Retro Hairstyles
by lengli
Are you into vintage looks? Hunting for a new style? Brainstorming for a Halloween costume? Or just really, really bored? Whatever your situation, playing with a new hairdo is an easy and fun way to explore different sides of your personality. Think about it: styling products and curling irons are a fairly cheap investment, and if it turns out that you don't like the results, some shampoo and conditioner will solve everything in a matter of minutes! When it comes to retro styles, there are a wealth of different looks to try out, but for simplicity's sake, we've chosen a few classic looks that you can try at home. Read on for step-by-step guides to finger waves, victory rolls, Farrah hair, and more.
20s: Bits and Bobs
The 1920s and the flapper era were all about bobbed hair. To assert their new independent status (women's suffrage was finally granted in 1920), ladies chopped off their locks and wore a blunt cut that stopped midway between their chin and cheekbones. Of course, if you already have a bob, you're in luck: all you really have to do is style yourself as you normally would--maybe iron your hair straight, curl the ends lightly, or add finger waves--and you're good to go. If you're not ready to take the short hair plunge quite yet, you can easily fake the look with a faux bob.
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- Styling will be easier if your mane has not just been washed, so if you can get away with it, try working with day-old hair.
- Lightly mist your head with water and add a bit of styling lotion
 to help with hold.
- Blow your hair dry and add a little hair powder at the roots for texture and volume.
- Use a wide barrel curling iron to create waves all over your head.
- Using a rat tail comb or your fingers, fix your part and divide your hair into two side sections and one back section. Clips will help keep everything separated.
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- Now separate the back section into top and bottom pieces, and start lightly teasing each piece with a comb.
- Take the bottom section and twist it into a low ponytail. Wrap the tail under and pin it into place with bobby pins so it looks like the back of your hair is now bobbed.
- Let the top piece of your hair down and twist it like you just did. Attach this part to the base you created in the previous step.
- Tease hair at the crown of your head to add volume, and backcomb (comb towards the root) your front sections. Twist these slightly, and pin them with the rest of your locks at the nape of your neck.
- Use your hands or the curling iron (maintain a light touch!) to adjust: adding more curl or shaping. Mist once more with hairspray and add some pretty hair accessories to complete the look.
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30s: Slipping Through Your Fingers
As the 30s progressed and the Great Depression only got, well, greater, Americans ceased the partying of the Roaring Twenties and went into survival mode. Women became more concerned with securing their futures, and thus went on the hunt for husbands to help support them financially. The boyish styles of the previous decade evolved into softer, more feminine looks, and hair was likewise transformed. Longer and wavy was the trend, and no hairstyle was more iconic than the elegant finger wave. Read on to find out how to do these yourself with a minimum amount of fuss (though it might take a few attempts before you have the technique perfected).
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- You will absolutely need to start with wet (but not dripping) hair, and work quite a bit of gel through to make sure your style holds!
- Part your hair as you normally would, and pick a side to start on. Now comb down about an inch and a half, then flip the comb so that the teeth point back toward your part.
- Push the comb up a little bit so your hair is no longer flat against your head, then drag the comb forward, toward your face.
- Slide the wave you just created off your comb, then use a large jaw clip to pin that ridge of hair in place.
- To begin the second wave, comb down once more (about an inch and a half again), then flip the comb up toward your part, and push your hair up slightly.
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- This time, drag the comb back, this wave goes away from the first one.
- Slide the new wave off the comb, and clip it into place.
- Continue waving the first side of your head until you reach your jaw, approximately, then do the other side.
- If you have short hair, you're done, but if you have longer hair, you can add some pin curls while you're waiting for everything to dry. For a pin curl tutorial, you can check out HairBoutique.com.
- Wrap your head in a bandanna and wait for everything to dry. This could take several hours, but when your waves are ready, take out all your pins and clips, fluff everything up lightly, and mist with hairspray for longevity.
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40s: V for Victory!
It was wartime in the 1940s, and the focus was all about supporting the troops overseas. However, a lack of materials meant that women had to be quite resourceful with crafting their look. Though makeup became more muted and natural looking, a patriotic red lip gave some pizazz, and when it came to hair, no style was more DIY chic than victory rolls. These rolls were named for a fighter plane maneuver, so they were topical, but incredibly glamorous. Best of all, they can be created very quickly, so it's all too easy to channel your inner pin-up girl.
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- This is another 'do where day-old hair works best. Sleep on it!
- Use hot rollers for a couple of minutes to deliver some body and volume.
- While you can make victory rolls with pin curls, it is much easier and quicker to use hair rats . Rats are especially helpful if you have very long hair or are not particularly adept with pin curling.
- Part your hair so that you have a front section (so you are effectively creating a half-ponytail) and a back section. Tie this back section into a ponytail to keep it out of the way.
- Now part the front section as you desire, and clip away the side you will not initially be working on.
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- Lightly backcomb and then mist with hairspray so everything is easier to work with.
- Hold the section of hair by its ends and roll it up and around your rat, smoothing as you go.
- When your locks have been rolled up to your scalp, start using bobby pins to secure everything in place. Arrange your hair around the rat so that it is completely covered.
- Once one side is done, repeat on the other.
- Untie the rest of your hair. To complete the look, fluff up your ends, tie everything into a snood for a really authentic touch.
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50s: Pony Up
Get into the 50s frame of mind with poodle skirts, saddle shoes, and sock hops! This decade was about a "return to normalcy" post World War II, which meant that women who had been working while their husbands were away went back home and picked up where they had left off. Babies were born in droves, and the family unit and femininity were prized above all. Embrace your inner girlie girl by thinking of rosy complexions and soft-looking hair: there were no hard edges here.
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- Hair that was not just washed will work better (yet again--noticing a theme?).
- If you have bangs, they are the perfect accompaniment. If you don't, you can create a faux bang, or just pull all of your hair back.
- If you want a faux bang, use your fingers or a rat tail comb to create a section at the front of your head. This will be your fringe, so make it as small or as large as you want. Clip this aside, and we'll come back to it later.
- Make a small side section, and lightly twist this near to where you want your ponytail to be. Use bobby pins to secure, and repeat on the other side.
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- Gather everything into a high ponytail and tie with a hair elastic . Brush your ends up and towards the tail so you have something of an S shape. Spray for hold.
- Now for the faux bang. Work a dab of styling putty through that front section. This will be slightly tacky so the bang will hold more easily.
- Use your fingers to curl the ends of your hair under, and start rolling this toward your forehead.
- When you reach your forehead, secure the underside with bobby pins. From there you can pull the sides out to make a larger bang (pin again if you need to). Use hair spray on the outside and inside of the curl, and it will stay put as long as you need.
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60s: Flip Your Lid
By the 1960s, weekly visits to the salon to maintain those fastidious beehives, and poodle hairstyles of the 50s were getting to be a chore, and women started looking for glamorous styles that they could do at home. Hair rollers the size of Coke cans, while not so comfortable to sleep in, gave hair enormous lift and gave way to a number of fun looks. The flip can be bouffant-esque--think sky high!--or smooth and shiny, a la Mary Tyler Moore , but with either variation, you'll be turning heads wherever you go.
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- Wash, towel dry, and comb your hair, then work in some volumizing mousse so you will have more control.
- Depending on how authentic you want to be, you can wet your hair and let it dry overnight around velcro rollers , or use electric ones (but this will not give nearly as much body as the wet rolling technique).
- For a visual guide to setting your hair, see HairArchives.com and follow their chart. Basically, you begin at the top of your head and work your way down, rolling in the direction of the desired flip.
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- Once the rollers are set, allow your hair to dry. Now it is time to remove the rollers and start combing everything out.
- Since you now have been in rollers for quite some time, your hair will be sectioned off. Use a round brush or a boar bristle brush to blend it back together, and continue to shape the hair in the direction in which it is going--now you'll really get to see how well you set your locks!
- For extra volume and drama, you can use a comb to tease the crown a bit.
- Work through some shine serum for extra gloss, and spray, spray, spray to keep everything in place.
- Digging on the sassy vibe but not looking for such an extreme look? Modernize this 'do by curling your ends with a large barrel curling iron . Cute!
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70s: Spread Your Wings
Disco came and went, but Farrah Fawcett's hair will be with us forever. The iconic Charlie's Angels actress set the standard for the decade as women clamored to emulate her feathered locks. The hippie era and its focus on all things natural meant that styles were all about breezy, beachy chic. Locks of any length can be feathered, and the technique looks great on a variety of hair types. This style is all about creating a light, textured coiffure with tons of body and movement. It's the perfect complement to getting down on the dance floor, hitting the roller rink , caring for your pet rock--whatever you can think of!
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- Feathering will ultimately work best on layered or angled hair. If you have a blunt cut and intend to keep it, you might want to invest in a wig .
- Start with clean hair: shampoo and condition, then towel dry and run a comb through to get rid of the tangles. Apply a lightweight heat styling product to prevent breakage and protect against frizz.
- Begin at the back of your head and start a normal blowout: wrap a section of hair around a large round brush (a thermal one works great), aim a blow dryer at that section, and gently pull to smooth. When you're working at your crown, lift that piece high in the air, and aim your dryer at the roots. This will give height and body.
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- When you get to the sides, this is where the fun starts. Angle your brush and as you pull, do so in an arc shape: out and a bit up so your hair will flip out.
- For the top of your head, continue the technique you just used for the sides.
- Once your hair is dry, grab a large barrel curling iron, and roll sections of your hair, but only a third of the way up so you don't get curls all over. Follow the direction of the flip that you developed during the blowout.
- Mist with medium-hold hairspray so everything stays in place, and you're good to go!
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80s: Defying Gravity
Ah, the 80s: the rejection of manufactured disco glam and glitter, and the propensity to deconstructive punk. Punk rock was reactionary, and it inspired people to go big or go home. As the decade evolved, icons like Billy Idol ,Madonna in Desperately Seeking Susan , and the ever-present Aqua Net spawned the classic look of "mall hair," and for this, we will forever be grateful. But ShopWiki, you say, how can I reenact these architectural (not to mention majestic) 'dos? Never fear, dear reader--press on. How does the old saying go? "The higher the hair, the closer to God"? We'd say you're on the right track.
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- Start with damp hair and work in some volumizing mousse. Pay extra attention to your roots so they get maximum lift.
- Once your product is in, grab a hair dryer. Though normally you want to direct the hot air downward toward your ends, you'll want to focus the air up (toward your roots) so your cuticles are opened up: yes, we're enabling frizz!
- It's teasing time! Take a comb or a round brush and start backcombing at the crown of your head.
- What would the 80s be without crimping irons ? Grab yours and crimp a few sections (or your whole head, if you want!), starting from the roots. Vary it up so you have straight and texturized patches.
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- Use a 1" curling iron and work it through to create sporadic ringlets.
- Once you have your curls, backcomb them so they'll be nice and big. The idea is to simulate a perm, but without all the smelly chemicals.
- This decade was all about mega hold hairspray . Lift up sections and spray from underneath.
- If you have bangs, divide them into a top and bottom section. Clip the top part away for now, and use your curling iron to curl the bottom half. Now curl the top bangs away from the bottom ones and slightly toward the sides.
- Use your curler to wing the hair just at your temples. Start at the roots and curl toward the back of your head. Spray and go!
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