A couple of nights ago, Jennifer Aniston came out for a very special appearance at the InStyle Awards. Jennifer wasn’t receiving an award for anything – she was actually presenting an award to her longtime BFF and longtime hairstylist Chris McMillan. When I first read the headlines, I was like “oh God, she’s talking about her hair AGAIN,” but the actual text of her speech about McMillan was pretty good. He received the Hairstylist of the Year Award – because apparently it’s 1995?? – for what amounts to “lifetime achievement.” He also does a lot of charity work, which is really cool. Jennifer was given the honor of presenting the award to him because they truly are best friends, and Chris is probably her longest (and most substantive?) relationship with a man. Some highlights from her speech:
On ‘The Rachel’ haircut: “I got that haircut and was like, ‘Wow this is amazing,’ and then I was totally left with this frizzy mop on my head, because I had no idea how to do what he did. Nobody seems to know how to do what Chris does. And I figured out that’s called creating job security.”
Ooh, a Friends reference: “Aside from all of the amazing work that we’ve done, the jobs, the trends, the hair styles that we’ve created, the things that always meant the most to me is how much you’ve always been there for me and I’ve been there for you. We literally saved each other lives and hearts many, many, many times, and I mean that literally and figuratively.”
Chris is a good guy: “I sometimes wonder if Chris is more of an undercover healer than a hairdresser. He just makes everyone feel better as much as look better,” she said before revealing he donates haircuts to teachers and cuts wigs for cancer patients. “The beautiful thing, and this really says it all, is that he makes everyone feel as important as the next person, no matter who you are.”
It was nice. It may sound stupid now, but The Rachel haircut really was iconic and “of its time,” aka the ‘90s. What bugs me is that Chris hasn’t been able to move Jennifer out of her preferred late-’90s look for the past two decades. She’s still obsessed with the hairstyle that nearly every celebrity woman had in 1999: flat-ironed, center-part, below-the-shoulders loose. Chris would be more deserving of the award if he could get his star client out of this hair rut. Please, Chris, convince her to do a side part!! Steal her flat-iron and never give it back!
Photos courtesy of Getty.
The title of this article made me laugh out loud. That’s the truth right there. That said it would certainly be a deserved award for staying power alone. He created a hell of a lasting style!
Jennifer is not daring, sure, but she’s stayed front and center even with only mediocre acting gigs for the most part for more than two decades. She knows what works PR wise. I may not admire her acting, but I reluctantly admire her game!
Before “The Rachel”, it was just called “The Shag”, and I had one as a kid in the late 70s lol. Only difference, was Jen’s was more “pouffy” on top, and in the 70s it was flatter (ie: think Jane Fonda in Klute).
That said, “The Rachel” was/is? a universal cut that pretty much worked on most women. I got it again in the 90s, and it was pretty flattering. (And Jen, it was NOT hard to achieve, even with my thick, wavy, hair :-P).
Maybe you’re lucky but women who had ‘the Rachel’ back in the day complained about it being super high maintenance at jezebel the other day?
I had it (actually got it about 3 months before “Friends” debuted, but as I bore a passing resemblance to JA at that point in time, most people thought I’d gotten it because of the show, which was annoying!) and while it didn’t look great unless you blew it dry, I don’t consider it significantly more high-maintenance than most styles. My hair is not and will never be “wash and wear” if I want it to look good (or my idea of good!) so I consider blow-drying a minimum time investment for a hairstyle.
Also, I think the skill of the stylist mattered with “The Rachel” since it was a layered cut; if you had lots of choppy, demarcated layers, it probably required more attention and time than if you had a stylist who blended the layers more skillfully.
Yes she needs a new style! The Rachel was glorious in the day but it’s time to move away from the center part and flat iron.
A center part does her no favors, just like SJP.
A center part RARELY does…ANYONE ANY FAVORS…unless it’s on pouffy hair…if it’s on flat hair…HECKY NAW!!!!!
I have poofy hair and I did the center part in the 90s, and I *cringe* at the photos. I’m all about the dramatic side part these days, business on the left, poofy awesomeness on the right.
I actually like that she stays with what she feels good in. I haven’t changed my part or style for over ten years, aside from coloring the grays here and there.
Me too. It makes her easily recognizable, and I for one don’t mind that it’s an _old_ haircut. It looks good on her. Haven’t changed mine either since I found out what really works for me and best frames my funny face, so I get it.
My mother had the “Rachel” back in 1985. There is nothing original about that haircut.
Right?! And this is her accomplishment?! The
Mediocrity of this woman!!😂😂🤣
Meh, at least she’s not mediocre enough to think the word mediocrity should be capitalized randomly in the middle of a sentence.
I’m rewatching Friends w my kiddos and JA really did have some great haircuts. She had a great bob! Great bangs! And a great side part when she had ‘Emma’! Oh yeah, this show is on all the time at our house now lol
JA does this weird disparaging – but means it – thing where she complains about the haircut. It’s just hair girl. It torpedoed u and ur hairdresser into super stardom. Count yo blessings and lighten up!
She likes to eat chicken salad every day, she likes her Cabo vocations, she likes her hair done the same way until the dawn of time. Who cares. She’s fine.
Well … you look at her pix and yes, she is in a style rut. So, Chris hasn’t worked his magic there since the 90s!
I like Jen’s hair. I do think she needs to work more on keeping it out of her face.
I have hair just like Jen’s, and if you want it to look “smooth” which I always do, it needs to be straightened. Although I use an Instyler so the ends aren’t stick straight. If I didn’t, it would be a frizzy mess. It’s wavy but not curly, thick, and there just aren’t many options. Shorter looks like a mushroom, not smoothed our with heat looks unkept and frizzy. She knows what works for her. I agree about the middle part though.