The Glamorous 1940's: Hair

Yup. Glamorous 1940's style hair. The pin-ups, the waves, the victory rolls, the pin curls, and the headscarfs -- the hair. This was back long before sleek, straight, silky hair became the fashion -- that really didn't happen till the very early 2000's -- and yet it was also before hair had to be messy to be stylish. That started in the 70's and carried on into the late 90's.

Women in the war-time era were just like women from any other time -- they wanted to be beautiful and in style. But because of WWII, cloth was given to the war effort. Several inches were taken off skirts, and layers were taken from most clothing items, leaving them thinner than before. While in some ways this was a good thing -- shorter skirts and thinner garments were far more practical -- it left the 40's woman with very little in the way of fashion. She no longer had yards and yards of fabric to make stylish dresses. It became the fashion to be patriotic; she was actually frowned on if she wore too long of a skirt or too thick of a jacket. So most of her effort went into her make-up and hair.

During this decade, the woman who looked put-together and proper, looked fabulous. Curls were carefully and meticulously put in every night, and were either left to fall gracefully across her shoulders, or teased and pinned into victory rolls or some such 'do. Not a pin showed, not a hair fell out of place, and everything was soft and pretty and modestly feminine.

As a teenage girl growing up in the turn of the 21st century, I've found it fairly easy to incorporate my favorite hairstyles into my daily life. They aren't exactly "in" right now, and I've gotten plenty of "Um, that's cute, but it isn't something I would ever wear" comments. But I don't particularly care. :)

Girls, if you're interested in wearing any of these stunning hairstyles, I have some advice: Don't freak out. It isn't that hard to recreate these 'dos. Look up a tutorial on YouTube (you can find anything on YouTube) on how to do pin-curls or a 40's style pin-up. Play around. Experiment. Recently I pinned up my hair in a more late 1800's/early 1900's style, pulled it down, and found myself with gorgeous 40's waves. Things to always have? Bobby pins, a round bristle brush, a rattail comb, and a whole lotta hairspray. Watch movies from the 1940's and look for hairstyles you like, then mess around until you figure them out. Even if they don't turn out the way they did in the movies, you usually end up with something fabulous anyway. And the hairstyle never has to be perfect -- just make sure it makes you feel happy when you wear it. That's really all that matters! :D

Next in my 1940's Blog Series: Clothing!