Chelsea Clinton's Hair Transformation Since Leaving The White House

Thanks to social media, today's teenagers can become overnight stars. Just look at Charli D'Amelio's massive TikTok career, which blew up when the then-15-year-old posted dance videos during the pandemic. Or what about YouTube's Emma Chamberlain, whose content racked up tons of views when she was just 16? While young people can now opt into the spotlight through technology, that obviously wasn't an option in the '90s. Still, some young people had fame thrust upon them back then, and Chelsea Clinton's years in the White House are a prime example.

In 1992, 12-year-old Chelsea's dad Bill Clinton successfully ran for president and served two terms leading the United States. Lest we forget, Chelsea's mom, Hillary Clinton, is a famous political figure in her own right, serving as Secretary of State during President Barack Obama's time in the White House and later running for office herself, but ultimately losing to Donald Trump in 2016.

The point of the mini history lesson is this: Because of who her parents are, Chelsea never really knew a childhood away from the limelight. And while Instagram and Reddit didn't yet exist, she was snarked on regardless, thanks to comedians, tabloids, and the like. One popular topic of conversation? Chelsea's curly hair. However, if you see her nowadays, you might never know she had a head full of curls. Let's take a look at Chelsea's major hair transformation after leaving the White House — and what she's had to say about it.

As her dad's presidential campaign really took off, Chelsea Clinton spent plenty of time in the spotlight alongside Bill and Hillary Clinton. In the image above from July 1992, the family is celebrating at the Democratic National Convention. Not only does she have a big smile (braces included), but she's also got big, voluminous curls pushed back with a headband that matches her blue-and-white polka dot dress. It was peak '90s style, which BuzzFeed paid tribute to in 2013 with an article titled, "Chelsea Clinton Was The Most Adorkable First Daughter Ever." She even acknowledged the compliment, tweeting out, "Thank you @BuzzFeed for reminding me of my awkward yrs, inc. my 4th of July worthy shades #TBT," 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." While she wasn't referencing her hair specifically, she agreed with Seth Meyers that, "It was rough in the '90s" after the late-night host brought up how she essentially grew 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 got orange-and-black braces colors for Halloween, only to be stuck with them for weeks after the holiday.

In the 1999 image above, Chelsea Clinton was still rocking her signature curls at an event in Washington, D.C. However, you can tell that her style matured with her age. She's got a shorter cut here and tighter ringlets. In contrast to the previous photo, this is near the end of her father Bill Clinton's two terms in the White House. During that time, her appearance was often up for scrutiny, despite her being a young person and not a politician herself.

As reported in a 1992 Los Angeles Times article, commentary ranged from unkind to straight-up cruel. According to the newspaper, one high schooler described Chelsea as "a true pre-pubescent vision of awkwardness," adding, "Her hair is fuzzy and she has braces." This was apparently intended as praise for her relatability, but how you take it is up for debate. Meanwhile, one critic stated, "America is in shock. Your daughter is uglier than Amy Carter," referencing former President Jimmy Carter's daughter.

Despite the negativity, Chelsea continues to hold her head high. "As a kid, I was targeted by comedians and I didn't think that was funny," she recalled on the talk show "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 that sentiment with how she finds it "outrageous" that fellow former first child, Barron Trump, became a punchline when his dad Donald Trump was president as well. It's a fair point that commentary about kids should be off-limits.

By the early 2000s, Chelsea Clinton's signature style straightened out. As seen in the image above from 2004, the blonde-ish locks lost their curls. There's still volume and what look like layers, but it's different than how she wore her hair during her time in the White House. Years later, she explained the style transformation to Elle — and it doesn't sound entirely intentional. As Clinton told the magazine in 2015 (via Daily Mail), "'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 but ... I miss my curls."

The former first daughter isn't the only one to experience this phenomenon either. In 2009, NPR's Jessica Goldstein interviewed a range of experts, from a geneticist to an endocrinologist to a dermatologist, on the science behind curly-to-straight hair transformations and vice versa. No one could quite pin down the reasoning, but Dr. Val Randall from the University of Bradford in England told NPR, "The hair that you have on your head age 10 is not the hair that you have on your head age 2, and it is not the hair you have on your head age 50." Interesting, huh? As for whether people believed Chelsea's explanation ... well, more on that in a bit.

In July 2010, Chelsea Clinton tied the knot with Marc Mezvinsky in Rhinebeck, New York. For her big day, Chelsea wore her hair smoothed back in an elegant updo underneath a white veil. As seen above, it's a switch-up from her typical White House style of her long hair being down and straightened. 

Of course, her famous politician parents were present at the nuptials. "Today, we watched with great pride and overwhelming emotion as Chelsea and Marc wed in a beautiful ceremony at Astor Courts, surrounded by family and their close friends," Bill and Hillary Clinton shared in a statement at the time (via ABC News). "We could not have asked for a more perfect day to celebrate the beginning of their life together, and we are so happy to welcome Marc into our family."

In the years since her wedding, Chelsea and Mezvinsky have gone on to have three children: Charlotte, Aidan, and Jasper. During her aforementioned Elle interview, the mom even pondered about whether her kids would inherit her looks. She told the mag (via Daily Mail), "I'm curious if Charlotte's going to have curly hair" and figured she'd face similar scrutiny if so. She joked, "I should apologize to her now."

A few years after Chelsea Clinton admitted to missing her curls, an author claimed she was lying about it being a natural transformation. In the book "Chasing Hillary," reporter Amy Chozick wrote (via Racked), "I no longer saw myself in Chelsea. She had grown into her celebrity, with flowing, straight hair and a permanent strawberry glow. Chelsea told Elle magazine ... her curls just naturally subsided, an affront to frizzy-haired women everywhere. 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 by tagging Chozick directly and writing, "Hearing there are more tidbits about me in your book which were easily fact checked and you fact checked...none of them. Here's an easy one: I've never gotten hair keratin treatment." In response, Chozick told Rolling Stone she has "a lot of respect" for Chelsea, and as a kid, "we were the same age, we had the same hair, that I identified with her."

As for Chelsea's statement regarding fact-checking (or the lack thereof), the reporter stood by her statement. "All I can say is that I'm very well-sourced. I checked all of my facts," Chozick said to Rolling Stone. "I also had a fact-checker check all of them and I can't get into a big Twitter war with a celebrity who has 3 million followers." Regardless of how or why Chelsea's hair changed, it looked great curly, but it also looks great now.