One of the most versatile fashion chameleons in Hollywood, this Batwoman star experimented
with both androgynous and more traditionally feminine looks as she made her climb up the
ladder to fame. Let's dive into Ruby Rose's changing looks.
"Personally I love it because you get to feel empowered by putting makeup on and working
out what you're gonna wear and it's part of your whole entire being."
In 2008, Rose hadn't yet made her transition into acting and was still a fresh-faced MTV
Australia VJ when she arrived at the 30th Anniversary Golden Stave Rock 'n Roll Musical
Extravaganza charity lunch on June 27th in Sydney, Australia.
She looked every bit the ingenue wearing her pin-straight hair mid-length and styled with
blunt, full-frontal bangs sweeping over her eyebrows.
Rose earned her MTV Australia VJ gig by participating in "a series of challenges," with her most
notable task being an on-air power-drinking stunt. According to News Australia, Rose quipped,
"Drinking 100 shots of beer in 100 minutes, and then vomiting on national television.
That really made Mum proud."
At the Chambord Shine Awards 2009 on October 20th in Sydney, Australia, Rose hit the red
carpet ditching her dark locks for short platinum blonde strands. Chicly cinching her little
black dress with a purple patent leather belt, Rose attended the ceremony to honor emerging
fashion designers across Australia.
Rose later told Byrdie in 2015 that her impulsive, constant experimentation with color had severely
damaged her hair. She explained,
"I used to experiment with color a lot more, but once my hair started falling out because
I was blonde, black, red, blonde, black, red, repeat, it was like, maybe just stick to cutting
it."
Rose flirted with a decidedly more feminine side at the 24th Annual ARIA Awards on November
7th, 2010 in Sydney, Australia. Wearing a wavy wig and purple smokey eye, Rose completed
the more traditionally girly look with a low-cut lace gown.
She told ELLE that this outing's departure from her stylistic norm was an intentional
one. The actress explained,
"I really love the idea of shocking people on the carpet at that event. And so I did."
This philosophy seems to fall in line with Rose's outlook on her own gender fluidity.
The actress told ELLE in a separate profile,
"I have a lot of characteristics that would normally be present in a guy and then less
that would be present in a woman. But then sometimes I'll put on a skirt."
Rose showcased her adventures with hair extensions again on the red carpet of the 26th Annual
ARIA Awards on November 29th, 2012 in Sydney, Australia. Trying out an edgy New Wave-rocker
hairdo, Rose had a honey-blonde hairpiece clipped onto the right side of her hair for
a long ponytail and had the left side plaited for a decidedly flirty and funky look.
According to her interview with BYRDIE in 2015, 1980s New Wave icon Annie Lennox was
one of Rose's childhood beauty role models. She explained,
"I know that growing up, I had a thing for Annie Lennox because of her kind of androgyny,
definitely...She always had such chiseled cheekbones, but I didn't have that as much,
I just contour."
In 2013, Rose continued her haircolor experimentation when she arrived at the Mercedes-Benz Fashion
Week Australia Trend Show in Sydney, Australia on August 21st with a lavender bob. Rose later
disclosed that she had done the dye job herself, and explained her carefree coloring exploits
to Byrdie in 2015, saying,
"With hair, it grows back, and secondly, you can wear wigs if you need to."
Rose also showed off a pair of luscious, well-groomed eyebrows at the fashion show. The actress
shared her low-maintenance approach to brow beauty with Coveteur in 2016, having been
blessed with naturally full ones since birth. She explained,
"I don't do much with them. I'll either tint them or I'll just fill them in a little bit."
Rose rocked an undeniable Three Stooges vibe on the red carpet at the NYLON Young Hollywood
Party in West Hollywood, California on May 7th, 2015. Rose had apparently made the dramatic
change to her dark tresses on a trip to Singapore in April that year. She joked to Elle,
"This [haircut] everyone hated. I loved it even more when people hated it."
Rose has always had a free and fearless Devil-may-care attitude to personal style. She told BYRDIE
in 2020,
"The first time I shaved my head, I was 16. I shaved it myself and ended up with all of
these bald patches and whatever, but it was a really freeing experience. I think everyone
should do it once, I mean, hair grows back."
In 2019, Rose kicked off a promotional tour for her new role of the title character on
The CW's Batwoman at The CW's Summer 2019 TCA Party in Beverly Hills, California on
August 4th. At the event, Rose wore head-to-toe Dior, pairing a chic and comfy-looking checkered
turtleneck with a flowing ankle-length mesh skirt.
On her promotional rounds for Batwoman, Rose insisted that while the superhero is a fellow
lesbian, her sexuality was the least compelling aspect to her character. She told The Washington
Post,
"[That's] why this show is so important. People being straight doesn't get that kind of attention.
It's the least interesting thing about [Batwoman]."
"I hope that just everything I do in life just shows that there's room for people like
myself to get jobs in acting, in entertainment."
Rose's time at home during the coronavirus pandemic of 2020 may have inspired her to
dye her hair again into not one but two summery shades. She took to her Instagram in April
to show off a buzz cut dyed equal parts neon-pink and electric blue. Her caption read,
"What can I say!? Sometimes you just need to feel blue and other times you need pink
to lighten your day."
Rose's allusion to her possible varying moods may not just be a nod to the enduring times
felt by all during the pandemic. It was announced on May 19th that Rose would not return to
her starring role on The CW's Batwoman, after the series aired its season one finale just
two days earlier.
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