the more insecure she felt. It's larger-than-life dimensions were as well-documented as the singer's battles with drugs, alcohol and ex-husband, Blake Fielder-Civil.

Amy will be remembered for her many outstanding talents besides her soulful melodies. Her 'look' helped to make her iconic. Blessed by a diminutive figure and slim legs she unleashed a trend for tattoos and revived the sort of vintage baby doll dresses once found only at Camden Market but now inspiring designers like Christopher Kane. Not to mention her single handed revival of the classic beehive.

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Kate Middleton currently the queen of big, blow-dried hair. Having captivated us with a perfect take on wedding hair back on the 29th April 2011, we have been watching her eveolving hairstyle with interest ever since. Her super shiny brunette locks are always full of bounce and volume, often flicked into curls at the ends. Although she sometimes experiments with a half up-do, we will always love her iconic style on the day she and Prince William announced their engagement.

Greatest ever hairstyles
Hottest celebrity hair
Celebrity beauty secrets revealed