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In the Western world, the 1950s were a decade known for experimentation with new styles and culture. Following World War II and the austerity years of the post-war period, the 1950s were a time of comparative prosperity, which influenced fashion and the concept of glamour. Hairstylists invented new hairstyles for wealthy patrons. Influential hairstylists of the period include Sydney Guilaroff, Alexandre of Paris and Raymond Bessone, who took French hair fashion to Hollywood, New York and London, popularising the pickle cut, the pixie cut and bouffant hairstyles.
The American film industry and the popular music industry influenced hairstyles around the world, both in mainstream fashion and teenage sub-culture. With the advent of the rock music industry, teenage culture and fashion became increasingly significant and distinctive from mainstream fashion, with American style being imitated in Europe, Asia, Australasia and South America. Teenage girls around the world wore their hair in ponytails while teenage boys wore crew cuts, the more rebellious among them favouring "greaser" comb-backs.
The development of hair-styling products, particularly setting sprays, hair-oil and hair-cream, influenced the way hair was styled and the way people around the world wore their hair day to day. Women's hairstyles of the 1950s were in general less ornate and more informal than those of the 1940s, with a "natural" look being favoured, even if it was achieved by perming, setting, styling and spraying. Mature men's hairstyles were always short and neat, and they were generally maintained with hair-oil. Even among "rebellious youth" with longer, greased hair, carrying a comb and maintaining the hairstyle was part of the culture.
Popular music and film stars had a major influence on 1950s hairstyles and fashion. Elvis Presley and James Dean had a great influence on the high quiff-pompadour greased-up style or slicked-back style for men with heavy use of Brylcreem or pomade. The pompadour was a fashion trend in the 1950s, especially among male rockabilly artists and actors. A variation of this was the duck's ass (or in the UK "duck's arse"), also called the "duck's tail", the "ducktail", or simply the D.A. [1]
This hairstyle was originally developed by Joe Cerello in 1940. Cerello's clients later included film celebrities like Elvis Presley and James Dean. [2] Frank Sinatra posed in a modified D.A. style of hair. This style required that the hair be combed back around the sides of the head. The tooth edge of a comb was then used to define a central part running from the crown to the nape at the back of the head, resembling, to many, the rear end of a duck. The hair on the top front of the head was either deliberately disarrayed so that untidy strands hung down over the forehead, or combed up and then curled down into an "elephant's trunk" which might hang down as far as the top of the nose. The sides were styled to resemble the folded wings of the duck, often with heavy sideburns. [3]
A variant of the duck's tail style, known as "the Detroit", consisted of the long back and sides combined with a flattop. In California, the top hair was allowed to grow longer and combed into a wavelike pompadour shape known as a "breaker". The duck's tail became an emblematic coiffure of disaffected young males across the English-speaking world during the 1950s, a sign of rebellious youth and of a "bad boy" image. [1] [4] [5] The style was frowned upon by high school authorities, who often imposed limitations on male hair length as part of their dress codes. [6] Nevertheless, the style was widely copied by men of all ages. [2]
The regular haircut, side-parted with tapered back and sides, was considered a clean cut fashion and preferred by parents and school authorities in the United States. The crew cut, flattop and ivy league were also popular, particularly among high school and college students. [7] The crew cut style was derived from the military haircuts given to millions of draftees, [8] and was favored by men who wished to appear "establishment" or mainstream. [9] Daily applications of "butch wax" were used to make the short hair stand straight up from the head. [10] Celebrities favoring this style included Steve McQueen, Mickey Mantle and John Glenn. Crew cuts gradually declined in popularity by the end of the decade, as longer hair for men became fashionable. [11] [12]
Black male entertainers chose to wear their hair in short and unstraightened styles. [13]
In southeast Asia, a variation of the quiff that was popular was the "curry puff", styled by a bob of wavy hair just above the forehead. [14] "Geek chic" was a fashion trend for intellectual types, with a bouffant or greased-back hair and black glasses, exhibited by the likes of Buddy Holly and Bill Evans.
It originally it was frequent in beach areas, like Hawaii and California.[ citation needed ]
Women generally emulated the hair styles and hair colors of popular film personalities and fashion magazines; top models played a pivotal role in propagating the styles. [2] Alexandre of Paris had developed the beehive and artichoke styles seen on Grace Kelly, Jackie Kennedy, the Duchess of Windsor, Elizabeth Taylor, and Tippi Hedren. [15] Generally, a shorter bouffant style was favored by female movie stars, paving the way for the long hair trend of the 1960s. Very short cropped hairstyles were fashionable in the early 1950s. By mid-decade, hats were worn less frequently, especially as fuller hairstyles like the short, curly "elfin cut" or the "Italian cut" or "poodle cut" and later the bouffant and the beehive became fashionable (sometimes nicknamed B-52s for their similarity to the bulbous noses of the B-52 Stratofortress bomber). [16] Stars such as Marilyn Monroe, Connie Francis, Elizabeth Taylor and Audrey Hepburn usually wore their hair short with high volume. In the poodle hairstyle, the hair is permed into tight curls, similar to the poodle's curly hair (curling the hair involves time and effort). This style was popularized by Hollywood actresses like Peggy Garner, Lucille Ball, Ann Sothern and Faye Emerson. In the post-war prosperous 1950s, in particular, the bouffant hair style was the most dramatic and considered an ideal style in which aerosol hairspray facilitated keeping large quantities of “backcombed or teased and frozen hair” in place. This necessitated a regimen of daily hair care to keep the bouffant in place; curlers were worn to bed and frequent visits were made to the hair stylist's salon. Mouseketeer Annette Funicello dramatically presented this hair style in the movie Beach Party . [17]
Short, tight curls with a poodle cut known as "short bangs" were very popular, favored by women such as first lady Mamie Eisenhower. [2] [12] Henna was a popular hair dye in the 1950s in the US; in the popular TV comedy series I Love Lucy , Lucille Ball (according to her husband's statement) "used henna rinse to dye her brown hair red." [2] The poodle cut was also made popular by Audrey Hepburn. In the 1953 film Roman Holiday , Audrey Hepburn's character had short hair known as a "gamine-style" pixie cut, which accentuated her long neck, and which was copied by many women. [18] In the film Sabrina , her character appears initially in long plain hair while attending culinary school, but returns to her Paris home with a chic, short, face-framing "Paris hairstyle", which again was copied by many women. When the rage among women was for the "blond bombshell" hair style, Hepburn stuck to her dark brown hair color and refused to dye her hair for any film. [2]
Jacqueline Kennedy wore a short hair style for her wedding in 1953, while later she sported a "bouffant"; together with the larger beehive and shorter bubble cut, this became one of the most popular women's hairstyles of the 1950s. [2] Grace Kelly favored a mid-length bob style, also influential. There were exceptions, however, and some women, such as Bettie Page, favored long, straight dark locks and a fringe; such women were known as "Beat girls". [12] In the mid-1950s, a high ponytail became popular with teenage girls, often tied with a scarf. [2] [18] The ponytail was seen on the first Barbie dolls, in 1959; a few years later Barbies with beehives appeared. [2] The "artichoke cut", which was invented by Jacques Dessange, was specially designed for Brigitte Bardot. [11] Compact coiffures were popular in the 1950s as less importance was given to hairstyling, although a new look was stylized by Christian Dior's fashion revolution after the war. [11]
In the 1950s, lotion shampoos with conditioning ingredients became popular precursors of the shampoo/conditioner rinse pairing of two decades later. The Clairol ad campaign, "Does she ... or doesn't she?" boosted hair color product sales not just for their company, but across the hair dye industry. [19]
The bouffant style relied on the liberal use of hairspray to hold hair in place for a week. [20] Hairspray lacquers of this era were of a different chemical formula than used today, and were more difficult to remove from the hair than today's products. [21] But even less extreme styles, such as parting hair on the left and the right before pulling the bangs to one side, required holding the style in place with hairspray. [22] One ingredient in 1950s hair spray was vinyl chloride monomer; used as an alternative to chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), it was subsequently found to be both toxic and flammable. [23]
Hair gels, such as Dippity-do, came in a variety of forms such as spray or jelly, and were referred to as "setting gels". [20] African American hair products promised natural-looking hair to black women, with natural in this context defined as straight, soft, and smooth; these products, such as Lustra-silk, were advertised to not be heavy, greasy or damaging like pressing oils and chemical relaxers of the past. [24]
Only a small amount of Brylcreem was needed to make a man's hair shiny and stay in place; Brylcreem's tag line was "Brylcreem, a little dab'll do ya." [25] It was also used by those who suffered from dandruff. [26] While the conk was still popular through the end of the decade, Isaac Hayes switched to going bald. [13] Hair growth products for men were first introduced in the 1950s, in Japan. [27]
The 1950s had a profound influence on fashion and continues to be a strong influence in contemporary fashion. Some of the world's most famous fashion icons today such as Christina Aguilera, Katy Perry, and David Beckham regularly wear their hair or indulge in a style of fashion clearly heavily influenced by that of the 1950s. Aguilera is influenced by Marilyn Monroe, [28] Beckham by Steve McQueen and James Dean. [29]
The pompadour style became popular among Italian Americans and the image became an integral part of the Italian male stereotype in the 1970s in films such as Grease and television series such as Happy Days . The Fonz, played by Henry Winkler, with his greased pompadour, white T-shirt and leather jacket, has been cited as the "epitome of the 50s bad-boy cool". [30] In modern Japanese popular culture, the pompadour is a stereotypical hairstyle often worn by gang members, thugs, members of the yakuza and its junior counterpart bōsōzoku, and other similar groups such as the yankii (high-school hoodlums). [31] In Japan the style is known as the "Regent" hairstyle, and is often caricatured in various forms of entertainment media such as anime, manga, television, and music videos. [32]
A hairstyle, hairdo, haircut, or coiffure refers to the styling of hair, usually on the human head but sometimes on the face or body. The fashioning of hair can be considered an aspect of personal grooming, fashion, and cosmetics, although practical, cultural, and popular considerations also influence some hairstyles.
Greasers are a youth subculture that emerged in the 1950s and early 1960s from predominantly working class and lower-class teenagers and young adults in the United States and Canada. The subculture remained prominent into the mid-1960s and was particularly embraced by certain ethnic groups in urban areas, particularly Italian Americans and Hispanic Americans.
A crew cut is a type of haircut in which the upright hair on the top of the head is cut relatively short, graduated in length from the longest hair that forms a short pomp (pompadour) at the front hairline to the shortest at the back of the crown so that in side profile, the outline of the top hair approaches the horizontal. Relative to the front view, and to varying degrees, the outline of the top hair can be arched or flattened at the short pomp front and rounded or flattened over the rest of the top to complement the front hairline, head shape, face shape and facial features. The hair on the sides and back of the head is usually tapered short, semi-short, or medium.
A finger wave is a method of setting hair into waves (curls) that was popular in the 1920s and early 1930s and again in the late 1990s in North America and Europe. Silver screen actresses such as Josephine Baker and Esther Phillips are credited with the original popularity of finger waves. In their return in the 1990s, the style was popularized by pop stars like Madonna, and hip-hop stars of the time, such as Missy Elliott. The popularity of finger waves in the 1990s was aided by a movement toward shorter, more natural hair in the African-American community. This also was a common hairstyle worn by slaves back in 1802 through generations to 1889 and only began to take effect of popularity when Bette Davis danced on Sugar be mine live television.
The ducktail is a men's haircut style popular during the 1950s. It is also called the duck's tail, duck's ass, duck's arse, or simply D.A. and is also described as slicked back hair. The hair is pomaded (greased), combed back around the sides, and parted centrally down the back of the head.
Pomade is a greasy, waxy, or water-based substance that is used to style hair. It generally gives the user's hair a shiny, slick appearance. It lasts longer than most hair-care products, and often requires repeated washes for complete removal. The pomades of the 18th and 19th centuries consisted mainly of bear fat or lard. Lanolin, beeswax and petroleum jelly have been used extensively in modern pomades. The hold of pomades makes sculptured hairstyles such as the pompadour waves (hairstyle) possible.
Let's trim our hair in accordance with the socialist lifestyle was a television program broadcast on state-run Korean Central Television in North Korea between 2004 and 2005 as part of a longstanding government propaganda against haircuts and fashions deemed at odds with "socialist values". The program claimed that long hair could adversely affect human intelligence.
The Teddy Boys or Teds were a mainly British youth subculture of the early 1950s to mid-1960s who were interested in rock and roll and R&B music, wearing clothes partly inspired by the styles worn by dandies in the Edwardian period, which Savile Row tailors had attempted to re-introduce in Britain after the Second World War.
The beehive is a hairstyle in which long hair is piled up in a conical shape on the top of the head and slightly backward pointing, giving some resemblance to the shape of a traditional beehive. It is also known as the B-52 due to a resemblance to the distinctive nose of the Boeing B-52 Strategic Bomber. The 1980s band The B-52's took their name from the hairstyle, which was worn by members Cindy Wilson and Kate Pierson.
A bouffant is a type of puffy, rounded hairstyle characterized by hair raised high on the head and usually covering the ears or hanging down on the sides.
Fashion of the 1960s featured a number of diverse trends, as part of a decade that broke many fashion traditions, adopted new cultures, and launched a new age of social movements. Around the middle of the decade, fashions arising from small pockets of young people in a few urban centers received large amounts of media publicity, and began to heavily influence both the haute couture of elite designers and the mass-market manufacturers. Examples include the mini skirt, culottes, go-go boots, and more experimental fashions, less often seen on the street, such as curved PVC dresses and other PVC clothes.
An eponymous hairstyle is a particular hairstyle that has become fashionable during a certain period of time through its association with a prominent individual.
Fashion in the years following World War II is characterized by the resurgence of haute couture after the austerity of the war years. Square shoulders and short skirts were replaced by the soft femininity of Christian Dior's "New Look" silhouette, with its sweeping longer skirts, fitted waist, and rounded shoulders, which in turn gave way to an unfitted, structural look in the later 1950s.
The wings haircut, also known the Mod haircut, Mop top, flippies, flow, Justin Bieber haircut, or skater hair is a popular hairstyle used in the skateboarding, surfer, mod, and preppy community. Typically long, the style can range from long and drooping below the eyes, to a shorter length. The haircut is typically wavy and, if straight, the length comes to halfway down the ears. Instead of lying on the wearer's ears, the hair flips up and comes straight out like an airplane wing, hence the name. The hairstyle was popular among men in the 1960s, 1970s, mid-late 2000s, early 2010s and 2020s.
Bangs or a fringe are strands or locks of hair that fall over the scalp's front hairline to cover the forehead, usually just above the eyebrows, though can range to various lengths. While most modern Western hairstyles cut the bangs straight, they may also be shaped in an arc or left ragged.
The pompadour is a hairstyle named after Madame de Pompadour (1721–1764), a mistress of King Louis XV of France. Although there are numerous variations of the style for men, women, and children, the basic concept is having a large volume of hair swept upwards from the face and worn high over the forehead, and sometimes upswept around the sides and back as well.
Hairstyle products are used to change the texture and/or shape of hair.
Surfer hair is a tousled type of hairstyle, popularized by surfers from the 1950s onwards, traditionally long, thick and naturally bleached from high exposure to the sun and salt water of the sea. In the late 1960s and 1970s, the long hair and general lack of personal grooming was closely associated with hippie culture. Today, hairstyling companies brand their own hair gels, shampoos and hair wax to achieve the "surfer look" with hairstyles that are often shorter than traditionally, which often require more grooming to achieve the permanent hair lift or intentional windswept look. Amongst women, fashion magazines have referred to "sun streaked surfer hair" as a desirable look for women, although genuine surfer hair is often heavily damaged by the elements.
Hairstyles in the 1980s included the mullet, tall mohawk hairstyles, jheri curls, flattops, and hi-top fades, which became popular styles. Amongst women, large hair-dos, puffed-up styles, permanent waves, and softer cuts typified the decade. Big hair that was "often permed to achieve the desired volume" is especially associated with women of the mid 1980s as well as male rockstars of that era, especially of the glam metal genre. Television shows such as Dynasty helped popularize the high volume bouffant and glamorous image associated with it.
A regularhaircut in Western fashion is a men's and boys' hairstyle featuring hair long enough to comb on top, with a defined or deconstructed side part, and back and sides that vary in length from short, semi-short, medium, long, to extra long. The style is also known by other names including taper cut, regular taper cut, side-part and standard haircut; as well as short back and sides, business-man cut and professional cut, subject to varying national, regional, and local interpretations of the specific taper for the back and sides.
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