1950s Hairstyles

12/08/2014

Let’s take a look at some iconic hairstyles through the ages. We will be stopping in the 1950s today. After the war, people experimented with their looks a lot. Plenty of French hairstylists brought their expertise to the US, bringing with them famous hairstyles from their homeland.

The Pixie Cut

One of the most famous vintage celebrities to rock the pixie cut was the star of films such as A "Roman Holiday", "Breakfast at Tiffany’s" and "Sabrina", Audrey Hepburn. The iconic actress was famous for her doe-eyed looks and popularized this layered short cut. Her hair was cut in different layers, but all very short, with some short bangs laying on her forehead.

The Beehive

The beehive was worn most famously by Jackie Kennedy, President Kennedy’s wife and later, the wife of Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis. Jacqueline wore her medium length hair heavily teased with some curls on the bottom. She used hot rollers to achieve this look as she wanted her curls to be as big and as voluminous as possible. If you would like to recreate her look, definitely tease a lot and use plenty of hairspray to make sure it all stays in place.

Beat girls

Inspired by the pinup girl Bettie Page, Beat girls wore their hair long and dark. Betty’s hair is a style still popular today – she had long hair and wore it with bluntly cut bangs which curled inwards toward her forehead. These ‘pinup looks’ are still very popular in cultures that are inspired by the 1950s and 1950s hairstyles. A star that favors this look even today is Katy Perry, who has worn a variaton of the Bettie Page cut many a time and in many different colors.

The messy bedhead

Perhaps more suited to the 60s, but Brigitte Bardot’s hairstyle definitely deserves a mention as well. The sultry blonde wore her hair messy in a bedhead look, with a slight bouffant and plenty of teasing. Her iconic look included eyes heavily outlined in kohl and slightly parted full lips for a full on French temptress look.

Later in the 50s, when Barbie dolls were becoming increasingly popular, a hairstyle became very popular where girls wore a high ponytail and a scarf tied around it – this look was debuted on a doll. It was also popular to wear one’s hair permed and incredibly curly, slightly similar to the fur of a poodle. Actresses like Faye Emerson and Peggy Garner wore these looks and made them popular. It was also trendy to wear hair short in an elfin cut. Today, plenty of people, including celebrities like the a fore mentioned Katy Perry, Charlize Theron and Drew Barrymore, love recreating these vintage looks. Perhaps the most iconic revival of the 50s happened with the late Amy Winehouse’s iconic bouffant.