Katie Holmes spurs bob style

Posh, schmosh, says Amy Synnott-D'Annibale, beauty director at In Style magazine. She says the trend began several years ago when former bad girl Nicole Richie classed-up her image with a sideswept bob (a good PR move, given the less-than-ladylike behavior of certain long-haired tabloid magnets.)

"There was a time when the bob was considered a more conservative, preppy hairstyle, and that's no longer the case," explains Synnott-D'Annibale, who says the style "reflects a bigger change in Hollywood that — among the younger generation — there's a desire to be more stylish than sexy."

More and more young stars — under constant scrutiny from TMZ.com and other celebrity news outlets — are tending to their appearance and dressing to impress other women rather than appeal to mens' taste for revealing outfits and long, wavy hair, Synnott-D'Annibale says.

New York stylist Harry Josh, who oversees the silky manes of Gwyneth Paltrow and Gisele Bundchen, says "there's an overwhelming boredom with hair right now. Going above the shoulder is so much fresher than keeping it on the long side, but there's very few people that are willing to take the plunge."

He thinks it would take at least "20 major people" to make the trend mainstream.

"It'd be more influential if Kate Moss, Cameron Diaz, you know, those kind of girls did something with their hair, because people look at them and think, `I want to be them,'" says Josh, who shuns Holmes' status as a fashion icon.

All things considered, Frances Baetiong, 27, from Naperville, Ill., was so intrigued by Holmes' hair that she brought a photo of the star to the salon a couple weeks ago.

"I ended up chickening out with the bangs," says Baetiong, who instead took inspiration from Beckham for an asymmetrical bob that one friend calls "the Victor/Victoria Beckham."

Synnott-D'Annibale says she's met several women who tell her that Holmes spurred their decisions to get bob styles.

"It's a pretty wearable style," she says. "It's not that crazy."