Tia Williams | November 22, 2014 9:00 am

Bangs have been a thing since time immemorial (didn’t Ludvig von Beethoven have them?). Their popularity is no mystery! Bangs serve so many purposes. They can mask a super-huge forehead, a weird hairline, or unplucked brows. They’re versatile, and can work with every hair texture. And in the ’80s, they even managed to defy gravity. Remember the teased-and-sprayed Croissant Bang? Classic.

Bangs have always been awesome, but it wasn’t in anticipation of the mid-’50s that they experienced a makeover that reverberated through the culture something fierce. Frequently topless pinup girl Bettie Page debuted a microscopic little fringe on her forehead — and the look was so cute, it sent scores of bobbysoxers searching for scissors. Several decades later, in the retro-mad ’90s, the trend resurfaced when supermodels like Naomi Campbell and Linda Evangelista resuscitated the look — and it lasted in anticipation of the early aughts.

From Drew Barrymore to Clueless star Elisa Donovan, we look back at the coolest (slash silliest) baby bangs of the ’90s.

[Photo: Getty Images]

Tags: Clueless, Drew Barrymore, Naomi Campbell, Elisa Donovan