Popular Hair Trends and Styles of the Last 100 Years

The end of the Victorian Age and the beginning of the new century brought with it hope and excitement for new possibilities in every aspect of life. Hair trends and styles were no different. Both women and men began to experiment with wearing their hair in more relaxed or complex styles depending on the decade.



The first decade of the last century saw men and women wearing hairstyles that were full of volume and life. Short hair on women was becoming somewhat acceptable but long hair parted in the middle ruled the trends. Women still wore hats at this time, and often poofed up their hair in elaborate up dos to show off a particularly nice hat. Those who chose to go hatless adorned their swept up hair with bows and barrettes instead.



The second decade of the 1900s saw waves become all the rage. However, right after World War I, women chose to cut their long, flowing tresses right off and began to sport short bob haircuts-a complete change of heart in popular hair trends and styles. The short haircut brought about the headband-fancy or plain, hand-stitched or made of gorgeous natural materials. The headband took the place of the hat on the fashionable woman's head. One unfortunate and short-lived trend was "curtain hair," in which a woman wore a headband around the middle of her head and allowed her hair to fall from a straight part in a curtain over the band. That style did not last long.



The roaring 20s brought about social revolution on many fronts, with women voting, the economy booming, and alcohol prohibited. The flapper is a familiar image from this era, with extremely short hair and a large brimmed hat.



Rebellious as the roaring 20s flapper was, her counterpart in the 1930s and 1940s returned to a sleek and well-groomed appearance with elaborate curls all around the head and up dos that took some time to put together. Hats were becoming less popular, especially among younger women, so the emphasis fell on creating a deliberate hairstyle to make up for the lack of fashion accessory.



The 1950s saw many women trying to imitate Audrey Hepburn's inimitable style-the pixie hair look, with short cropped hair around the head and short bangs in front. On the other end of that spectrum, the beehive was just becoming popular in the late 1950s and the 60s saw an explosion of beehives on every type of woman from every walk of life. A variation of the beehive is the bouffant-short hair with a large poof over the top of the head.



The 1960s in general tended to have elaborate hair on older women and free flowing, unfussy hair on the young women, with headbands, barrettes, and hair pins still making a good showing to keep the hair out of women's faces.



Corn rows and dreadlocks began to make an appearance in the 1970s, not only among black women who did not go for the afro style but among alternative lifestyle white women as well. These tiny, tight braids could be put into the hair and left alone for ages-hopefully, with a wash every once in a while but not always. Braiding the hair made it much easier to deal with, and the style could stay the same every day with no additional fussing.



For those who did not want to braid their hair, the feathered flip look took over in the 1970s and continued into the 1980s. The hair fell long around the face and was flipped away in a carefree type of style-not an easy look to maintain for those women who were blessed with perfectly straight hair. Thus, the perm became a rage and many straight-haired women spent the 1980s trying to fix the damage done by harsh chemicals. The mullet is a version of the flipped up look hair trend.



Short, long, short again, then long again, popular hair trends and styles of the last 100 years have gone through every change imaginable. Certain styles remain firmly left behind in their decades, such as the curtain hair of the 1910s and the beehive of the 1960s. The bouffant is making somewhat of a comeback among very young women, who are spending more time in front of the mirror teasing and spraying their locks. We can always hope though that the mullet stays where it belongs and does not appear on any new heads.Kissaki Shears.com has been selling hair cutting scissors and Razors for the Professional Hair Stylist since 2001. We sell worldwide and have tens of thousands satisfied clients. Our success is attributed to our high quality products at a great value and our emphasis on customer satisfaction. Visit online today.