Modern Family's Ariel Winter Looks Different Without Her Brunette Locks - Here's Why

"Modern Family" star Ariel Winter has gone through a stunning transformation ever since she became a household name as tweenager Alex Dunphy, on the hit sitcom, beginning in 2009. Entering adolescence and young womanhood in the public eye often involves a lot of experimenting with style and beauty trends, including different hair colors. Winter loves to mix things up but, although she's undeniably absolutely gorgeous, there's one shade the actor definitely shouldn't try to pull off again, and photo evidence supports this opinion. In July 2020, Winter posted photos on Instagram in which she had platinum blonde hair. "Winter Is Coming!!!!!!!!!!!" she captioned the post, referencing "Game of Thrones." 

The shade of blonde she chose provides less contrast for her skin tone than darker hair colors would. This is why she basically looks like a completely different person with platinum blonde hair, as opposed to with her more natural chocolatey brown shade. Her hair basically matches her pale skin in the 2020 pics, which really washes her out. It's not typically a look that people strive for, so this is a case where Ariel Winter's reality might have been more flattering than her Instagram vibe. It was the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, though, so it's completely understandable that she needed a change.

Ariel Winter studied pre-law in college before changing her mind to focus on her acting career again. But she's actually changed her hair color much more often than that. The former child star's most recent major change happened around December 2025, when she went from her natural dark brown hair to a lighter brown that had golden blonde highlights in it. "Tim and Tab made me feel very pretty," she captioned a photo of the new look on Instagram, naming and tagging her hairdressers. The golden highlights complement the actor's milky complexion better than platinum blonde, and the photos on her Instagram grid prove she maintains the color regularly, which is crucial with any shade of blond. 

But the "Sofia the First" voice actor notably doesn't limit herself just to browns and blondes either. Winter has also experimented with strawberry blonde and other shades of red, some with a violet base and others with more fiery vibes. As she admitted to Allure, shortly after dyeing her locks a gorgeous coppery red in 2019, "The day after I dyed it, I felt like a different person. I walked past my bathroom mirror and was like, 'Oh my god! Who's in my bathroom?' And it was literally me. But I love it. It's my favorite style I've done so far." No matter what shade she chooses, (almost) everything flatters Winter's gorgeous complexion.