Chelsea Clinton’s Hair Evolution Since Leaving the White House

Thanks to social media, today’s teenagers can become overnight stars. Charli D’Amelio’s TikTok career exploded when she posted dance videos during the pandemic, and Emma Chamberlain found massive YouTube success as a 16-year-old. Meanwhile, in the ’90s, some young people had fame thrust upon them. Chelsea Clinton’s White House years are a prime example.

In 1992, 12-year-old Chelsea’s father, Bill Clinton, successfully ran for president and served two terms. Chelsea’s mother, Hillary Clinton, also rose to prominence as a political figure, serving as Secretary of State during President Barack Obama’s tenure and later running for office. Because of her parents, Chelsea never experienced a childhood away from the limelight. Even in the pre-social media era, she faced scrutiny, with one popular topic being her curly hair. If you see her nowadays, you might never know she once had a head full of curls. Let’s look at Chelsea’s major hair transformation after leaving the White House.

As her dad’s presidential campaign took off, Chelsea Clinton spent a lot of time in the spotlight with Bill and Hillary Clinton. In a photo from the July 1992 Democratic National Convention, she sported big, voluminous curls pushed back with a headband, matching her blue-and-white polka dot dress. BuzzFeed even called her the “Most Adorkable First Daughter Ever” in 2013. Chelsea acknowledged the compliment, tweeting, “Thank you @BuzzFeed for reminding me of my awkward yrs,” along with a pic of her in red, white, and blue sunglasses.

Happy 4th of July! Thank you @BuzzFeed for reminding me of my awkward yrs, inc. my 4th of July worthy shades #TBT pic.twitter.com/X175JgkP8U

— Chelsea Clinton (@ChelseaClinton) July 4, 2013

In 2016, Chelsea discussed her ’90s looks being captured for all the world to see during an interview on “Late Night with Seth Meyers.” Though not directly mentioning her hair, she agreed with Seth Meyers that, “It was rough in the ’90s” after the host brought up her growing up under a microscope. “Not only are my ’90s fashion expressions, misguided foibles, recorded for eternity, so too are my braces colors,” Chelsea said, referencing a time she chose orange-and-black braces colors for Halloween, which remained for weeks after the holiday.

In the 1999 image, Chelsea Clinton was still rocking her signature curls at an event in Washington, D.C. Her style matured with her age. She’s sporting a shorter cut and tighter ringlets, contrasting with her look from early in her father’s presidency. Despite being a young person, her appearance was often under scrutiny.

Reported in a 1992 Los Angeles Times article, commentary ranged from unkind to cruel. One high school student described Chelsea as “a true pre-pubescent vision of awkwardness,” adding, “Her hair is fuzzy and she has braces.” This was supposedly meant as praise for her relatability, but it was debatable. One critic even said, “America is in shock. Your daughter is uglier than Amy Carter,” referring to former President Jimmy Carter’s daughter.

Despite the negativity, Chelsea held her head high. “As a kid, I was targeted by comedians and I didn’t think that was funny,” she recalled on “Sherri” in April 2023. “Thankfully, I didn’t take it personally, because I just thought it was so weird that adults were making fun of a kid.” She connected this sentiment to her outrage at seeing Barron Trump become a punchline during Donald Trump’s presidency. It’s fair to say that commentary about kids should be off-limits.

By the early 2000s, Chelsea Clinton’s signature style straightened out. In the 2004 image, her blonde locks lost their curls but retained volume and some layers. Years later, she explained the transformation to Elle, joking, “‘My curls, in my early twenties, just fell into waves. I don’t know if they got tired of me, but the curls slowly subsided, and so now it’s naturally a little bit wavy.”

In 2009, NPR’s Jessica Goldstein interviewed experts on the science behind curly-to-straight hair transformations. No one could pin down the exact reason, but Dr. Val Randall from the University of Bradford in England said, “The hair that you have on your head at age 10 is not the hair that you have on your head at age 2, and it is not the hair you have on your head at age 50.”

In July 2010, Chelsea Clinton married Marc Mezvinsky in Rhinebeck, New York. She wore her hair smoothed back in an elegant updo underneath a white veil. Her famous politician parents were present at the nuptials, expressing their pride and joy in a statement.

Since her wedding, Chelsea and Mezvinsky have had three children: Charlotte, Aidan, and Jasper. During her Elle interview, the mom even pondered about whether her kids would inherit her looks, joking, “I’m curious if Charlotte’s going to have curly hair” and figured she’d face similar scrutiny if so, adding, “I should apologize to her now.”

A few years after Chelsea Clinton admitted to missing her curls, an author claimed she was lying about her hair’s natural transformation. In “Chasing Hillary,” reporter Amy Chozick wrote, “Chelsea told Elle magazine … her curls just naturally subsided. I also happen to know her New York hairdresser — and a keratin job when I saw it.”

Not taking that accusation lightly, Chelsea responded via X, formerly known as Twitter, tagging Chozick directly and writing, “I’ve never gotten hair keratin treatment.” In response, Chozick told Rolling Stone that she respects Chelsea but stands by her statement, saying, “I’m very well-sourced. I checked all of my facts.”

Regardless of how or why Chelsea’s hair changed, it looked great curly, and it looks great now.