The politics of hair has a lustrous and long history – from Margaret Thatcher’s 120 visits to the salon during a year as prime minister to the revelation that François Hollande spends around £7,600 a month on his hair. And now there’s the pob – AKA the political bob worn, in varyingways, by politicians ranging from Theresa May to Nicola Sturgeon, Angela Merkel and Hillary Clinton.
While Thatcher’s hair had that “this lady’s not for turning” rigidity, the pob is an update on hair that says “dependable, no-nonsense, tough on immigration”. May’s has a quick-blowdry-in-front-of-the-bathroom-mirror feel, while both Merkel’s and Sturgeon’s look like wash-and-go styles. Katie Allan, creative manager at Charles Worthington, says older women often have a variation on this haircut because it’s “faceframing … once you’re over 50 [as all pob wearers, bar Sturgeon, are], your hair is drier. You get it cut every six to eight weeks, and you’d only need to blowdry it once a week. Clients who get this cut have more important things to do but they want their hair to look nice – or that’s the impression this haircut gives, anyway.”
Indeed. There’s the implication that the pob wearer is not a woman who has time to worry about such fripperies as the differing benefits of Moroccan Oil and Kérastase Liquid Gold. If Kim Kardashian requires a team for washing her hair (revealing her routine earlier this year, she said “we start out with a blowout” implying several minions on Team Hair), the pob is the polar opposite: it’s low-maintenance chic.
It can be more time-consuming than it looks, though. Clinton, as the American in the pob gang, is always going to have to pay more attention to her hair – the required levels of glamour increase stateside. After facing derision for wearing a scrunchie, Clinton now has a personal hair stylist, Isabelle Goetz, who travels with her, styling her hair from 7am, and the presidential nominee was recently spotted at the John Barrett Salon at Bergdorf Goodman in New York, where a haircut costs more than £450.
All this for, as Goetz said to New York magazine, an underwhelming end result: “I want to make sure her hair is never an issue”. This, of course, contrasts with her opponents. The Trumps look as if they have secrets in their just-stepped-out-of-the-salon hair – from Donald’s possible weave to Melania’s long, tonged waves and Ivanka’s GHD’d baby-blond style. Clinton has called Trump “an id with hair”, a barb that couldn’t really be directed at a pob wearer, the style is far too unassuming. Clinton knows she is on to a good cut. “I think she’d like to try more things with it,” said Goetz. “But for now, that look is a good look and she should stick with it.” In the politics of hair, the pob is the ultimate power play.
