Martha Stewart Hairstyles That Completely Missed The Mark

Martha Stewart is an icon in the world of hearth and home. As of 2024, she's written 100 books teaching us how to bake cookies, grow and arrange flowers, plan weddings, and renovate and decorate a house. Under her brand name, we've bought pots and pans, sheets, towels, plates, whisks, desks, beds, sunglasses, and so much more. In addition to her entrepreneurial endeavors, domestic tips and tricks, and home-filling products, she's got personality and style in equal amounts, all of which have celebrities like Meghan Markle dying to become the new Martha Stewart.

But the original is hard to duplicate — unless it comes to a few unfortunate tress situations. While Stewart generally puts forward a put-together vibe (and sometimes gifts fans with thirst traps on her Instagram page that go above and beyond), she's far from the always on-point star she would prefer you admire. "I really feel that if you're going to be a teacher, you should try to do whatever you're doing as perfectly as possible," she shared on the "Remarkable People" podcast. "You can't make a recipe that's half good or will only work up to a point. It has to be perfect."

The recipe for some of Stewart's hairstyles, however, need a little more work. From outdated to messy, from product missteps to style blunders, the woman who values not making mistakes has shown she's not always picture perfect when it comes to her mane moves. 

In 1976, Martha Stewart was just beginning her career as the hostess with the mostess, dabbling in her own catering company with visions of homefront domination dancing in her head. Aged 35, she was wearing her tresses in her original brunette hue, and in the fashion that actor Farrah Fawcett made ever-so popular in the '70s — the feathered haircut. 

With a lot of layers snipped in around the front, tresses were blow-dried back away from the face in big, swooping motions that resembled wings, or feathers. The rest of her locks were fluffed, barely hitting her shoulders in a practical length that never interfered with her apron strings. In fact, although Stewart has gone through a stunning transformation over the years, the general bob shape has stuck with the cookbook author, in one version or another.

It's easy to see Stewart was on-trend with her wispy, feathered hair, but the style never really suited her, creating an unmoving silhouette that clashed with the angles of her face (though the look was supposed to be soft like feathers, it took an enormous amount of hairspray to hold it in place). The center part, also popular in the day, did her no favors either, creating a straight line with her long nose, dividing her face in half. As for that brunette shade, the groovy decade was the last to see her totally dark, and that's a good thing. Stewart's skintone was screeching out for a brighter color with more flash. 

Remember when actor Jennifer Aniston's hairstyle made a huge splash on the television series "Friends," inspiring a slew of copycat cuts the world fondly dubbed "The Rachel," after her TV character's name? We can hardly blame Martha Stewart for jumping on the trend. What we can blame her for is adopting it over a decade too late. The snip made its debut in 1995, and the baking expert wore it in September 2012.

Though Stewart reportedly spends thousands on her beauty routine, it wasn't enough to give her an updated look at the 2nd Annual Fashion for Development First Ladies luncheon at The Pierre Hotel in New York City. Her mane, a little longer than usual and falling just below the shoulders, was filled with layers. Around the sides and back, those varying lengths formed sharp spikes and pointed flips reminiscent of The Rachel. 

Normally, the star keeps the texture toward the front, softly framing her face. She also regularly tucks one side behind her ear, but without that tweak, her sideswept locks just lead the eye right to those scrub-brush spikes. Worse even than wearing a 17-year-old mane trends? Wearing it badly.

Makeup on point. Blouse scarf tied in a perfect bow. Hair freshly colored. But that's where Martha Stewart's red-carpet perfection ends. At the DailyMail.com and DailyMailTV Holiday Party at The Gramercy Park Hotel in New York City in December 2018, the woman who became the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition's oldest cover model in 2023 (looking so hot she had to blast plastic surgery rumors) was less than photo-ready thanks to a head of messy strands.

Stewart's above-the-shoulder bob cut is snipped in a multitude of layers that offer volume and texture when it's styled just right. But if there's a misstep in the product used, the result can look more disheveled than piecey and stylish. At this event, it appears as if it's a case of too much and not enough at the same time — too much pomade or wax, and too little hairspray.

Applying too much styling product to individual layers causes them to stay separate from each other, and to wander off on their own (hence, having to peer through fallen strands arguing with her eyelashes). Not enough hairspray and you can wind up with flyaways. Even her trademark hair tuck behind one ear isn't enough to tame wayward locks. Stewart's hair needs a little less tousle, and a lot more cohesiveness to present a polished finish. 

When Martha Stewart hosted a dining event for the Food Network New York City Wine & Food Festival in October 2024, you would think the night featured guests paying homage to bygone movie icons, based on the domestic goddess's costumed look. Dressed in black with dark sunglasses, hair pulled into an upsweep adorned with a sparkling jewel, we're sure the star was trying to channel actor Audrey Hepburn in the film "Breakfast at Tiffany's."

Stewart's mane look consisted of swept-back hair teased and pinned into a beehive silhouette. A face-framing strand or two was left to toy with the edge of her sunglasses, while a jeweled pin was positioned just at the base of the hive on top of her crown. The inspiration may have been Holly Golightly, but the final result was more Ivana Trump via the '80s. 

Known more for her soft bobs worn down to her shoulders, it was a surprise to see the creator of "Martha Stewart Living" magazine with her ears fully revealed. While nicely executed, the hairstyle just didn't suit Martha's vibe, and looked out of place alongside all the chic folks attending the event who didn't dress as someone else. 

Static can get the best of anyone, but when you're Martha Stewart, and have access to professional hairdressers and as many products as you can fit on the ledge of your bathroom sink, there's no reason to live with it — or make anyone else want to lick their hands and smash them down over your hair. 

In December 2018, the Emmy-nominated star attended the 32nd Annual Footwear News Achievement Awards at IAC Headquarters in New York City. In the middle of winter, with Stewart dressed in a sweater on the red carpet, we can only assume she also donned a hat on her way to the event. When she took it off, the TV host was left with a bit of a tress mess, and instead of taking an extra minute to fix it, she appears to have just gone with the flyaway look.

As a one-time handbag and totebag designer, we know Stewart has a collection of stylish receptacles at her disposal, big enough to tuck in a hair product or two. And, really, a jar of pomade or a mini-hairspray wouldn't have take up that much room. At the very least, Stewart, with all her domestic knowledge, surely knows a dryer sheet can be folded to fit in a pocket, and only takes a second to rub over staticky strands.