Blake Lively Without Her Signature Long Hair Has Us Doing A Double Take

Blake Lively's long hair is a staple of her look —  and she looks like a different person without it. Whether starring in "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants," "The Age of Adaline," or any of her other iconic roles, Lively's mostly sported long blond hair, and it's easily her most celebrated feature. She's also well aware that people associate her with long hair. In a July 2024 Instagram post introducing her hair care line, Blake Brown, she revealed that it was her hair — not her personality — that had become her most identifiable trait. "Ever since I was a kid, through adolescence, early adulthood, motherhood, work, personal life, whenever, wherever, the single most identifiable part about me has always been my personality — no? Not my personality? Oh... My hair," she wrote in the caption.

Interestingly, she has an unorthodox approach to hair care. "I don't know anyone who uses conditioner in my industry," she shared with Vogue that same month. "It's not that people in the entertainment industry are gifted with better hair. ... We're using a different hair system than the process promoted to the mass market." Instead, the star relies on shampoo and hair masks — not conditioner. She shifted her hair care routine after a bad experience on set ruined her hair. "It was just so damaged and destroyed," admitted Lively, who also detailed the sound advice a hairstylist once shared with her. "If you give hair strength, you give it foundation, structure, and stability. But if you only give it strength, it's going to become brittle and hard. So it also needs moisture and elasticity," she revealed. 

But this is about her without long hair, and, boy, is Lively's transformation striking! 

Blake Lively, who also looks different without makeup, usually presents her flashiest side to the world, but she took a hard pivot in January 2020. Taking to Instagram, Lively showed off the transformation for her role in "The Rhythm Section," which required her to trade in her locks in favor of a short, shaggy 'do. But she didn't actually have to cut her gorgeous mane, as she relied on a wig to get into character. As you can see above, the mom of four looked nearly unrecognizable with the short, choppy wig littered with uneven, untoned highlights, suggesting that long hair is definitely a more flattering choice for her. This isn't to say that she couldn't pull off a shorter cut, of course, but she'd definitely benefit from sleeker styling and a pro dye job. Also? She was in character, so there's that.

Speaking of her "The Rhythm Section" character, the glam team worked meticulously to curate the unflattering series of wigs (including the one above) that Lively's troubled character donned in the film. "We started off with a shoulder-length mousy brown wig," shared lead stylist Siân Grigg with Glamour in February 2020. "The idea being that she's not done anything to herself the whole time [since her family died]. But when we put it on her, we realized it wasn't quite right." Eventually, they landed on a piece that made sense for her character. "In the end, we decided that she had home-bleached her hair at some point, and then she'd put some crazy color through it at one point, and the end result were these nasty canary-yellow peroxide ends that were virtually grown out," added Grigg.

This isn't the first time Lively debuted a major hair change, popping up with dark brown locks when her "It Ends With Us" casting was announced.