If you’ve been craving a haircut that softens your features while giving your style a little extra personality, 70s bangs are one of the easiest ways to do it. From wispy curtain fringes to feathered layers that blend seamlessly around the cheekbones, this look works beautifully on medium, long, and even fine hair when the weight is cut correctly.
One thing I always tell clients is that the secret to getting authentic 70s fringe is keeping movement through the ends instead of making the bangs too blunt or heavy. A round brush and lightweight volumizing mousse at the root will give you that airy shape without making your fringe separate by midday.
If you’re ready for a fresh look with a little retro charm, these gorgeous bang ideas are absolutely worth saving for your next salon visit.
#1: Crimson Curtain with Vintage Curls
I am absolutely obsessed with this color. That deep cherry red shifting into a brighter copper at the roots is the kind of deliberate color work that makes people stop you in the grocery store, and the full arched bang sitting right above the brows makes it feel genuinely ’70s instead of just ’70s-adjacent. The curled-under ends are a deliberate throwback and they’re doing so much of the heavy lifting here, so if you want this specific vibe, you’re going to need a 1.25 inch curling iron and about ten minutes of your time.
#2 The Before-and-After Curtain Bang Transformation
I saved this one for last because sometimes you need to see the before and after side by side to really understand what bangs can do for a face, and this is one of the most convincing examples I’ve come across. Same hair, same length, same color, and yet the version with the ’70s curtain bangs and face-framing layers looks like a completely different person who sleeps eight hours a night and drinks enough water. The layers added around the face give her hair movement and shape it didn’t have before, and the bangs make her eyes the focal point in a way that the flat, one-length style on the left simply couldn’t. If you’ve been on the fence, consider this your sign.
#3: Warm Auburn Bob with Curly Bangs
A chin-length bob with naturally curly bangs is one of those haircuts that people are either completely terrified of or completely in love with, and there’s really no in between. The curls here keep the bang from sitting flat, which gives it that lifted, bouncy feel that straight-haired people spend twenty minutes trying to create with a round brush. The warm auburn color is a gorgeous complement to the texture, and honestly this whole look just makes me want to go shorter, which is a dangerous impulse I’m choosing to sit with for now.
#4: Sun-Kissed Dirty Blonde with Barely-There Bangs
The bangs here are so wispy and thin that they almost function more as face-framing pieces than a traditional fringe, but that barely-there quality is exactly what makes them feel so ’70s. The blonde has that grown-out balayage look with darker roots that nobody bothers to touch up because it looks better this way, and the whole style screams California in the most unpretentious way possible. Zero maintenance, maximum payoff, which is basically the holy grail of hair.
#5: Copper Penny Waves with Lived-In Fringe
That copper catching the light is doing things to me that I cannot explain rationally. The bangs here are in that magical phase where they’ve grown just past fresh-cut territory into something softer and more natural, and the overall texture of the waves tells me this person probably scrunched in some product and let their hair do its thing, which is exactly the right energy for this cut. Natural redheads and copper-dyed girls alike should be studying this one closely.
#6: Dark Curtain Bangs with Soft Waves
Sometimes the simplest version of a trend is the one that sticks around the longest, and soft curtain bangs on long dark waves are probably going to outlive every other style on this list because they’re just that universally flattering. This is the kind of cut that grows out gracefully, doesn’t require a specific styling routine, and somehow manages to look both put-together and laid-back at the same time. If you’re nervous about committing to bangs, this is where you start.
#7: Jet Black Flip with Straight-Across Bangs
Straight-across bangs on thick, jet black hair with flipped-out ends is such a specific and gorgeous look, and it’s one that doesn’t get nearly enough love because everyone’s busy chasing curtain bangs instead. The flip at the ends was clearly done with a flat iron turned outward, which takes all of two minutes once you know the technique. If you’ve got thick straight hair and you’ve been thinking about bangs, just do it and skip the curtain version entirely because your hair will hold a full fringe like this without any drama.
#8: Brunette Shaggy Bob with Wispy Layers
The shoulder-length shag with bangs is basically the universal haircut at this point, it works on almost everyone and almost every hair texture, and this version proves exactly why. The layers are soft and blended rather than super choppy, which gives it a more relaxed feel compared to some of the more aggressive shags on this list. If you want something that reads vintage without screaming it, this is your answer.
#9: Jet Black Butterfly with Heavy Fringe
This is a proper butterfly cut with those dramatically shorter layers at the crown and the longer length below, and the heavy bang across the forehead ties the whole thing together in a way that’s giving me serious ’70s soap opera star vibes. Jet black hair has this incredible way of showing off layered shapes because every cut line is visible, and the swoopy flipped layers here would look incredible pinned half-up too if you wanted to change things up without any real effort.
#10: Textured Honey Bob with Choppy Bangs
Short and shaggy with a choppy bang that looks like it was possibly cut with kitchen scissors in the best possible way. The texture here is messy on purpose, with pieced-out ends and that slightly unfinished feel that makes the whole thing look cool instead of careless. On a bob this short, bangs like these basically become the entire personality of the haircut, and they’re carrying that responsibility beautifully.
#11: Bleach Blonde Bob with Wispy Straight Fringe
A chin-length bob with wispy bangs in platinum blonde is such a committed look and I love when someone just goes for it completely. The fringe is thin and piecey, almost transparent in places, which is exactly what you want on bleached hair because a thick blunt bang at this level of lightness can look helmet-like very quickly. The slight texture through the bob keeps it from reading too severe, and the overall vibe is very much “1970s rock girlfriend who definitely has a story to tell.”
#12: Feathered Shaggy Fringe on Light Brown
The layering here is aggressive in the best way, with those shorter pieces around the face creating a frame that gradually lengthens into the longer waves below. The bang is feathered and slightly grown out, which is actually when a lot of ’70s bangs start looking their best because they lose that freshly-cut precision and start developing personality. If you’re currently in the “growing out my bangs” phase and hating it, get some layers cut into your existing length to blend everything and you’ll end up somewhere close to this.
#13: Tousled Curtain Bangs on Chocolate Waves
I keep coming back to how good a center-parted curtain bang looks when it’s been styled to flip away from the face with just the tiniest bit of effort. This one has that windblown quality where the bangs and the layers sort of merge together into one cohesive tousled situation, and the chocolate brown color keeps everything feeling rich without being too dark or one-dimensional. This is the kind of haircut that makes people think you’re effortlessly cool when really you just found the right stylist.
#14: Swept-Away Curtain Fringe on Dark Layers
This is the version of ’70s bangs that people can actually maintain without having a meltdown every six weeks, because the way these curtain pieces sweep off the face means the growout phase basically just becomes the next phase of the style. The long layers with those flipped ends give it all the retro movement without requiring a round brush blowout every single morning, which is honestly what separates a look you’ll love from a look you’ll resent by week three.
#15: Curly Shag with Wispy Brow-Length Bangs
Curly shags are genuinely one of the easiest cuts to maintain because the texture does ninety percent of the styling work for you, and adding a wispy bang on top just completes the whole picture. This particular cut sits at that sweet spot between “I woke up like this” and “I definitely meant to look this good,” which is the exact territory where ’70s hair lives. Let it air dry, scrunch it with a little curl cream, and go live your life.
#16: Polished Brunette Fringe with Bouncy Layers
This is giving me very specific early Selena Quintanilla energy which is never a bad place to be. The bangs are cut in a soft arc across the forehead, full but not heavy, and the layers have that bounce you only get from either hot rollers or a very patient round brush session. On thick hair like this, the volume basically creates itself once you have the right layering, and the warm chocolate brown tone is one of those colors that looks incredible in every lighting condition, which is honestly rare and underappreciated.
#17: Sandy Blonde Lob with Curtain Wisps
A lot of people with finer hair assume they can’t do bangs without losing what little volume they have, and this photo is proof that’s just not true when you keep things wispy and light. The curtain pieces here are so delicate they almost disappear into the rest of the hair, which creates this really pretty framing effect around the face without actually sacrificing any density from the overall style. The balayage from a darker root to sandy blonde also helps because the dimension near the face makes thin bangs look like they have more substance than they do.
#18: Romantic Waves with Peek-a-Boo Fringe
The choker, the waves, the way those bangs sit just above her lashes with that tiny split in the middle, this entire look belongs in a ’70s French film and I’m completely here for it. What I love is that the fringe isn’t trying to be perfectly symmetrical, it has a slight unevenness that makes it feel like real hair on a real person instead of a blowout bar Instagram ad. If you have the kind of hair that holds a wave without fighting you, this is more or less a wash-and-go situation with a little texturizing spray for insurance.
#19: Emerald Shag with Choppy Fringe
A forest green shag with choppy ’70s bangs is not a choice for the faint of heart and I respect that deeply. The bang is cut with a visible choppiness that keeps it from looking too polished, which matches the overall untamed energy of the shag layers underneath. Fantasy colors like this fade fast, so if you’re going green, commit to the upkeep or accept that it’s going to evolve into something more teal-adjacent within a few weeks, which honestly can be equally cool.
#20: Soft Wispy Fringe on Natural Brunette
Sometimes you don’t need a dramatic transformation, you just need wispy bangs that barely graze your eyebrows and suddenly your whole face wakes up. This is the most approachable version of ’70s bangs on this entire list, the kind where you could walk into a salon and walk out thirty minutes later looking like a different person without actually having done anything drastic. The rest of the hair is essentially untouched, just long and healthy with a slight bend at the ends, which lets the bangs do all the talking.
#21: The Fleetwood Blowout
Wearing a Fleetwood Mac shirt while getting ’70s bangs, I mean, she understood the assignment and then some. But the cut itself deserves all the attention because this is a properly layered, properly blown-out, full bang situation with volume that starts at the crown and doesn’t quit until those flipped-out ends. This is what happens when thick hair meets a skilled layering job and a round brush in the right hands, and it’s honestly one of my favorite looks in this entire roundup.
#22: Deep Burgundy Curtain Layers
This deep burgundy is one of those colors that reads as “natural but cooler” in certain lighting and then absolutely screams red in direct sun, which I think is the whole appeal. The bangs here are more curtain than full, splitting down the center and feathering back into the face-framing layers so you barely know where the bang ends and the layers begin. Low commitment but high payoff, and the color maintenance on a dark red like this is actually way more manageable than people assume as long as you’re using a color depositing shampoo between appointments.
#23: Curly Curtain Bangs on Brunette Waves
The bangs on this cut are doing that perfect thing where they’re full through the center but break apart slightly at the temples, which gives them a softness that a blunt straight-across bang never could. On naturally wavy or curly hair like this, the key is having your stylist cut the bangs dry, because wet-cutting curly bangs is basically a game of Russian roulette with your forehead.
#24: Wavy Dark Shag with Glasses
If you wear glasses and you’ve been scared of bangs, look at this and then look at it again. The fringe here is short enough to clear the frames but thick enough to actually commit to the look, and the way the shaggy layers fan out below the chin gives it this wonderful volume that keeps the whole thing from feeling heavy on top. People with wavy to curly natural texture who keep asking me “but will bangs work with my hair” need to save this photo to their phone immediately.
#25: Copper Shag with Full Fringe
Shoulder-length shags with a full, slightly choppy bang are one of those cuts that look better lived in, which is excellent news if you’re the kind of person who washes their hair on a “when I feel like it” schedule. The warm copper tone here has that natural, not-trying-too-hard quality to it, and the wavy texture at the ends tells me this hair was either air dried or had about ninety seconds of diffusing and nothing more. That’s the dream.
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