Friday, February 6, 1998
The hair and now
HISTORY: Through the years,
new trends, styles cause women to change their look
By Michelle Navarro
Daily Bruin Staff
How do you do? Curly, short, up, down, on the side, in a bun,
red, blonde, flipped out or in dreds? The possibilities in
hairstyles are endless.
Hair, it’s that mess of dead tissue piled on top, the stuff you
find on the floor or clogging the shower drain, that mass flapping
wildly in the wind, and a source of agony for those who actually
care about how it looks.
Walking around campus, the first thought that comes to mind is
that many don’t care, given that it looks as if some students
walked out of bed straight into class. Students these days don’t
spend too much of their precious dollars on regular visits to the
salon. Most of the time it’s just a quick run-through with a brush
and hair dryer, and voila! However, it wasn’t always this way.
Looking back at women’s hair throughout the 20th century, one
can see hair has had its heyday and Maydays. The styles and volume
called for by the trend of each decade had women teasing, perming,
dying and torturing their hair on a regular basis – all in the name
of fashion.
It was the roaring ’20s that saw a major change in hair. Up
until that decade, hair had always been kept long, but the "Jazz
Age" saw the birth of the flapper look, which included the bobbed
cut.
Any woman who wanted to be modern conformed to this rebel style.
No doubt watching several silent film stars, like Lousie Brooks,
parade around onscreen with the short hairdo fueled the popularity
of the bobbed style.
"The Bob caught on so fast that barber shops in New York were
bobbing up to 2,000 women a day," said Michael Warner, a
cosmetologist.
Often women sported a small cloth cap over their hair, which
only accented the sleek and slim look even more.
Both the chopping of the locks and trend-setting by film stars
continued to flow into the following decades.
From that point on, hair fashion started growing. Everyone had
to look great and had to have the popular appearance of the
time.
"You had to go to a beauty shop to have your hair done," said
Armida Salgado, a former beauty operator, "Even in the Depression,
the beauty business flourished because people had to look
good."
In the ’30s, Warner said women were back in the salons
"experimenting with chemical services like coloring and perming,"
which created the finger-wave style.
The style of the ’40s fell at the feet of the screen goddesses
who graced the movie theaters with their dreamy eyes and soft aura
that constituted the "bedroom look." It was actresses like Rita
Hayworth and Veronica Lake, with her "peek-a-boo" hairstyle, who
made the mold that women tried hard to fit into.
The hair was worn longer than in the ’20s and ’30s, but the
trend ended once World War I began, Warner said.
"Women tended to wear their hair pinned up in topknots," he
said. "They went to work in factories while their men went off to
war."
The ’50s brought the era of rock ‘n’ roll. This new genre of
music, as well as those ideas brought from overseas (the short
Italian cut), influenced the youthful hair trends of the decade,
namely the "horsetail" and the "poodle."
The horsetail, known today as the ponytail, pulls back the hair
and lets it hang loose. The poodle left its victim looking pretty
much like its namesake. The cut was very short and curly.
Pin curls were the main instrument used – however the roller was
about to take over.
The more famous style, the beehive, arrived in the late ’50s and
kept buzzing with popularity into the ’60s. The idea was to make
the hair as big as possible.
"It was the bouffant style," said Salgado, "The more big your
hair was the more stylish you were."
To achieve the big, bouffant look, Salgado said women had to
tease the back hair way up and then style the top part around, with
a lot of hairspray to hold the mound in place. With such big volume
and height, there could have very well been a beehive trapped
inside.
The ’60s brought more fluff and the flip. It was either up, hard
as a rock from the hair spray or down and flipped out on the
sides.
"I think a lot of this popularity was due to America’s first
lady, Jackie Kennedy, wearing this look," Warner said.
Warner also added that toward the middle of the ’60s, Vidal
Sassoon, then a "young hairdresser out of London," introduced the
asymmetrical cut that shunned the stiff, rigid look.
"Sassoon’s cuts were short, precise cuts that allowed the hair
to fall perfectly in place. Women were once again cutting their
hair," Warner noted.
The shag also made it’s entrance midway and dripped into the
following decade of disco. Maria Jenkins, a second-grade teacher at
Belvedere Elementary School, used to wear her hair in the shag
style, which she said was either straight or layered and worn down
to the shoulders.
"Mine was shaggy because my hair was kinky," Jenkins said, "I
tried to straighten it out like the Brady Bunch girls, but it
wouldn’t go."
Instead of a movie actress setting the stage for fashion, it was
a television star.
"The most popular way to do it was to part your hair in the
middle and have no bangs," Jenkins said, "just like Marcia
Brady’s."
The afro was very popular in the ’70s as well, but Jenkins said
she "couldn’t have that one."
The shag and afros reflected the life-style of the time.
"It was loose or long because everybody was like that –
‘hang-loose,’" she said, "that was the thing; it was free."
Hairpieces were big with some. It was convenient, quick and
stayed in the shape it was supposed to. Jenkins said her sister
often wore a "fall," which made it seem as if she had long,
straight hair. Apparently, Jenkin’s sister was wearing the fall
when she met her husband. He was slightly shocked and surprised to
later learn it wasn’t real.
The feathered look sported by Blair, from the TV show "The Facts
of Life," emerged toward the end and lasted into the ’80s. The perm
also grew large; it was a look Jennifer Beals donned in
"Flashdance."
The ’80s saw big hair, and big bangs, again – which meant more
teasing and a lot more hairspray. Music artists drove many of the
looks during those years, from Madonna’s teased locks to the
multi-colored mohawks of punk, both required that load of ammo,
also known as Aqua Net.
"I remember I went through cans of hairspray and hoped the wind
wouldn’t blow," said Shan He, a first-year English student.
When the ’90s entered the scene, highlights sat in the spotlight
of hair fashion.
"Color is very big, especially highlighting or what I would
refer to as ‘hair streaking,’" Warner said, "Streaking is actually
a retro-term and was quite popular back in the ’60s."
Going to the beauty shop on a regular basis has faded, probably
due to time and financial constraints.
"People have cut down on preparing," he said, "In the ’90s the
natural style is in, people want simple hairstyles."
Jenkins agreed, and prefers a simple cut nowadays.
"I like it short, short, so it doesn’t get in the way," Jenkins
said, "I can just wash it and not have to worry about styling it."
Warner attributes this trend in convenient coifs with the boom of
the working woman.
"This trend began when women started entering the work force and
just didn’t have the time to spend on their hair," Warner said. "In
addition to working outside the homes, women would come home to do
laundry, cooking, cleaning, raising kids, etc. Hair stylists were
forced to come up with looks for the working women."
Today, the trend seems to be no trend.
"Before it was always follow that trend," she said, "Now it’s
more relaxed, and it’s whatever you want to do with it; everyone
has their own hairstyle."
Perhaps it’s a result of people trying to accept and embrace
individuality and expression.
"Socially and culturally, we are more accepting about the way
people look today," Warner explained. "I recently visited my
daughter who attends MSU and met her roommate from Holland. (Her
roommate) just recently shaved her head. Why? I don’t know. I guess
she just felt like it."
Warner said he was a little shocked, but after talking with her
he realized it wasn’t that big of an issue.
"She felt totally comfortable walking around with her shaved
head," he said. "People accepted her for being who she is. Twenty
years ago, I’m not so sure this would have been true."
Photo Courtesy of Michael Warner
This glamorous hairstyle is from the 1960s. Hairstyles have
changed drastically throughout the years. These days, many women
are using baseball caps to complete their look.
INGA DOROSZ
A popular hairstyle is using a clip to hold up hair.Life
This cover of Life magazine from Nov. 13, 1970, displays the
popular hairstyles of the time.