THE Purdys, Dianas, Rachels and Cheryls may come and go, but Audrey remains the one.

No, we’re not talking about Peter Stringfellow’s latest girlfriend situation, but some of the most copied women’s hairstyles of the past few decades, including the iconic ‘updo’ made famous by the beautiful actress Audrey Hepburn when playing Holly Golightly in the film, Breakfast At Tiffany’s, and which hairdressers have just voted the most influential hairdo ever.

Despite Jennifer Aniston’s endlessly emulated Rachel cut (Friends), Posh’s ‘pob’ and Cheryl Cole’s burgeoning bouffant, La Hepburn’s French pleat – not to be mistaken for the French plait, an entirely different thing altogether, generally spotted at gymkhanas, on schoolgirls and their ponies – remains the most requested style in salons throughout the land even today.

In fact, mirroring the world of fashion somewhat, when it comes to hairstyles, vintage is definitely the new black as the other top barnets favoured by stylists and their clients turned out to be Marilyn Monroe’s trademark blonde bombshell platinum curls and Twiggy’s ’60s crop.

But it wasn’t only conventional cuts that featured in the survey.

Demi Moore’s completely shaved head, as seen in the film GI Jane, cropped up – though to be fair, that wasn’t a look that many, if any, women had the features or the guts to carry off – and Rhianna’s extreme red colour job made an appearance.

Perhaps the most bizarre result, though, was cartoon character Ariel the Little Mermaid ranking fourth place, until, that is, your realise that the survey was carried out to mark the release of Disney’s Tangled – an animated take on the classic fairytale, Rapunzel, the story of a princess who took the phrase letting your hair down to an entirely new level.