Kate Beckinsale Turns Heads In Her New Blonde Bob

And shows us that when it comes to styling short hair, the possibilities are endless.

Kate Beckinsale
(Image credit: Gregg DeGuire/Variety via Getty Images)

As we prepare to close out 2023 and transition into a new year, many of us find ourselves thinking about how we’ve grown and what changes we’d like to make. Some of these changes impact our routines or our professional goals, while others have to do with our relationships to ourselves or others, but one transformation is the most obvious of them all: a daring new haircut or color that looks nothing like what we wore before. And that’s precisely what Kate Beckinsale just debuted at the Roger Vivier Holiday Dinner in Los Angeles on December 6. 

Just days before, Beckinsale wore her signature long, brown hair in a bun at Elle’s Women in Hollywood Celebration, so it was a shock to find her with a blonde bob by the end of the week. The look was styled by celebrity hairstylist Dimitris Giannetos along with Steeve Foussard of Opus Beauty, and was worn in bouncy, beachy waves and styled with a side part. The bright red lipstick Beckinsale wore, which matched her monochromatic red ensemble, made her look all the more eye-catching.

Kate Beckinsale

(Image credit: Gregg DeGuire/Variety via Getty Images)

The following day, we got yet another view of Beckinsale’s new bob—this time styled by Scott King. She wore it in a middle part with her chestnut brown roots peeking through. Her waves were also far more subdued this time, which corresponded with her nude lip, natural makeup, and pearly white dress from Self Portrait.

In just two days, Beckinsale has flipped the world’s expectations of her (or her appearance, at least) upside down à la Rita Hayworth in 1948, and she’s proven that even short, blunt haircuts can be styled in myriad ways. Here’s to end-of-the-year hair transformations, and to keeping an eye out for what else Beckinsale has in store.

Kate Beckinsale

(Image credit: Amy Sussman/Getty Images)
Gabrielle Ulubay
Beauty Writer

Gabrielle Ulubay is a Beauty Writer at Marie Claire. She has also written about sexual wellness, politics, culture, and fashion at Marie Claire and at publications including The New York Times, HuffPost Personal, Bustle, Alma, Muskrat Magazine, O'Bheal, and elsewhere. Her personal essay in The New York Times' Modern Love column kickstarted her professional writing career in 2018, and that piece has since been printed in the 2019 revised edition of the Modern Love book. Having studied history, international relations, and film, she has made films on politics and gender equity in addition to writing about cinema for Film Ireland, University College Cork, and on her personal blog, gabrielleulubay.medium.com. Before working with Marie Claire, Gabrielle worked in local government, higher education, and sales, and has resided in four countries and counting. She has worked extensively in the e-commerce and sales spaces since 2020, and spent two years at Drizly, where she developed an expertise in finding the best, highest quality goods and experiences money can buy.

Deeply political, she believes that skincare, haircare, and sexual wellness are central tenets to one's overall health and fights for them to be taken seriously, especially for people of color. She also loves studying makeup as a means of artistic expression, drawing on her experience as an artist in her analysis of beauty trends. She's based in New York City, where she can be found watching movies or running her art business when she isn't writing. Find her on Twitter at @GabrielleUlubay or on Instagram at @gabrielle.ulubay, or follow her art at @suburban.graffiti.art