‘To bob or not to bob’ – just imagine the giggles and nervousness as the first girlfriend in the group whisked off her cloche hat to reveal the severe, boyish cut of the 1920s fashion in hairstyles -THE BOB. How bold! Yes, that’s exactly the buzz those young women felt as they queued at the door of the all male domain- the barber’s shop. Not a few tearful young ladies would scoop up the remains of their tresses from the floor, to use them as ‘camouflage’ for bare napes later. Below is a brief overview of the 1920s fashion in hairstyles.
After Coco Chanel was seen wearing her hair level with her ears, all around her head, more and more women opted to chop their crowning glory in favour of the short page boy look. ‘Foreheads’ were not really fashionable so the 1923 bob was worn with bangs a fair bit, with curling, perming and colouring softening this page boy look a little later on.
“I’ve raised my girls to be women and my boys to be men, but since the advent of this shingle bob, I have to look twice at my own offspring to tell which is which.” This quote, from a parent’s ‘letter to the editor’ is taken from a great webpage with lots of excellent photos and some funny stats on the bob. I love the ‘bobby pins’ and plastic hair pins-(I remembered seeing some in my Grandmother’s dressing table in Lancashire when I was a little girl)
Hairdressers lost many of their clients to the barbers, so to get them back they offered the short cut with waves, curls and brush over styles, thus softening the rather square, ultra groomed, Art Deco look of the ‘Dutch Boy’- a 1920s fashion style made famous by the actress Louise Brookes.
By 1925, ears were still covered but hair was very short at the back of the neck. The ‘Shingle bob’ was perfected with the deft use of a razor, sometimes with ‘spit curls’ or little ringlets at the forehead or cheek.
Eventually the ears were uncovered and the hair was cut short all over the head. The Eton Crop was the boldest cut yet in 1927, with hair slicked down to the head with Brylcreme like a helmet that shone ‘brilliantly’!
The Cloche hat was the perfect accessory for 1920s fashion as it suited these short haircuts well- hugging the crown of the head like the hair and with a brim that came right down over the eyes. Often the young women looked quite ‘haughty’ unintentionally, due to the uplifting of their chins to see where they were going! However, by the late twenties, they were turning back their brims and starting to grow their hair a bit longer at the back. Feminine softness was returning BUT the act of cutting their hair short, smoking, drinking and generally doing whatever they wished had demonstrated to the world that 1920s women had the right to ‘freedom of choice’.
By 1928 women were confidant enough to throw off their cloche hats and show a more feminine hairstyle.
Have you seen the TV ad for Extra White gum? Look at the girl in the middle with classic 1920s fashion haircut. In one form or another, in every hairdresser’s salon today women are still looking terrific with a variation of the 1920s look. Don’t forget to check out the new book on how 1920s Flapper Invented Modern Times.
