Do I have to curl my hair to be vintage accurate?

[Audrey Horne]

Amazing photos!
And perfect colours and focus - are they recoloured or reenactments? Or did they really have coulor photos back then. They look gorgeous - the best I've seen !!

I'm pretty sure they're from the Library of Congress. They set up a Flickr account:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/sets/72157603671370361/

They're amazing!

 

[certainlyred]

Wow, I had to stop and look through that entire flickr set...those are truly amazing.

 

[Naama]

I think we become too fixated on movie-star hair, styles that never saw a breath of wind or an ounce of humidity! OK, women might have not left the house with a hair out of place, but I bet if they were caught in a gale it would look the same as ours does when it happens to us!

But I have to say, I love those not perfect depression era hair dos, the ones who look a bit fuzzy and not too styled. But I can't really do that, only if I sleep with my curled hair without rolling it up again, and then the chances are often big that on the next morning they won't be curled anymore, what also sucks I guess, you jus't can't have it all....

(and sure, my hair doesn't always look like straight out of hollywood ^^ But when it sucks, then it really sucks.....)



Naama

 

[Tuppence B.]

No way back now

Wow - now It's done! I had exactly the same challenge as the first poster, and went to a VERY sweet and competent haidresser, lovely Laila, who is herself perfectly 50's styled (and who might show up here as well - after hours of vintage talk and buckets of praise for Fedora Lounge ).

This is what happened: after I asked her how my long straight hair could possibly be turned into an authentic 40's look (implying that I woundn't mind a little shortening) - she simply cut most of it off http://www.thefedoralounge.com/images/smilies/LOL.gif
So: her answer to the question put in this thread was clear: curls!

I ended up with rollers and 2 h and 40 min talking vintage before I was ready. Now there's no way back. I have bought rollers, my first ever hair tongs and my darling Woland has traced up Revlons Lottabody in Oslo...
This is my new destiny..

Radical - but I am sooo pleased! Here are the before and after pics:

And now! (or, eh - the way I looked straight from the hairdresser :

 

[Tuppence B.]

Sorry about the size of these pics... I still have a lot to learn - that was my first Photobucket attempt.... Again, sorry

 

[~*Red*~]

Tuppence, it looks lovely! Congratulations!

 

[goldwyn girl]

Tuppence, the short style is very flattering to your face.

 

[pennycarrol]

Tuppence, I really prefer the shorter hair!!!

 

[Miss 1929]

Me too, Tuppence, it is lovely! What a difference! And so much more authentic!

 

[Tuppence B.]

Thank you all so very much :-D

I'm really glad the hairdresser took charge and "guided me" - because I'm not sure I would have been able to muster up the courage for such a drastic cut all by myself.

And now I'm sooo pleased, and I also think it was my only option for a genuine 40's look - really.

Even styling my old, long hair wouldn't have done the trick because of my short fringe. The only way to "blend it into" the rest of the hair while it grows out is by getting rid of some of the hair-weight, i.e. cutting the length.

Now I can grow out my fringe while still having a correct 40's style, and as the main part of the hair is still shoulder length - a long 40's hairdo without a visible fringe will only be approximately a year away - if I should miss the length.

(But I don't.... )

So - if anyone else has my hair challenge - my fresh advice is: cut it and get out the rollers

 

[Babydoll]

Crazy! The gal on the left looks a lot like one of my friends, Marie.

 

[Mrs. Merl]

I couldn't agree more about "no return" after you cut your hair short and get out the rollers!! I had my hair cut awhile back - paigeboy style - and now I can't really think of any other way I would want my hair cut!! I love how versatile a length and cut it is! (Only when I ski, do I miss my pig tails...) I feel really blah when it grows out and I don't have the time to get it cut right away. I really feel more peppy when my hair looks like I have at least tried to make it look decent!

 

[MegamiOrchard]

I am more a 1950s devotee, but I am still having trouble as I have long very straight hair and no chance to set it! I think I am going to have to channel Audrey Hepburn in Funny Face, as much as I would rather be attempting Grace Kelly in To Catch a Thief. I have asked about perms in that thread, so if anyone has any ideas, HELP!

 

[lyburnum]

There were women that wore their hair straight. I've scanned a couple of photos from my book 'Drama and Shadows' by Stanley Kubrick. All the photos were taken between 1945-1950. I also know for sure that I've seen a photo before of a woman with ebony hair on the subway, taken during the 1940s, who had poker straight, long hair. I cannot for the life of me remember where I saw it. I thought it was in the same book as these photos, but apparently not.

And some more casual hair styles:

(It's a fantastic book btw, highly recommended)

 

[Ada Veen]

Oh, I love this thread. Leaette, maybe you should buy a snood and wear that with rolls in the front.

 

[leaette]

adaveen: i'm crocheting a snood as we speak! i'm almost done with it.
unfortunately, i have short hair. not enough to fill the snood. i think i may get a fake mini-wig, like a ponytail one and use that to fill the snood.

 

[NoirDame]

Here are more photos of women without perfect hair. Look in the crowd. Most women have it wrapped up. These are from the early 40's by the way.

Don't know if anyone has said, but for era placement those are Great Depression pictures taken by Dorothea Lange as part of a division of the WPA. I taught a class on it this past semester. Her work is VERY powerful and her most famous image is called Migrant Mother. I am interested by the color, because I have only seen b & w.

 

[JennyLou]

Those are a lot of great pics you ladies posted in this thread.
I'm asian so my hair is naturally straight but I don't think I would ever want a perm so when I want a more vintage look I have to use a curling iron or rollers. I prefer the more longer slightly wavy hair styles from the forties.

 

[texasgirl]

This movie has some great Asian 40s hairstyles, you might check it out

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099291/

 

[JennyLou]

Thank you texasgirl. Ill look into it.