1920s hair help please!

[keira]

Hello

Can anyone give me some tips on recreating a 1920s-esque hair do? My hair is naturally curly and just above my shoulders. In terms of tools I only have a hairdryer, brush, hair pins and mousse. Is there anything easy I can do to get a 1920s 'look'?

Thank you!

 

[Paul]

Sorry I can not offer practical help but I do have a page of 20's hair styles here
http://www.inspiration-from-vintage.info/hair/hair.htm
maybe it will give you an idea or two.

 

[Helen Troy]

The easiest 20th style I know is wawes in the front, and edwardian style roll at the nape of the neck. (Use a rat.) I know there are many threads here with info on both, just do a little search! Good luck!

 

[Miss 1929]

You've got the bob already!

Hi Keira - welcome to the Lounge! Do peruse all the threads, there's a wealth of knowledge. But it does sound as if it won''t be too hard to come up with a look like this:

You have naturally curly hair, so you are far, far ahead of the game!

If you comb your hair out, part it on the side, dampen it down with water and comb that through, spray a bunch of strong hairspray on and comb that through as well, you will see waves - push them around so they go in alternating directions. Then you could just pin the low points (the parts closer to your head) down with the pins, and let it dry. Maybe curl up the ends and pin them so the pins don't show, to give it a bit less length.
Do not brush it when dry! Just let it sit after removing the pins!

These are way better and easier to use than bobby pins for the waves:

And you can find them in most drug stores.

Good luck! And take pictures for us to see!

 

[Spaugs]

Actually, this is the easiest to recreate if you have curly hair or completely straight hair. Just get a blunt cut all the way around. All it is is a straight cut around the entire head. You may want to change where the hair stops at based on your face shape; however most 20's girls cut it so their hair ended around cheek height.

I hope that helps.

~Spaugs

 

[Miss 1929]

Of course with curly hair, you have to plaster it down somehow, or that kind of haircut comes out like Bozo the Clown. I speak from sad experience.

 

[keira]

Thanks folks, that's really helpful. Will get experimenting!

 

[Mojito]

There's quite a lot of variety in 1920s hairstyles, and many variations on the ubiquitious bob. What a world of difference between Clara Bow's curly mop and Louise Brooks' sleek Dutch doll/Cleo/Lulu/Buster Brown etc etc (the bob of a thousand names). Throw in styles like the Eton crop and the bobs disguised by switches, and theres a huge range of styles. The blunt bob was a product of the late teens/early 1920s when women walked into barber shops and demanded their locks be shorn. It achieved much greater heights of sophistication, however, with shingling enhancing the basic cut. Lengths differed greatly too - some were chin length, others level with the bottom of the ear, and others even higher (my grandmother had a basic dutch doll that was so short it almost looked like an Eton crop).

Stylists of the time had something to say about it as well - where Colleen Moore's mother cropped her hair off bluntly to land her the role in Flaming Youth, Louise Brooks's basic bob (which she had worn since childhood) was polished by more skilled hands in the 1920s. According to her own account, "she [Barbara Bennett] took me to the smart hairdressing shop of Saveli, where Saveli himself attended to my hair. He shortened my bangs to a line above my eyebrows, shaped the sides in points at my cheekbones, and shingled the back of my head." The result was marked - A Parisian coiffeur Antoine, who started a bobbing salon at Saks Fifth Avenue in 1927, was critical of Moore's thick straight cut, saying it gave the face "a common expression", and was even vulgar. Brooks bob, however, he deemed flattering to her face. He was particular critical of those who didn't pay proper attention to the back.

Good luck with your styling, Keira - Miss 1929's fingerwaves might be ideal for your hair texture (if you have naturally curly hair I wouldn't try a dutch doll without lots of straighteners!). You could also shingle the back, but that might be a bit permanent for what you have in mind. Or just go all out, curl it like mad, wrap a bandeau around it and develop some of Clara Bow's "it"! I'd love to see the results on whatever you decide