Lightning in a bottle: why 2022 was the year we all went blind
My favorite Paris Hilton quote (yes, I have a favorite Paris Hilton quote) is when, in 2006, she told the Sunday Times, "There's no one in world like me. I think every decade has an iconic blonde, like Marilyn Monroe or Princess Diana. And right now, I'm that icon."
That's an impressive level of sass, and yet she's not wrong. The examples given by Hilton are particularly relevant in 2022; a recent "fictional" Monroe biopic, Blonde, has become one of Netflix's most-watched originals, and Diana is the focus of The Crown's final season (in which Elizabeth Debicki appears in a wig-do). p>
In the 1930s, it was Jean Harlow who inspired moviegoers — and many of her fellow actresses after a brunette-dominated 20s — to hit the bottle. Veronica Lake's long blonde hair lit up the 1940s, and Grace Kelly became the archetypal "Hitchcock blonde" (of which later) in the 1950s. Dusty Springfield and Twiggy led the British invasion in the 1950s. 60s, while Debbie Harry rose to fame in the 70s; in the 80s we had Madonna.
The 90s saw a brief era of light-haired boyband singers (Nick Carter of the Backstreet Boys and Justin Timberlake of 'N Sync) adorning the walls of the bedrooms. Then, after Hilton and Nicole Richie's Simple Life of the 2000s, a kind of fallow period, with Cate Blanchett and Gwyneth Paltrow bravely holding the fort. data-spacefinder-role="support" data-spacefinder-type="model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.ImageBlockElement" class="dcr-a2pvoh">
My favorite Paris Hilton quote (yes, I have a favorite Paris Hilton quote) is when, in 2006, she told the Sunday Times, "There's no one in world like me. I think every decade has an iconic blonde, like Marilyn Monroe or Princess Diana. And right now, I'm that icon."
That's an impressive level of sass, and yet she's not wrong. The examples given by Hilton are particularly relevant in 2022; a recent "fictional" Monroe biopic, Blonde, has become one of Netflix's most-watched originals, and Diana is the focus of The Crown's final season (in which Elizabeth Debicki appears in a wig-do). p>
In the 1930s, it was Jean Harlow who inspired moviegoers — and many of her fellow actresses after a brunette-dominated 20s — to hit the bottle. Veronica Lake's long blonde hair lit up the 1940s, and Grace Kelly became the archetypal "Hitchcock blonde" (of which later) in the 1950s. Dusty Springfield and Twiggy led the British invasion in the 1950s. 60s, while Debbie Harry rose to fame in the 70s; in the 80s we had Madonna.
The 90s saw a brief era of light-haired boyband singers (Nick Carter of the Backstreet Boys and Justin Timberlake of 'N Sync) adorning the walls of the bedrooms. Then, after Hilton and Nicole Richie's Simple Life of the 2000s, a kind of fallow period, with Cate Blanchett and Gwyneth Paltrow bravely holding the fort. data-spacefinder-role="support" data-spacefinder-type="model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.ImageBlockElement" class="dcr-a2pvoh">
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