Anne Hathaway’s ’80s Hair Leads Internet Frenzy

Anne Hathaway‘s new movie has women everywhere searching for trends you may have thought we left behind decades ago.

The actress‘s film The End of Oak Street, in which she stars alongside Ewan McGregor, hit theaters in August and was released digitally on Sept. 15. Hathaway plays a modest suburban mother and secret fiction writer named Denise Platt in the sci-fi thriller that is set in 1982.

Dinosaurs causing prehistoric chaos drive the plot, but many audiences have been searching for something else in the film, and this is Hathaway’s distinct ’80s transformation with textured hair and the decade’s suburban styling forming part.

New analysis from Fresha shows that Google searches for “Anne Hathaway hair” have increased 65% over the past year, reaching approximately 13,000 searches in the past month. The interest comes as separate search data suggests ’80s beauty is experiencing a wider resurgence. Searches for “80s hair” have increased 37% year on year, with approximately 162,000 searches in the past month, while “80s makeup” has risen 100% year on year, reaching around 29,000 monthly searches.

Hathaway’s transformation arrives during a particularly visible year for the actress, but The End of Oak Street provides one of her most overtly retro looks. The film’s 1982 setting has been widely noted as central to its visual identity, with critics describing its suburban setting and filmmaking as deliberately evocative of 1980s cinema.

Beauty expert Danielle Louise spoke about this renewed interest in ’80s hair, saying, “What’s interesting is that we’re seeing people search for these looks again at the same time that beauty has been moving away from the very polished, minimal aesthetic that dominated for years. I don’t think most people are going to walk into a salon and ask to look exactly like they’ve stepped out of 1982. What they are taking from the decade is the volume, movement, and personality.”

But it’s not just ’80s hair that’s having a moment, searches for “80s makeup” have doubled over the past year. If you just felt a shudder thinking about how wildly people had their faces painted back then, don’t worry. According to Louise, the new ’80s makeup trend is toned down a bit.

“The modern interpretation is much less about recreating every part of an ’80s face at once, she explained. “Blush is probably one of the easiest ways we’re seeing that influence come through. Instead of keeping it very subtle and concentrated on the cheeks, people are becoming much more comfortable with visible color and taking it higher towards the temples.

“The same applies to eye makeup. You can use blue, purple or another brighter shade without recreating a full 1980s look. It’s about taking one element and making that the focus.”