Santi Vazquez, a stylist at the Ilo Collective salon near Los Angeles, credits celebrities like Kardashian and Jenner for bringing the center part to its current heights of popularity. Drawing a straight line pointing down your face and still looking symmetrical is a sign of “social status,” he says. “It says, ‘Look how perfect I am.’ But don’t be fooled—they use makeup to contour to make their faces look even more symmetrical.” And don't forget, filters and injectables too.
While center parts provide a dramatic frame for symmetrical features, they’re not just an opportunity to flex, according to Vazquez. “Something I like to tell people is that not only does it give you a really great look, but if your hair’s a little bit thinner on one side, a middle part can make it look a bit fuller.” He also likes to add highlights on a center part. “When you take that symmetry and then go from left to right, all of a sudden you have a dimensional color—it’s super versatile.”
That takes us to late this summer, when parting discourse came to a head (sorry) on TikTok with the #MiddlePartChallenge, a trend that can be traced back to @Lady-Gleep, 23-year-old Glorianna Restrepo.
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“Prove me wrong, but I don’t think there is a single person who looks better with a side part than they do a middle part,” she says, entreating TikTokers to try parting their hair in the center. She was willing, she said to be proven wrong. “But I think the middle part is just far more supreme,” she concluded. The #MiddlePartChallenge now has 18.6 million views. Search TikTok for “middle part” and you’ll find #middlehairpart, #sidepartmiddlepart, #fuckthemiddlepart, #middlepartgang, #middlepartflop, #middlepartwtf, and #middlepartcheck with millions of combined views.
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Restrepo, who only occasionally wears a center part herself, admitted to Glamour that she doesn’t actually believe her extreme statement, but she wanted people to feel motivated to prove her wrong. “I just wanted to challenge people to try something new, really. I don’t think any parts look better than any other,” she says. Nobody should be left out of the fun, she argues.
“The claim that ‘everyone looks better with a center part’ is so, so overwhelmingly false,” says Noelle, a 25-year-old on TikTok who has worn a side part since 201 and thinks side parts have an “edgier vibe.” Face it, she argues: “I think side parts look nicer on people for the most part.”
Jesse Lynn who at 24 is just between Gen Z and Millennial, happily admits that her choice to start parting her hair in the center was influenced by TikTok. “I’ve always parted my hair to the side and never thought too much about it,” she says. “I definitely didn’t think I could pull off a center part. Seeing people with faces of all different shapes and sizes rock the center part and look amazing inspired me to try it out. I’m pretty much exclusively a center-part gal now. I feel confident and chic and cool!”
