Chopped Roundup: Cutting Fall 2024’s Trendiest Bobs with the Sam Villa Team – Cut

The bob, a cut usually falling between chin and shoulder length with a definitive line from ear to ear, has probably been reinvented more than any other haircut in history. People LOVE a bob!

“Bobs are great because they look good on everyone! They work with any hair texture, are easy to maintain, and can be styled dramatically chic or naturally nonchalant,” says Sam Villa, Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer of Sam Villa and Global Artistic Ambassador for Redken. “The bobs of today are not your beauty school bobs, they’re highly technical, vary more in length and have intricate layering to afford more styling options,” he adds.

Here are three star bobs from Instagram for fall 2024:

Blunt Bob

Anna Peters, Sam Villa ArTeam Member and owner of re:TREAT Color + Hair Design and Studio @annas_hair_retreat, recently did a beautiful blunt bob. “This look is great for clients who have fine to medium density hair, the blunt line can help make hair feel thicker. It’s also suitable for straight to slightly wavy hair as it looks great air dried with very little effort,” she adds.

Clean lines and a straight perimeter make this a chic option; the interior movement is a little hidden secret to keep it sassy. “I love the Sam Villa Signature Series Swivel Shear 5.5” for this cut because the swivel thumb really allows you to get in tight to the nape, keep shears horizontal and cut a straight line with-out putting your wrist in an uncomfortable position,” explains Peters.

How to Cut a Blunt Bob

1. Start with a center part, use a mirror to balance sides and cut a guide to desired length on either side of head. Continue taking horizontal sections up the head cutting with zero elevation to the guide.
2. With the swivel shear at the nape, create a horizontal line joining each corner from the front guide to the nape. Work up the head with zero elevation cutting to the guide.
3. Once at the occipital bone, gather hair in a horizontal section, elevate up until bottom hair drops out and point cut to remove weight and create movement about 1-2” down with the Sam Villa Signature Series 14 Tooth Point Cutting Shear.
4. Continue taking horizontal sections up the head and cut to the bottom guide with zero elevation.
5. Style with a blow dryer, 9 row styling brush and medium thermal round brush. For added polish, finish with a Sam Villa Signature Series SLEEKR Professional Flat Iron.

 French Bob

Teresa Romero, Creative Director for Sam Villa and Artistic/Education Director for Jose Luis Salon @_teresa_romero, has been doing a lot of French Bobs. “I like using the Sam Villa Classic Series Shear 5.5” for a bob. The convex blades slide smoothly through wet or dry hair with minimal input while providing exceptional control,” explains Romero.

The French Bob combines the classic shape of the 1920s bob with a 2024 trending curved fringe. This style opens up the face, accentuates the cheekbones, and features a double curved neckline for added natural drama.

How to Cut a French Bob

1. Separate the top from the sides and back. In the back, create a horizontal section just below the occipital bone and just below the crown.
2. Start at the nape. Elevate all of the hair to a 90-degree angle. The top of the section should remain 1.5 to 2” long. Release the section to have a horizontal weight line left at the top of the section.
3. Comb hair onto the skin and cut the neckline into a double curved shape with a point in the middle of the neck.
4. With ½” subsections through the center back section, comb hair down to the weight line, slightly elevate, and cut. Repeat each section in the center back the same way.
5. With little elevation, remove unwanted length with a Sam Villa Signature Series Razor. The razor creates a softer edge, allowing the crown to float on top of the precision foundation.
6. Allow hair to fall into a natural fall and blend the length to the back without any elevation. Working from the dedicated part line on top, blend to the sides without elevation.
7. Create a 2” section on top for the fringe. While hair is mostly dry, cut the fringe slightly shorter in the corners and longer in the middle with no elevation.

Soft Shell Bob

Villa has been teaching the soft shell bob at shows and in classes in preparation for fall.

The head is divided into 2 parts that are the same length, but the bottom section is a solid line, and the top section is a disruptive line. Depending on how the top layer is styled, the disrupted ends can change the shape of the bob, so there are many exciting styling options.

How to Cut a Soft Shell Bob

1. Section slightly below the round of the head where the top becomes the side.
2. Below this section line, cut a one-length bob, allowing the ends to remain solid.
3. Drop the top section down. Section a small triangle section out in the front and vertical sections at the bevels of the head behind the ear and center back.
4. Using the Sam Villa Signature Series Swivel Shear 5.5”, elevate half of the front triangle to the same side of the head it lives on to a 45 degree angle.
5. Let the solid bob line drop out, then place shear in horizontally. Guide the shear from horizontal to vertical by moving the wrist in a curved fashion and gently remove hair by slightly closing the shear in a tapping movement, think tap, tap, tap. Don’t close the shear entirely. Repeat this step moving around the head. This top layer is meant to float over the solid bob shape with disrupted, textured, airy ends. This is the area that offers the styling versatility.

Looking to build wider fuller bobs on fine or flat hair? Jamie McDaniel, Sam Villa Ambassador @jamiemcdhair advises using horizontal finger angles.