The 5 Biggest Glow-Downs In Celebrity Fashion History – Women

When we talk glow-ups, we often look at celebrities who have transformed from young, awkward teens into red carpet fashionistas. But yin can’t exist without yang, and even celebrities sometimes experience glow-downs. 

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As the name suggests, a glow-down is when someone’s appearance, style, and maybe even their self-esteem diminishes. It’s the exact opposite of a glow-up, where your appearance and confidence goes through the roof. After all, when you look better, you feel better, right? Glow-ups can occur naturally over time, with the help of expert hair and makeup artists, or even because of cosmetic surgery.

Glow-downs, on the other hand, can come with age, impactful life experiences, or even just a general disinterest in remaining the person you once were. After all, life is what we make of it, and the style and fashion you embrace in your youth may not remain so beloved in middle age. While highlighting the celebrities who have had glow-ups would be an easy task (we’re looking at you, Nicole Kidman), we wanted to give ourselves a bit of a challenge. Instead, we’re going to dive into some of the biggest glow-downs in celebrity fashion history.

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If the name Geri Halliwell doesn’t ring a bell, then maybe this name will jog your memory: Ginger Spice. As one-fifth of “The Spice Girls,” Halliwell made a name for herself being loud not just in appearance, but in personality. Although each of the Spice Girls had a persona they performed, Halliwell was the sexiest and cheekiest of the group, known for her tiny dresses and platform boots, as well as her bright red hair that included platinum money pieces framing her face.

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As fun as the Spice Girls were, girls grow into women, and before you know it you’re staring at a photo of Halliwell with little to no recognition of who she once was. On “Today With Hoda & Jenna” in 2023, Halliwell said of her style change, “I don’t know about you, but as you get older, you want to keep it simple. And one thing I’ll say is everything matches. It’s just fast, fast. You look at the men who are always wearing these same things, a uniform,” added Halliwell. “Can’t I do the same? Why not?”

When it comes to the biggest, most surprising glow-down in celebrity fashion history, you don’t need to look further than Lady Gaga. Once known for her shocking, over-the-top, avant garde looks — like the infamous meat dress she wore to the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards — Gaga has completely turned her style around.

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So much so, in fact, that when she attended the 81^st Venice International Film Festival in September 2024, she wore black pleated pants and a simple black T-shirt, with her hair down and super casual. She looked great as always, but considering the event, the outfit choice was a far cry from her earlier looks in the industry.

While Gaga still puts together interesting outfits for certain appearances, the shocking looks that were once practically a daily occurrence for her are long gone. In fact, she’s been so “normal” that some have speculated that it’s a form of performance art. Either way, Gaga seems to have entered her timeless sophistication era and looks very comfy in her skin, and that’s what really matters.

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Pamela Anderson has been praised for going makeup free in public — but that’s just the tip of her glow-down iceberg. In the early 1990s when Anderson was in the series “Baywatch,” she was a lot of everything. She had huge hair, even bigger breasts (she had her implants removed in 1999), wore heavy makeup, and very much looked the part of the 1990s rockstar’s wife — which she was. Anderson was married to Mötley Crüe’s drummer, Tommy Lee, from 1995 to 1998.

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In the August 2024 issue of Harper’s Bazaar, Anderson explained that she wanted to take back power over who she is and how she’s perceived. “I started to feel like I was dressing for other people, whether that was husbands or just for the rest of the world,” said Anderson. “I really felt the trappings of dressing for others, and I had got to an age – or maybe just a moment in my life – where I started looking back at my journey, reflecting on what I was wearing and why.” 

Acknowledging the fact that clothing and makeup play a major role in self-expression, Anderson explained that she wanted to change how she presented herself. “I just had this moment where I thought, ‘What am I doing? I have got to get off this crazy train. Why am I trying to keep up with the Joneses? You know, I’m 57 years old. I’m not 20 anymore.’ I just decided, that’s it,” Anderson told the magazine.

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As the lead singer of “No Doubt,” Gwen Stefani was that cool punk chick everyone wanted to date. Her style perfectly embodied the mainstream punk look of the 1990s, and over the years it evolved in other bold and interesting directions, most notably during her Harajuki Lovers Live era in the mid-2000s. 

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But somewhere along the line, Stefani lost the edge her long-term fans loved. Even now, when she tries to tap into her past fashion looks, she misses the mark by doing far too much or not enough. Puzzlingly, Stefani still won the Fashion Icon Award from E! People Choice Awards in 2019. Granted, it’s not an award from Vogue, but it’s proof that someone out there still sees something in Stefani’s fashion choices. Maybe whoever did the voting is feeling nostalgic for her early days, back when Stefani really knew how to put together a punk rock look. 

Angelina Jolie may seem like an unusual choice on our list of biggest celebrity glow-downs, given that’s she’s still totally fashionable. But if you look back at Jolie in her 20s, you can tell she put a lot of effort into acting and appearing different. Back then, Jolie was showing up to Hollywood events in low-slung black leather pants with a vial of then-husband Billy Bob Thornton’s blood around her neck. Jolie is a much softer version of herself these days, and one that seems to have found peace with just being Angelina Jolie.

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On the other hand, Jolie has arguably experienced a personal glow-up. Seeing her get more comfortable with herself, which you can see all over her face and in how she carries herself, is an extraordinary thing to witness. She’s done living for bad boys and trying to shock those around her with a rebellious persona. Instead, she’s now living life for herself and her family, a total glow-up move.