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

[chanteuseCarey]

I've got naturally stick straight hair. Right now I've been perming it for the last year. The deco hairstylist I've gone to says when its time to redo it, he'll do a body wave instead. He does a wet set with rollers, and puts me under a hood dryer for like 45 minutes. He says the hair has to be absolutely dry. No blow drying, no brushing! Since I don't have the dryer option at home, I'd have to set it at night and sleep on it. Haven't tried that yet! There is lady in my local Art Deco Society that has her hair set/done in a vintage style every week by this hairstylist- her set lasts all week. She says she AquaNet sprays it until its like lawn sculpture! She sleeps on a real satin pillowcase, respraying her hair at night.

My hair is shorter, but I can still do a snood look. I didn't do anything fancy with the sides in these pics as it was really early start that day. Here's recent pics, the 40s pattern crocheted snood was made for me by CherryRed. I liked this snood so much for me and our daughter that we got six different colors of them from her.

Another gal in my Art Deco society says a good way to fake a 40s look is to get a long section of hair at the beauty supply, braid it and place it at the top of my hair then add the snood. One brand of the hairpieces also lists a matching haircolor product to go with, so I can color my hair to match the hairpiece.

 

[chanteuseCarey]

Your new look is GREAT! With it shorter, it looks very good as 1940s "Servicewomen's length". You should find WAC or WAVE uniform! A good source for info is the website, http://www.blitzkriegbaby.de/

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 :

 

[Miss 1929]

This thread is making me want to whack my hair again.

 

[Lillemor]

I've only seen smooth or braided updos on mature women in these four decades. Never straight and loose on mature ladies. Apart from the 1920s, I don't think it's until the 1950s that we see celebrities with short, straight hairstyles. Audrey Hepburn and Shirley MacLaine are whom I'm thinking of. Even then I'm not sure Shirley was seen with completely straight hair until the 1960s?

You can still meet older ladies who think loose hairstyles below collar length are offensive. My late maternal grandma (b.1911) was a lady who didn't always have cut, permed and set hair but even when it was long it was tidy and done up and she sure wouldn't have had her hair hanging around her collar or even less to her shoulders! She worked as a maid, waitress and generally in catering. That may have had something to do with her attitude about loose hair especially in longer hair lengths. She was always telling my mom and I to cut our hair "or do something about it instead of just having it hang there!" ...then that movement she'd do with her hands.lol

 

[MissAmelina]

This thread is making me want to whack my hair again.

I gotta tell ya....I just whacked about 7 inches off mine and it has been truly liberating.

 

[Viola]

I like the Lauren Bacall semi-straight look, where it has some wave and texture but its not what I'd call truly curly.

My hair is naturally very thick, slightly coarse, and wavy, so I don't have to curl my hair usually to get that kind of look. Of course, my hair occasionally goes either RIDICULOUSLY curly or pin-straight, usually just to defy whatever I'd been trying to do for the day.

Frizz is my nemesis.

I was actually told once that I have "naturally curly hair"(!) that wants to be ringlets, supposedly, but I don't moisturize/brush/curl it correctly to encourage that, and that's why it frizzes? I've never actually had spiral curls or anything in my life, so I was confused.

 

[SayCici]

I know how you feel OP! A short pixie cut looks best on me, although I would love to be able to pull off a wonderful 40's look - but even then, I'm terrible at styling so even if I had the longer hair I probably couldn't manage rolls or curls.

 

[Lily Powers]

I like the Lauren Bacall semi-straight look, where it has some wave and texture but its not what I'd call truly curly.

My hair is naturally very thick, slightly coarse, and wavy, so I don't have to curl my hair usually to get that kind of look. Of course, my hair occasionally goes either RIDICULOUSLY curly or pin-straight, usually just to defy whatever I'd been trying to do for the day.

Frizz is my nemesis.

I was actually told once that I have "naturally curly hair"(!) that wants to be ringlets, supposedly, but I don't moisturize/brush/curl it correctly to encourage that, and that's why it frizzes? I've never actually had spiral curls or anything in my life, so I was confused.

My hair is thick and wavy and in a bob. Too much humidity and I can give any Jersey mall girl a run for her money in the big hair department. Quite by accident, I discovered that after I put moisturizer on my hands, if I take the residual moisturizer and just scrunch the ends of my hair (dry, not wet) in my hands, there's no frizzies and it helps maintain the wave or curl at the ends.

 

[Lillemor]

My hair is thick and wavy and in a bob. Too much humidity and I can give any Jersey mall girl a run for her money in the big hair department. Quite by accident, I discovered that after I put moisturizer on my hands, if I take the residual moisturizer and just scrunch the ends of my hair (dry, not wet) in my hands, there's no frizzies and it helps maintain the wave or curl at the ends.

Some curly haired girls say that "plopping" their hair helps combat frizz. I have no idea what it is but it sounds like a good idea.lol http://www.naturallycurly.com/curlreading/its-a-curly-world/to-plop-or-not-to-plop I don't have time to read it but maybe it's useful.

I think it depends on the decade too. There are some in which certain straighter hairstyles were seen like straight bobs and etons some time in the 20s, I've seen straight pixie crops with short, straight bangs on young girls in the 50s and then there are those loosely waved 40s styles others have already mentioned. For longer 50s styles there are chignons, twists and other tidy updos for mature women.

Currently, I'm feeling inspired to go for a shorter, straight hairstyle. I didn't like my last bob because it was too asymmetrical and had bangs. Now I don't really have bangs and as long as the blunt ends fall below chin I should be okay. If I have my hair cut to my shoulders, it could look more retro on days I feel like waving it. I'll just have to tweak my retro style to look more 30s than 50s.

I forgot to add, that if you can be bothered to mess with henna, then that's supposed to control frizz and make naturally curly hair more controllable too.

 

[Lily Powers]

Some curly haired girls say that "plopping" their hair helps combat frizz. I have no idea what it is but it sounds like a good idea.lol

I don't what "plopping" is either, but if it's as fun to do as it is to say, then count me in. Actually, I do that to some extent (my hair is shorter than the illustration) and it's great when it works. I like how the link you supplied makes reference to lean over the toilet with the lid down... Some days I really need to have that defined!

Doing some reasearch in our public library and I stumbled across the 1923 - 1929 yearbooks for some high schools and colleges in CA. I stopped all my work to peruse the pages and see how "everyday" girls wore their hair. The wavy/curly, Clara Bow-type bob wasn't as prevalent as I thought it would be, but I clearly thought lots of the girls pulled their hair back then just whacked it off at chin length. They were casual, chic and just adorable.

 

[Lillemor]

That's good news for those of you who suit chin length hair. I've decided that I most definitely will have my hair cut off at my shoulders. If I hate it, my hair will grow past my shoulders before the year is out. Remind me of that.

My maternal grandmother had a jaw length bob with sharp parting and some loose waves in it for her communion at age 14 which would've been in 1925. She's pictured in a long white, but straight dress style. The collar is very high. I don't know who has that photo now. She had it framed in a collage. I saw girls with wavy hair from her length and down to their shoulders in her communion photo and some with just the front pulled back in a "House On The Prairee" (or whatever) style with a bow. Maybe they have naturally wavy hair in her family. The other girls appeared to be wearing darker dresses but with white lace collars. Sorry fftopic:

 

[Lauren]

Lily Powers, that's an excellent point! Vintage yearbooks are FABULOUS resources for hairstyles and how people really dressed and did their makeup- I've found a lot less "fussy" styles there, which is very encouraging.

 

[Brooksie]

My hair is thick and wavy and in a bob. Too much humidity and I can give any Jersey mall girl a run for her money in the big hair department. Quite by accident, I discovered that after I put moisturizer on my hands, if I take the residual moisturizer and just scrunch the ends of my hair (dry, not wet) in my hands, there's no frizzies and it helps maintain the wave or curl at the ends.

I have been doing this for about the last year and it does work, even though my hair is straight it still gets frizzy/fuzzy.

Brooksie

 

[Viola]

I'm going to try the moisturizer thing! That'd be so nice if it worked. The humidity has turned my hair into an unstoppable force of poofyness.

And I'm trying to grow it long so anything that'll keep me from attacking it with scissors is a good thing. Bobs can be lovely but frustration is a bad reason for a bob... especially because my hair'll still stay poofy and crazy, only short. My guy also really doesn't want me to cut it, so, hmm, I have to figure out SOME way to make it behave.

 

[Lillemor]

Lily Powers, that's an excellent point! Vintage yearbooks are FABULOUS resources for hairstyles and how people really dressed and did their makeup- I've found a lot less "fussy" styles there, which is very encouraging.

I've also found comfort in regular photos that show that women had frizzy sets back then too.

 

[harvesthobo]

Hi, I'm really new, but I saw this thread and thought of a pointer that I learned recently. My hair is normally really greasy if I don't shower every day, but I heard it's healthier not to wash your hair daily. So I tried applying baby powder (you can use dry shampoo or even cornmeal I guess) to my hair to absorb the oils, and not only did it work really well at making my hair look *much* cleaner, it gave my hair tons of volume. I already have very thick hair, almost annoyingly so, so I don't really need more volume, but I heard that dry shampoos can work wonders for volumizing fine hair. Also, I've heard that if you straighten your hair with baby powder/dry shampoo in it first, it will stay very straight all day, so I don't see why it wouldn't work for holding curls from a curling iron/hot roller set as well.