Hair Styles in the History of Beauty

 

Hair styles are one statement of a culture.  We know celebrity silhouettes from the shape of the hair style, even in caricature.

 

History has preserved hair styles for us In art forms and tombs from ancient civilizations.  They were just as concerned about their hair styles.   Hair styles were different and frequently more complicated for the noble classes.   From the beginning of recorded history, there appear to have been wigs.  They were widely used by the wealthier classes again.   In addition to wearing wigs, hair has long been dyed, frequently using dangerous materials.   Henna was used for blazing red hair,  lead based mixtures for black hair,  lye and herbal mixes along with exposure to the sun brought sought after blonde locks.

 

Renaissance ladies matched the chemical stunts with over the top plucking.   The entire hair line was plucked to assure a high forehead. 

 

A couple hundred years later, during the 18th century, outrageous wigs were popular for women who used a cage frame or horse hair pads to support elaborate styles.  The wigs, havens for lice and fleas because of the horse hair and powder, were often styled to create panorama scenes and could include living birds.   Men settled for white powdered wigs with long ringlets that could be tied back.   

 

The 19th century dresser had a little porcelain covered bowl with a round hole in the middle.  This was a hair receptacle.  Hair from brushes, combs or generally shed was poked through the little hole. Frequently the hair collection was used to pad a coil at the nape or on the back of the head.   Another use for the hair was hair pictures.  Made as an honor and reminder of family, the hair was boiled, arranged and baked in place, then displayed in a deep box frame in the home.   Early in the 20th century the association with memorials for deceased loved ones made hair pictures unpopular, plus women began bobbing their hair which greatly reduced the resource for filling the hair receptacle.

 

As the 20th century bloomed, curlers, bobby pins and permanent wave solutions joined somewhat safer  hair coloring for the efforts to establish beauty through hair styles.  Women shampooed approximately once a week for several decades.  A weekly trip to the hair dresser was common and still is.

 

 Many women, however developed their creative instincts and skills, availing themselves of tools that were rapidly becoming easy to get.  These women learned to fix their own hair.  Styles were probably not less complicated. 

 

During the late 1950s and early 1960s, backcombing regained popularity from another century.   Rollers with a personal hair dryer changed the dynamic from a time when especially a hair dryer was the possession of the stylist.  Hair sprays, gels helped the hair styles, but the entire lifestyle demanded a PERFECT hairdo all the time. 

 

I can recall when one of my teachers had an appointment to have her hair done on Friday after school.  Her hair  style was lovely for Saturday evening, great for Sunday, okay for Monday and perpetually deteriorating through the week until next Friday.  Now, women had to be careful how they dealt with their hair.  The backcombed or teased style was wrapped in satin at night or a special 'neck pillow' was used which is kind of reminiscent of the neck forms we see in museums that were supposedly used by ancient Egyptians to support their heads during sleep.

 

Later in the 20th century a daily shower and shampoo became part of an American woman's routine. This led to much more relaxed hair styles, or so it would seem. 

 

 Gel, relaxer, mousse, and hair spray are a big business, along with shampoo and conditioner in more formulas than one person can use.   Hair dryers evolved to the popular hand held, now often found In motel/hotel rooms as men began enjoying frequent shampoos and blow-dry styles.   Curling irons which were heated over lamps in the 19th century gained electric elements and became staple tools on the bathroom counter (NEVER USE A BLOW DRYER or CURLING IRON in the BATH TUB OR SHOWER)

 

I'm not sure how history will see our easy going hair styles.  The styles surely leave us more time to be surfing the web!  We don't do a lot of sculpture and don't have to paint on cave walls to express ourselves and talk about ourselves.    But, beauty and hair are genetically linked and we will keep striving for our own personal beauty success looking for our individual  'look'.   Something that waves our flag to fellow humans.