Your Perfect Work Ponytail, Courtesy of Kate Middleton Herself

(Image credit: Getty)

published 10 April 2014

Kate Middleton's classy 'do is the ponytail of our dreams—perfect for work, a business lunch, drinks out, or a formal affair. We tapped Halli Bivona from the John Barrett Salon at Bergdorf Goodman (opens in new tab) to help us craft this saught-after royal style.

Step 1: Smooth hair with a blowdryer, round brush, and anti-frizz product (we recommend: Shu Uemura Satin Design)

Step 2: Take a U-shaped section of hair at the top of your head and tease underneath, then smooth with a boar bristle paddle brush.

Step 3: Tilt your back slightly and use the paddle brush to gather the hair into a mid-height ponytail and secure with an elastic.

Step 4: Break the ponytail into 4-5 sections of hair and curl with a 1 1/4 inch curling iron. Make sure to curl each end in the same direction, let each section cool, and comb out.

Step 5: Take a half inch section of hair from the ponytail and wrap it around the elastic at the base of the ponytail. Secure with hair pins.

Step 6: Finish the style using a light hold hair spray.

Hallie has worked in beauty editorial for ten years and has been editorial director at Byrdie since 2021. Previously, she was a senior editor at Byrdie since 2016. During her time at Byrdie, she's written hundreds of high-performing stories on skincare, wellness (including fitness, diet, mental health, body image, et al) makeup, and hair. She's a regular on set, helping to source inspiration for makeup and hair looks, as well as interviewing celebrities, models, and other notable women and men in the beauty space.

Before that, Hallie ran Marie Claire's social media and wrote beauty and culture stories for the site, and helped launch Time Inc.'s digital-only beauty brand, MIMI. After college, she contributed to Time Out New York’s Shopping & Style section before landing her first beauty editor gig at Hearst's Real Beauty. Hallie's writing has also appeared in ELLE, Cosmopolitan, and InStyle. Hallie graduated with a BA in Communication Arts from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.