Hairstyles and Influences

I'm going to cover this topic in my book as well as online but I think there is a historical aspect to this because things have influenced the way these beauty trends started including celebrities, art and music.


Movies 

Movies were a big influence and New Wave cinema alongside Italian films were a hit in the 60's, Italian films actually made a reference to the Mod look as people used to ride vespas and they got their inspiration for dressing from these films.

As well as this, the Sasoon cut was introduced when the film Rosemary's baby came out, which Mia Farrow played the lead.

Music

I learnt that music influenced a lot of the 'youth culture' especially during the 50's when there was the time of rock n roll, in the 60's The Beatles were famous for creating the 'mop top' which can still be found on some boys today who still take inspiration for this particular style.

In the later half of the 60's, the half that most people remember, when the hippies were born, there was a lot of social change and political activism which lead to people leaving their hair longer and more natural . 


Famous styles which were adapted from this era, I found were: 

The Beehive 

Wore famously by Amy Winehouse, the beehive hairstyle is a classic up-do which is still referred to in 2016. It was to represent the change from the 50's to the 60's and was created in America, it was worn by the masses as well as celebrities including Audrey Hepburn and Dusty Springfield. 

The Bouffant 

This style was accessible and pretty straightforward, it was popular with older and the younger generation and was created by using rollers and flicking your hair out and the ends, from the 50's to the 60's the bouffant had grown bigger. Jackie Kennedy wore this look as well as Dusty Springfield (who also loved the beehive as mentioned)! It involved a lot of hair spray and was quite hard to manage. I can see this trend being more popular for the older woman rather than representing youth culture as I think it's too prim and proper however my research did indicate that it could be from America in the 1960's compared to the UK. 

Sharp Cuts and Bobs:

I think this was more popular in the UK and was more to do with the Mod movement and the influence of designer Mary Quant who had a lot of impact in the fashion and beauty world. The short Sassoon crop was very sharp and the bob was more popular, which the mods are famous for. 

Afro hair: 

I found it good to see that African American beauty was being recognised during this time and represented a big social movement, thanks to the American Civil Rights movement. This was noticed by Jazz musicians who left their hair natural to show that they were proud of their black roots and identity. 

I just want to comment on the magazine which is for black people and the name is 'Ebony' which was probably a classic black name during that time, there is a section for wigs which are still popular now with afro-americn hair, there is a section about the 'richest negro family' and 'what ike thinks about negros' - although black people had more freedom during the 1960's, the world 'negro' is still being loosely thrown around (by white and black people) which suggests that racism was still relevant. Although that this magazine uses that word, it does imply that black people had begun to take charge of their identity and would rather call themselves 'negros' than a white a person. It does show how far things have chanced politically and socially since the 1950's which was probably anti-black and freedom was embraced by all races. 


images from http://hair-and-makeup-artist.com/womens-1960s-hairstyles/