The Meredith Blake bob is TikTok’s new favourite ’90s chop

There’s a new chop that’s got TikTok excited. Well, we say “new” but it’s the latest cut to bust out of the ‘90s archive. The “Meredith Blake bob” revisits the beauty looks served up in Lindsay Lohan’s iconic 1998 film debut, The Parent Trap. But, instead of looking at the main characters or heroes, the film’s “villain” Meredith Blake has been re-examined.

So far the hashtag #meredithblake has picked up over 175 million views on the platform and users have been wondering whether the 26-year old “gold-digging” step mum wasn’t given a bad rap.

One user, @ashleywhitfield44, posted a video stating “growing up means realising that Meredith Blake was never the villain. Was she likeable? No. She’s a 20-something woman who wants to be with a wealthy, attractive, older man. Should it be on the older man with a daughter – or two daughters – to shut that down? She is not responsible for the chaos in this movie. The way that we were collectively gaslit into thinking [the mum and dad] were the good guys is actually atrocious. You mean to tell me that because y’all couldn’t figure out your marriage, your best solution was to split up your twin daughters and completely lie about the existence of the other and their opposite parent?”

Others have argued that the gold-digger label was off in the first place. Meredith was a successful publicist in her own right at 26, and at no point did she suggest giving up her career. She made an effort to bond with her boyfriend’s daughters, but ultimately lost her cool while Hallie and Annie plotted to torment and gaslight her.

Whatever you think of her character though, one detail that most of TikTok is agreed on is that we could definitely take inspo from her haircut, which has just the right amount of retro ’90s nostalgia and oomph.

What is the “Meredith Blake bob”?

Meredith’s haircut is a voluminous shoulder-grazing bob with some face-framing layers that we see styled a few different ways throughout the film. The beauty is that the cut offers versatility. It’s often worn rolled under or curled to resemble more of a jaw-length bob that tucks behind the ear and she regularly wears the chop side-parted for extra volume.

How to style the Meredith Blake bob?

One hair stylist, @hairbysuziangelina had a client tell her: “I just want it to feel super blonde, super fresh. I really like the ’90s style haircut, nice and bouncy, I just want to make a bit more of a statement.” The result was a just-longer than jaw-length bob that could be curled under. She blow-dried the shape to give it extra airiness and bounce and she created mini curtain bangs around the face.

Meanwhile, user @chloefrater refreshed her ’90s bob with a voluminous tucked-under shape alongside a soundtrack that featured a quote from The Parent Trap movie.

So, the Meredith Blake bob is proof once again that the ‘90s isn’t done serving up inspo just yet…

For more from GLAMOUR’s Beauty Editor, Elle Turner, follow her on Instagram @elleturneruk