Wigs and Hairpieces
Fake hair was the big hair accessory of the 1960's and was worn openly. Wigs were made of real hair and generally came as a “pull on and wear” cap/weft style. Hairpieces (made from real hair) were attached to the back of the head to create width and height, making big hair even bigger. Pieces could be used to create a top knot or other dressed styles. Contrasting colours were used as well as those matching the wearer’s hair.
Wigs and a “wiglet” for the fashionable ’60s American gal. In the UK, Ginchy Wigs of London made various wigs and hairpieces
False hair attached to a wide velvet headband was very popular, as were bows with hair attached to them. Clusters often had a comb attached to help attach it into the natural hair.
Combs and Slides
Combs and slides were made of plastic and often decorated with bows, rhinestones, bright swirls or mod-inspired black and white geometric patterns.Spanish mantilla combs were used by some women in the back of their huge beehives to prevent them from collapsing. Portobello Road in London or junk shops were good places to scout for an old tortoiseshell mantilla.
Head-scarves
Head-scarves were tied in several ways:
- The fashionable young liked to tie their headscarf right on the point of the chin, as opposed to being tied under the chin like their mothers.
- Alternatively, scarves could be tied behind the head at the nape.
- A long scarf could be crossed under the chin, wrapped around the neck and tied at the back.
Scarves accompanied by big dark sunglasses was the fashionable way – very Jackie O and very Cannes Film Festival!
Model Jean Shrimpton in a headscarf tied at the nape
Natural Elements
Natural items like feathers, leather bands and flowers were worn later in the sixties with the advent of “flower power” and the hippies.
Hair Colouring
Hair colour came into its own in the sixties as developments in hair colour science gave rise to a plethora of new tints and tones, and improved off-the-shelf kits making it easier to dye at home. With the new colours came new techniques like “frosting” – the bleaching of small strands all over the head.
Hairstyles and Elements
Electric tongs and the new styling wand (the hairdryer/curler combo) enabled women to create big curls and lots of lift, and heated Carmen Rollers were readily available, making it easier to set/curl the hair at home instead of going to the hairdressers.
Older women would not necessarily go for an ultra-fashionable modern styles and may still have worn the smaller, more mature styles of the 1950's.
The Bouffant
Lovely bouffant with a flip from mid-1960's
The bouffant carried on from the bouffant styles of the late 1950's. During the 1960's, it varied in size from happily rounded to pretty big.
It was an easy-to-wear style, popular with women of all ages, and easy enough to create. Hair was set in large rollers to create the initial lift and end curl needed. Hair was then back-combed and finished with a smooth, rounded exterior.
The ends of the hair were always curled and either flipped up (very popular), or smoothed under (like a pageboy). Either way, it was set with a mosquito-clearing cloud of hair lacquer to keep the hair and curl in place. To get even more bouff in their bouffants, women could used hairpieces on the crown, creating a towering height of hair.
Famous bouffants wearers include First Ladies Jackie Kennedy and Lady Bird Johnson, The Supremes and Dusty Springfield, who also loved a beehive…
The Beehive
The Ronettes combined beehives with long hair
The beehive is one of the enduring symbol of the early 1960s – a distinctively hive-shaped, backcombed and lacquered mountain of hair that would last for many days (with a bit of tweaking and, of course, lashings more Aqua Net).The creation of the beehive is credited to Margaret Vinci Heldt of Elmhurst, Illinois, owner of the Margaret Vinci Coiffures in downtown Chicago.
She had been asked by the editors of Modern Beauty Salon magazine to design a new hairstyle that would reflect the coming decade and so, in 1960, the beehive was born.
The elegant updo was incredibly popular; worn by the masses and the famous alike (including Dusty Springfield and Audrey Hepburn). A beehive could also be twinned with longer hair in a “half up half down” style, as worn by Bridgette Bardot and The Ronettes.
Short and Sharp Cuts
Vidal Sassoon working on his iconic angular hairstyle of the ’60's, as worn here by Mary Quant
The cutting-edge short styles were created by Vidal Sassoon.In contrast to the heavily-lacquered and teased bouffants, short cuts involved much less daily maintenance and fell easily into place.
Wearers of a Sassoon cut included the urchin hairstyle worn by Mia Farrow in Rosemary’s Baby. Mary Quant and Nancy Kwan also wore a short and very precise Sassoon haircut.
The Bob
A perennial favourite, the bob is an easy-to-wear and flexible style for short hair.A bob of the 1960s varied in shape from a big round bouffant, to the sharp defined lines and angles of Vidal Sassoon’s short bob (reinvented by him in 1963). Vidal’s bob was in vogue throughout the decade, popular with Mary Quant and the mod brigade.The ends of the bouffant bob could be left with a hint of sleek and smooth curl under, or the flicked forward onto the cheek.
Long Hair
Hair was worn long throughout the 1960's, but came more into vogue in the mid/late-’60s for both sexes.
During the early ’60's, hair would not simply be left down. It was worn sleek, sometimes with lift (like a bit of back-combing to achieve a smooth, rounded bouffant), and generally centre parted. Long hair could be with or without a fringe, which tended to be long.
To get poker straight hair, women would iron it, often using a brown paper bag over the hair to help prevent it getting singed.
Later in the decade, with the flower power influence, long hair could be left more natural and the more-than-likely-unstyled hair was usually worn centre parted, and could be with or with a fringe.
Ponytails
Long hair could be put into a ponytail, which were worn high and often combined with a beehive or bouffant at the front.
Fringes
Fringes (or bangs) were popular in the 1960's. When worn, they were generally full, straight and came to at least the eyebrows in length. A side swept look was also fashionable, but not as popular as the forward fringe.
The Afro
Actress Cicely Tyson in a common ’60's accessory – the wig – while the smaller picture shows her natural hairstyle when most black women still straightened (1962)
Many black women had straightened their hair during the forties and fifties, a socially acceptable way to dress one’s hair, but towards the end of the fifties, hair slowly started being left natural and cut short.
Influenced by the American Civil Rights Movement, students and jazz musicians (like Nina Simone) started leaving their hair unstraightened as a symbol of racial pride. Natural hair was a strong political symbol of black pride and identity.Hair gradually became fuller and longer throughout the ’60s as the trend for longer hair continued along with the rise of political activism.Hair was teased into the classic round Afro hairstyle with a wide-toothed Afro pick.
Popularity of the Afro peaked in the late ’60's into the ’70's, during which time it moved from being a political statement into being fashionable, so much so that white people got their hair permed to be tight and curly (e.g. Barbara Streisand).
The wide variety of styles worn in 1965 (click to view)
References;
Corson, R. 2000. Fashions in Hair: The First Five Thousand Years. Peter Owen. 720pp.
Sherrow V. 2001. For Appearances’ Sake: The Historical Encyclopedia of Good Looks, Beauty and Grooming.Greenwood. 288pp.
H&MUA Team. (March 2012). Women’s 1960s Hairstyles: An Overview.Available: http://hair-and-makeup-artist.com/womens-1960s-hairstyles/. Last accessed October 2015.
