Recently, we celebrated Mother’s Day with dinner and a viewing of the newest remake of The Great Gatsby. As I watched the movie, I was reminded that while times change, hair styles seem to recycle in new and different ways! In fact, many of today’s “new” styles are simply retreads of styles first popularized decades, if not centuries ago! So when choosing a style that’s best for you, focus first on what works best with your facial shape and hair texture and remember that your personalized style may be tomorrow’strend. I hope you enjoy this summary of today’s trendy styles and their historical origins!
The Pixie
Today’s pixie hit the movie screen with Anne Hathaway in Les Miserables, but it was first popularized by Audrey Hepburn in the 1950’s after her visit to an Italian barber in Roman Holiday. Other notable people to sport a pixie over the past 50 years include 60’s supermodel Twiggy, Goldie Hawn, Halle Berry and Natalie Portman. Miley Cyrus recently received much media attention and internet chat when she cut her flowing locks into a cropped pixie! Today’s piixies are highly textured, and are great for those with strong, angular facial features.
The Bob
There are many versions of the bob worn today, but watching The Great Gatsby reminded me that the style first attained world prominence early in the 20th century with trend setters such as Irene Castle and Joan Crawford. The roaring 20’s made the bob universally popular, and is best known as the style of choice for “flappers” everywhere! While the style faded into the background in the 1930’s, Vidal Sassoon brought it back to world prominence in the 1960’s and the style has remained popular in variations to this day. Layered bobs are a great way to create more volume and height.
The Long Layer Cut
The Miss USA stage is full of long, flowing layered locks, and has made the hair extension business very lucrative. But actresses such as Sophia Loren and Raquel Welch popularized this style in the 1960’s and each decade since has seen the style revived in different ways, with notable stars like Farrah Fawcett, Cindy Crawford, Julia Roberts and most recently Beyonce and Kate Middleton. Long layers are best on someone with full, wavy hair, and are popular today with fringe and side-swept bangs. Kate Middleton created a trend with her side-parted long layers with face framing layers starting between the cheekbone and chin.
The Shag
Media went crazy when Michelle Obama appeared in with a layered, face-framing style with fringe bangs. But Heidi Klum made this style her own years ago and Jane Fonda was probably the first star to popularize this cut around 1970. I like to call it the rock star cut, and stars who have sported variations of this cut include Rod Stewart, Mick Jagger, Jennifer Aniston, and Lisa Rinna. Jane Fonda continues to wear a verson of the shag, with ends flipped out for volume.