Maisie Williams’ Undone ’90s Updo at Practical Magic 2 Premiere

Maisie Williams brought her character’s late-90s world to the red carpet at the Practical Magic 2 premiere, stepping into Antonia Owens and channeling the exact decade through her styling choices. The Game of Thrones star, who plays the daughter of Sally Owens (originally portrayed by Sandra Bullock in 1998’s Practical Magic), drew direct inspiration from Bullock’s aesthetic of that era—but with a modern, deliberately messy twist.

This wasn’t a throwaway nod to trend-chasing nostalgia. The styling choices carried weight and intention, reflecting how contemporary beauty can honor film history and character lineage while still feeling relevant to a current red carpet moment.

The ’90s Updo: Taking Inspiration From Bullock’s Iconic Era

A Nod to Late-’90s Cinema

Stylist Dino Bonačić centered the entire beauty concept around a specific Sandra Bullock red carpet moment: her 1999 appearance at the Forces of Nature premiere. Bullock wore a rust-colored outfit and reddish eye makeup that night, elements Williams’s team decided to echo through their own modern interpretation. Rather than copying Bullock’s approach exactly, Bonačić and team created something that felt rooted in that period but contemporary—a method dressing approach that referenced 1990s chaos without veering into overtly witchy territory.

Why Bullock’s ’90s Sensibility Mattered

“In terms of styling, I think there’s a lot of conversation around method dressing, but instead of looking super witchy, we wanted to focus on the 1990s as a decade, and Sandra Bullock as this epitome of 1990s chaos,” Bonačić told Allure. The stylist wasn’t just pulling random references—Bullock genuinely defined how that decade looked onscreen, and using her career as a touchstone allowed the team to create something historically grounded while still feeling fresh.

Deconstructing the Updo: Hair That Looks Like It’s Falling Apart

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The Technique: Loose Twists and Purposeful Pins

Hairstylist Jillian Halouska executed the look by gathering Williams’s dark hair at the crown, then twisting and pinning it with what Halouska described as a deliberately loose hand. The goal was to create hair that appeared on the verge of falling apart at any moment—structured enough to read as an intentional updo, yet undone enough to look effortless and chaotic. Strands were left free to escape the pins and move independently, creating the visual that someone had taken a polished style and deconstructed it.

The Philosophy Behind the Styling

“We wanted something that felt quite effortless, messy and more than a nod to a ’90s updo,” Halouska explained. “Something that was structurally interesting, yet felt on the verge of falling out at any moment.” This wasn’t about a sloppy, poorly executed updo. Instead, it required precision to make the hair look like it was barely holding together. Each pin and twist had to be placed so the overall shape remained recognizable as an updo while individual sections fell forward naturally.

Color, Makeup, and Styling Coordination

The rust-colored outfit paired with reddish eye makeup created a cohesive, monochromatic warmth that tied directly back to Bullock’s Forces of Nature look. This wasn’t a coincidence—makeup artist Elaine Lynskey worked alongside Halouska and Bonačić to ensure every element of the beauty moment told the same story. The warm tones grounded the look in that late-’90s sensibility while avoiding anything that felt dated or costume-like.

The specific rust tone wasn’t arbitrary. Bullock’s Forces of Nature moment had established itself as a touchstone for effortless 1990s luxury, and repeating these warm hues created an immediate visual connection to that era. By grounding the palette in historical precedent, the team ensured the look read as a respectful reference rather than costume or theme recreation.

Structural Contrast: Corset Meets Chaos

The true ingenuity of the styling lay in the juxtaposition between the outfit’s structured, corseted waist and the deliberately undone hair. Bonačić articulated this clearly: the corset represented control and tailoring, while the messy updo represented the inverse—as if someone had undone all the structure and let it fall apart. “The juxtaposition of the corset waist and undone hair, it’s as if you undid the corset and tie of the outfit—the reverse of that is undone hair with the ties and corset laces falling out,” Halouska told Allure. This conceptual approach elevated the look beyond simple nostalgia into something intentional and thoughtful.

The Team Behind the Look

The coordination between hairstylist, makeup artist, and stylist proved essential to executing the concept. Bonačić noted that both Halouska and Lynskey instantly read the aesthetic direction needed, pulling exact references without requiring extensive direction. This intuitive understanding allowed the three professionals to work as a unified team rather than bringing separate visions to the moment.

Method Dressing in Practice

The team’s approach embodied what method dressing could look like when executed with real understanding of both character and historical context. Rather than surface-level references or obvious callbacks, every choice served the dual purpose of grounding Williams’s character in the Owens family’s world while also creating a visually compelling red carpet moment.

What’s Next on the Press Tour

As Practical Magic 2’s promotional campaign rolls out, Williams and the styling team have set a precedent for thoughtful, layered beauty choices. Whether future appearances will continue this dialogue with ’90s aesthetics and the original film’s cast remains to be seen, but the Practical Magic 2 premiere proved that celebrity styling can honor source material while maintaining contemporary relevance.