The Wet Head look: A question

[FedoraFan112390]

When did the trend of having long hair on top (with it short on the sides and back), slicked down and back with hair oil giving it a "wet appearance" die off? Examples of people who had the Wet Head look would be stars like Clark Gable, and Presidents Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon

It's a haircut sort of like the Dillinger cut but neater on the top and without the sides shaved.

 

[Yeps]

[video=youtube;Q0hFpO19ecA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0hFpO19ecA[/video]

 

[Marc Chevalier]

.
It began to die off in earnest in the 1960s. (And for the crewcutted Madison Avenue execs, in the 1950s.)

 

[Undertow]

I do the Dillinger cut; I find it wonderfully easy to maintain, and simple to style. I can also wear it year 'round.

 

[Travis Lee Johnston]

Looks like they're using hair tonic and nothing else in those pictures. I had to stop using it cause it gives you the worst nasty bedhead and pimples if you use a lot of it. Plus it feels really gross the next morning unless you go right to the shower to wash it out and not deal with it. Your hair will feel soft though once it's mostly gone/dried out.

 

[The Good]

Same here, I've also got a Dillinger cut (Johnny Depp's role though). I style it either slick or more dry with pomade, so it's versatile for both styles.

When did men start to use hairspray though? Was it around 1970 or earlier than that?

 

[Freescholar]

By the 60's the slicked back look was considered completely out of date and old fashioned, but even as early as the 30's the look was beginning to lose popularity.

 

[Travis Lee Johnston]

I read once that hairspray was first sold to the public in 1962. Though I believe it was geared more for women at the time.
Before that, women might have used their husbands tonics or pomade. Or the tonics and pomade brands geared for women which were more flowery/sweet scented a lot of times.

 

[The Good]

By the 60's the slicked back look was considered completely out of date and old fashioned, but even as early as the 30's the look was beginning to lose popularity.

By the early '30s, really? Slicked straight back in this case, as opposed to parted, right?

 

[skyvue]

A lot of the guys (well, actors, anyway) in the thirties and forties didn't have short hair on the sides; they just slicked it back. But left to its own devices, it'd have been over the ear.

See: Warren William.

 

[Freescholar]

By the early '30s, really? Slicked straight back in this case, as opposed to parted, right?

Don't get me wrong, pomades and hair grease would continue to be used by many men for another 20 years. I was just talking about the beginning of the turn of the trend. By the late 30's you start seeing articles in various magazines and such pushing for a more natural look. After the war there were a great deal more men wearing their hair sans grease and by the 60's only the older generation and perhaps some very conservative youth slicked their hair back.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

By the late 30's you start seeing articles in various magazines and such pushing for a more natural look.

True ... but in the '30s, "more natural" didn't mean "dry". Instead, men were encouraged to use Brylcreem and Vitalis --which made hair easy to comb, kept it in place, let it have some body, and gave it a light, subtle sheen-- instead of thick, greasy pomades, which flattened hair to the scalp and gave off a patent leather sheen.

 

[Dan Rodemsky]

Interesting. I went looking for something besides gel. My local CVS had Brylcream and Groom and Clean. That was all. The ingredients looked the same except Brylcream had wax added. I chose Groom and Clean. A wet comb is all I need to cure my "helmet hair".

 

[Undertow]

Interesting. I went looking for something besides gel. My local CVS had Brylcream and Groom and Clean. That was all. The ingredients looked the same except Brylcream had wax added. I chose Groom and Clean. A wet comb is all I need to cure my "helmet hair".

You'll notice that G&C ingredients include many more synthetics as opposed to Brylcreem. Also notice the difference in product; i.e. G&C is like a gel, Brylcreem like a thin paste.

Whereas G&C leaves your hair thick and "greasy" (although it proports a no-grease feel) at the end of the day, Brylcreem leaves your hair light and supple, if not the slightest greasy. I think Brylcreem is the superior product, but I use G&C for my daily routine to cut costs. My Brylcreem only comes out for weekends or special occasions.

I have nothing against G&C, by the way. In fact, so far as I've experienced, G&C and Brylcreem are my choices over pomades in that they're so much easier to clean out.

 

[The Good]

Just wanted to comment on the "wet/dry look" matter. It seems that as early as 1962, some male actors were already using hairspray. Roger Moore apparently used hairspray (as opposed to Brylcreem) while playing Simon Templar "The Saint" in the popular '60s TV series.

See Question 3:

http://www.roger-moore.com/old/Roger/sirrogermoore/june-2010.html

 

[The Good]

I don't use any hair goop myself, so I've wondered how it interacts with hats. Obviously, the goop era intersected with the hat era, so there must not have been any problem, or perhaps people were not as fastidious about things back then. But since even sweat causes problems with hats, it seems that hair goop, perhaps in conjunction with hats, would cause even more problems, such as stains that don't come out easily. What's the story on this?

Good question Kabuto, I've seen up on eBay so many vintage hats from around that era, yet the liners are still clean looking.

 

[Travis Lee Johnston]

The leather sweatband takes all of the rub on the hair/head. I've been a pomade user for a decade. Having some in your hair wont ruin a felt fedora unless maybe you have a deep crease that touches the top of your freshly applied, greased, noggin. It's pretty easy on sweatbands. Salty sweat on the other hand...