A French bob, or a classic Parisian women’s cut, is a form of a cropped bob that’s cut at chin-length and paired with bangs sitting at the brow line. The French haircut has been modernized by certain characteristics including a blunt cut, heavy texture, and beachy wavy hair.
Thanks to celebrity fashionistas Bella Hadid, Vanessa Hudgens, Karlie Kloss, and Felicity Jones flaunting this Parisian style in recent red carpet events, the world has seen how elegant yet chill this perfect combo of bangs, and short hair is.
San Francisco-based hairdresser Julia Patton spills out some modern takes on the traditionally blunt French bob – razored hairstyles, beach waves, and choppy short bangs – displaying how creating the perfect amount of texture is paramount for today’s versions.
The French-girl haircut almost always suits anyone, depending on your face shape and structure! With its signature ends that slightly curve in towards the chin, it’s a great hairstyle to frame long and heart-shaped faces.
Are you digging the cute-crop-thick-fringe look? Learn how to achieve très chic hair after you scroll through these popular ways on how to style a French bob!
#1: Edgy Choppy French Bob
You can’t go wrong trying an edgy choppy french bob. Choppy bobs have tons of movement and are easy to manage. When it comes to getting a big chop a bob is the perfect choice with its easy maintenance and modern style. Add a fun wispy bang if you can commit to the maintenance of cutting them every 3-4 weeks.
#2: French Bob with Blunt Ends
You should consider a beveled French bob if you have thick hair and a narrow jawline. Think diamond and inverted triangular face shapes. A beveled cut will give you just a slight graduation around the perimeter, creating a little flip.
#3: Stylish Messy French Bob
A jaw-length French bob is a perfect mix of chic and effortless. It features a heavy fringe and light layering that helps create gentle movement. The style is ideal for women who want a modern and stylish look. To achieve the look, start with damp hair and apply a light mousse to enhance the waves. Blow-dry the hair with a diffuser instead of a round brush to create extra volume. Finish with a curling iron to create loose waves.
#4: Mini French Bob with Fringe
Look oh-so-chic with a mini French bob with a fringe. Having the layers and bangs texturized gives an edgy but feminine feel. With the length hugging the cheekbones, it will give the illusion of lift and instant slimming.
#5: Lived-In French Bob with Movement
This lived-in French bob with movement is a dream paired with a curling iron and a good mist of a texturizing spray. Oribe Dry Texturizing Spray is a good product. Be sure to ask your stylist about pre-booking your next appointment. This haircut requires a shape-up every 6-8 weeks for best results.
#6: Precision Cut French Bob
One of the easiest ways to “wake up and go,” and look stunning is to get a well-crafted haircut. A precision-cut French bob is a sassy, ready-made style, that when done correctly, lives on for a while. Remember to prebook 4-week standing appointments to keep this style looking fresh.
#7: Cute Lived-In French Bob
A cute, lived-in bob is great when you have curly hair. Ask about a fringe during your consult. Do this before you decide if it’s right for your face shape. For soft, tousled curls, wrap dry hair around a 3/4″ curling iron. Then, finish with a hairspray like L’Oreal Elnett Satin Strong Hold Hairspray.
#8: Cool-Looking Lived-In French Bob
If you have wavy hair and want a trendy short cut, I recommend trying a short stacked bob with feathered bangs. The layers allow your waves to be more weightless and defined. Don’t forget to ask your stylist to show you how to style your bangs. Also, ask for their product recommendations. Try keeping your trims in the 6-8 week mark. It will help you maintain the shape of your cut.
#9: Sleek Jaw-Length French Bob Cut
If you have an oval face shape, a sleek jaw-length french bob cut is the perfect haircut for you to flaunt all your lovely facial features. It’s helpful to tell your stylist where exactly you want your length to lay in relation to the features of your face (for example, the bottom of your chin, mouth, or nose). The most effective way to style this haircut is by curving the ends of your hair under with a round brush while blow drying. You can use products like a smoothing cream or volumizing mousse in order to create the style you’re going for and make sure you don’t forget to set your style with hairspray once you’re all finished.
#10: Tousled and Layered Bob
Remake your image with a tousled and layered bob. Be prepared to curl your hair if you don’t have a natural wave, but other than that a tousled bob is easy to maintain. Apply some molding paste to the layers and get the illusion of an effortless style. The textured bang is a great addition to the cut. However, if you have a tiny forehead or close-set eyes you might want to skip the bang.
#11: Short French Bob with No Bangs
A short French bob is a great haircut option if you are choosing a short bob cut. If you are a girl with thick hair, I recommend this style. It’s a breezy, light, and perfectly sculpted bob that will make styling your hair so much easier. Framing your face with subtle curtain layers will really help your eyes sparkle.
#12: Razor Cut French Bob Cut for Fine Hair
A razor cut French bob cut is a great way to add fullness and texture to finer hair types. I suggest a straight razor haircut to achieve the effortless layers in a French bob. You will never achieve the same type of texture without the proper tools to style, as well. Try Kevin Murphy’s Hair Resort Spray for weightless movement and texture.
#13: Wispy French Bob
If you’re looking for a more modern bob, try a texture layered bob. The stack works with the fall of your naturally wavy or curly hair. If you have a wider forehead, try some thin fringe if you want to give a more narrow appearance.
#14: French Bob with Straight Bangs for Women Over 50
The little French bob with straight bangs is great for women over 50. It’s classy and at the same time playful, easy to maintain, and looks great when growing out. The fringe is perfect for hiding the forehead lines.
#15: Jaw-Skimming Length Bob with Curtain Bangs
Consider a jaw-skimming bob with curtain bangs, also known as the French Bob. Try Aveda’s Smooth Infusion line and a boar bristle for a frizz style to get a sleek look. This iconic look will be a head-turner everywhere you go.
#16: The Classic French Bob
All blunt and sharp that is both vintage and futuristic, this is the cut that made the French bob style famous. The texture, styling, and bangs are all licked into a shape that showcases the jet black hair color with a money piece and color-matching bangs more than anything.
#17: With Beach Waves
Your classic cut just got a fresh spin! These soft waves are just as legendary as this French bob, giving a delicate look to the blunt cut. The bangs are wispy for a softer approach to the straight cut bangs, which is an enlivening approach to the cut.
#18: The Low-Maintenance French Bob
The low-maintenance French bob haircut creates a vibrant frame for a cute face. The length of the haircut is typically cut to the nape and at the jawline with a pronounced line. The fringe exposes the eyebrows.
#19: Modern French Bob with Bangs
With soft curls, stacked layers, and the iconic blunt bangs, you wouldn’t mistake this for another haircut. It’s a way to show texture and style in a cute inverted bob that gives an instant youthful look.
#20: The Messy French Bob
The messy French bob is a perfect style for wavy hair. A messy bob and a French bob pair beautifully with a fringe and some added layers. Ask your stylist if you need products with extra texture.
#21: The Long French Bob
The French bob is the most timeless yet trendy haircut there is. It’s a classic look that will never make you look back at photos and cringe, but it is so versatile that you can style it to look sleek and smooth, textured and edgy, soft and beachy, or curly and romantic. Do whatever you like, and you’ll always be on-trend!
I love that this cut is something everyone can wear, no matter what type of hair they have. This is great for super fine, thin hair to make it look fuller or on thick, coarse hair and make it look less bulky. It’s the ultimate classic.
If you’re considering a French bob and you have fine hair, you should spend some time looking at photos and find one that represents your hair and the way you’d like it to look.
One inch is a big difference for a bob. Changing the length of the bob, even a single inch, could be the difference between a shoulder length or above the shoulder or the difference between chin length or cheek length.
Bobs are precision cuts, and changing the length will change the look of the cut, so always keep in mind (especially when going shorter) that if you want the look, you have to commit to the length.
#22: Textured for Thin Hair
The inspiration for this bob was a sort of ’90s/’20s hybrid. It was cut with a straight razor, and although it’s textured, its edges are full and chunky. It’s not super shattered and collapsed, which is nice. This is an easy style for women with straight or wavy textures, and the bangs can be modified to suit the individual or left out completely.
It’s very easy day-to-day maintenance requiring little to no blow-drying. Try a salt spray and rough-dry your hair, then finish with a pomade for some definition.
#23: A Short French Bob
This short French bob is a vintage romantic haircut with a twist of modern flair. The best thing about it is the contrast between the precision outline and the textured bangs.
Ask your stylist to create this haircut with the razor, so it allows us to create a lot of internal movement, and so it can look very classic and chic. Also, if you use the right products, it can be edgy and fun!
It’s going to open up the face and elongate the neck, which could be a very sexy look.
This haircut is very versatile, depending on the products used. It could be worn on a woman who is in the business or on a lady who is artistic and edgy. The products change the entire aesthetic of the cut, being that it was cut with the razor.
#24: The Sexy Layered Bob
A layered French bob is very playful with an underlying sexiness to it. I love that the length shows off the shoulders, yet the subtle curtain bangs bring the focus to the eyes and cheekbones.
My favorite thing about it is the ease of styling. With it sitting off the shoulders, you don’t have to deal with the dreaded mid-length flip. Whether you wear it straight, curled or air-dried, it will look good.
#25: Perfect for Curly Hair
A curly French bob is perfect as it creates the illusion of fuller curls. Ask your hairstylist what length of the bob will best suit your face shape. This type of haircut is typically done on dry, styled hair, achieving balance in its shape.
#26: The Wavy French Bob
This is a slightly longer version of the French bob. Characterized by the length falling around the jaw and exposing the neck, paired with a soft fringe that grazes the eyebrows while framing the face – the French bob has such an effortlessly beautiful look to it.
A French bob haircut is both textured and has softness. It’s low maintenance, easy to style, and grows out beautifully when shaped with a razor.
Whether you decide to wear this haircut smooth and straight with super bouncy curls or show it off with its signature tousled waves, you cannot go wrong with any of the styles. The easiest to style and most Parisian look would be the messy tousled waves.
Kevin Murphy has amazing products for this style, and my favorite combo after air-drying the hair (or rolling out of bed) is using Powder Puff, gently tapping it into the roots for volume and a bit into the ends to create a soft, airy texture, and then I finish it off with Doo Over for lasting power to mold and form the perfect disheveled, messy texture.
Another option to achieving the look is by twisting random-sized sections of wet hair, and then to emphasize the wavy texture and add volume and hold, spray Eleven Australia’s Sea Salt Spray into the roots and ends. Let air dry or diffuse.
#27: A Chin-Length Cut
A chin-length cut bet suits ladies with oval or square-shaped faces. This chin-length haircut is a version of a French bob that is often coupled with a fringe.
#28: Cute Bob with Fringe
A cute bob with fringe is chic and modern. Shorter bobs look breathtaking on most face shapes, but especially the heart and oval facial shapes. Shorter styles are fun, require low upkeep, and are very playful.
#29: Flattering for a Round Face
Ladies searching for a haircut that is flattering for a round face should consider a French bob. A French bob is a short haircut that is cut at the level of your chin and is versatile and easily styled.
#30: Extra Short French Bob Style
An extra short French bob style is an ultra-chic look that showcases one’s personality in one haircut. Salon upkeep is frequent but can adjust with seasonal and style changes. Best paired with straight hair to display the geometric style of this haircut.
#31: Jaw-Length French Bob
If you have an oval face shape try a jaw-length French bob. This haircut has a bit of a wedge look that accentuates the lower half of your face.
#32: Youthful French Bob for Older Women
Older women can definitely benefit from trying a French bob. This cut is easy to style and maintain and gives a youthful, flirty appearance. Massage a nickel-sized dollop of Redken Aerate onto your fingertips and apply all over before blowdrying to give you some volume and texture.
#33: Blonde French Bob for Older Women
Go for a blonde bob if you’re an older woman. A bob that hits somewhere between the hollow of the cheekbone to the chin with few-to-no crown layers is the best type of French bob. A golden blonde at the root helps to cover grey and lighter ends giving dimension to the color and style.