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quick 1920s hair advice

thebadmamajama

Practically Family
Messages
564
Location
Good ol' Midwest
Hi all! Sorry for the hiatus, grad school is eating me alive...

but! I am going dancing to a swing band for new year's this year and I've picked up this AMAZING brushed gold flapper style dress that is perfect for the venue I'm going to...I found a great vintage looking flower for my hair (it's black and I have a 100 inch strand of pearls (thank you, boyfriend!), but I want it to look signature 20s and not 40s (this time).

Any suggestions? I have long hair but can put it up and leave a bit down in front to imitate a bob...I want this look to be really creative and stunning and know that you ladies are the ones to ask!
 

thebadmamajama

Practically Family
Messages
564
Location
Good ol' Midwest
YOU are such a doll! There is so much I can use here and now I can't wait. Oh, thank you so much for your time and trouble! I'll post pictures after the event!
 

missmelly

One of the Regulars
Messages
206
Location
Portland, OR
thebadmamajama said:
YOU are such a doll! There is so much I can use here and now I can't wait. Oh, thank you so much for your time and trouble! I'll post pictures after the event!
No problem. I actually enjoyed looking some of that up. I'm all about the 20s.;)
 

thebadmamajama

Practically Family
Messages
564
Location
Good ol' Midwest
I only had a short time to get it done, but I really love the way it turned out and THANK YOU for the help--it made all the difference! :D

IMG_3594.jpg


n583261709_1672426_665_2-1.jpg
 

Lollipop

Familiar Face
Messages
80
Location
Glenburn, Maine
Sorry for bringing up a slightly long dead thread, But this was the closest I could find:

Anywho, I'm always reading about 1920 hairstyles, and how girls with long hair wore it back with a chignon or a knot...But what exactly do they mean by a "knot"?...and there are TONS of different ways and looks for a chignon, So what exactly did the Chignon back in the 20's look like? I have searched and searched, But there really isn't anything about long hair, Chignon and knots...It's all about the bobs.

And just another question:

I know women couldn't have just done the knot and chignon...So what were some other hairstyles they did?

I'm always searching for a way to do a 1920s bob with long, and I found a few tutorials...But I just can't figure out how to really do them...

Thanks to everyone!
 

Miss 1929

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,397
Location
Oakland, California
"Knot" is just another name for putting your hair up in a bun, a chignon, a whatever.
The ideal is a small head. So plaster the front and sides down, either sleeked completely or waved, and the back can do lots of different things...

A fat, round bun is good if you have a nice Spanish comb to wear (a comb needs a big bun to support it).

I used to do a nice thing when my hair was really long, where I would divide the hair into two parts, twist them away from my face into two ropes, then twist them around each other once, bring the ends up and pin them to the head above the twist, then flip the remaining loops up and pin them to cover that previously pinned part, and pin it all down - it looked like a big pretzel and laid down nice and close to the head (essential if you plan to wear a cloche hat, and even then you will probably have a hard time finding a hat that will go over any amount of hair).

Also popular were "earphones" which are buns of hair coiled over the ears. Sort of more an early 20s look, and more often worn by younger women. I think it was kind of a fad.

1920_1930_hairstyles.jpg
 

Lollipop

Familiar Face
Messages
80
Location
Glenburn, Maine
Thanks! That's what I figured it meant, But I wasn't really sure.

The "pretzel" hairstyle sounds nifty(The earphone, one too.)...I think I'll try it out.

Thanks again!
 

Anwen

New in Town
Messages
49
Location
London
Fabulous, I'm usually more a 40s girl and have finally managed to grow my hair nice and long, but I am planning to go for a 20s look this Saturday night, and wasn't really sure what to do with my hair - I like the sound of the pretzel thing!
 

Idledame

Practically Family
Messages
897
Location
Lomita (little hill) California
Sometimes in old 20s movies you'll see a girl who looks like she has bobbed hair from the front with big waves over the ears, but when she turns around you can see that in the back the hair looks like a figure eight on its side right at the nape of the neck. It's flat enough that from the side you dont see it and they can wear a cloche hat over it. In a few films they show the girls taking their hair down at night and they have hair to their waist! I always wondered how they did it.
 

C-dot

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,908
Location
Toronto, Canada
Idledame said:
In a few films they show the girls taking their hair down at night and they have hair to their waist! I always wondered how they did it.

Lillian Gish I know had hair down to her waist for most of her life. I think this was because bobbed hair was so in vogue, but so taboo at the same time. Rolling your hair instead of bobbing it was a compromise.

That being said, women who did bob their hair in the early-mid twenties often found wore it in faux long styles because of the stigma, even saving their hair from the barbershop floor :)

I love this page for the history of the bob. It's amazing how far the controversy stemmed:
By 1925, the bobbed hair controversy still raged. A teacher in Jersey City, New Jersey was actually ordered by her Board of Education to let her hair grow! The Board claimed that women waste too much time fussing with bobbed locks. Preachers warned parishioners that “a bobbed woman is a disgraced woman.” Men divorced their wives over bobbed hair. One large department store fired all employees wearing bobbed hair.
 

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