CREATE THE STYLE
HAIR CAN BE DIFFERENT LENGTHS, SET IN A VERY TIDY HAIRSTYLE CLOSE TO THE HEAD AT THE FRONT, AND PULLED UP IN DIFFERENT WAYS OR BRAIDED AT THE BACK, OR EVEN WORN DOWN IN VOLUMINOUS WAVES.
THE
FRONT STRANDS OF HAIR HOWEVER MUST BE SHORT ENOUGH TO BE PINNED WITH FLAT SECTIONING HAIR CLIPS IN THE SHAPE OF FLAT CURLS.
HAIR MUST BE DAMP AND TREATED
WITH HAIR MOUSSE OR A WET-LOOK GEL TO AVOID ANY VOLUME: ONLY BY DOING SO, WILL THE HAIR STAY IN SHAPE ONCE THE CURL IS DRY.
USE BRILLIANTINE, STYLING WAX OR
SHINE SPRAY FOR A SHINY FINISH AND FIX EVERYTHING WITH EXTRA-HOLD HAIR SPRAY.
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BACKSTORY
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1926: flappers were radical in their conflict with good society and high fashion, to the point they deliberately manhandled clothes and accessories. As well as using skimpy bathing suits to uncover their legs at the seaside, they also sometimes fancied going for a dip with their clothes still on, just because.
After World War I, the US stood as the world’s leading nation: the war in fact did not weaken its strength, but au contraire boosted its seemingly unstoppable industrial and economic development. On a social level however, people’s fast-changing morality clashed with America’s traditional puritan spirit, a clash that in turn led to Prohibition banning the production and consumption of all kinds of alcoholic beverage. But after the war, young women, who had by then become an integral part of the working world, had no intention of going back to being housewives, and took advantage of the crisis of the male world to declare their determination not to take anything too seriously. They transgressed the rules, that of moderation in the first place, with jazz music being the perfect soundtrack for their effervescent conduct: no ties for these ladies, who just wanted to get high and dance till they dropped. Flappers were considered a threat to society, but they took no notice and expressed their sexual freedom with acts of provocation rather than with their conduct. Besides getting rid of long hair, they also ditched all their mothers’ underwear and corsetry: corsets, bras, and bloomers were replaced by breast-flattening bands, loose fitting culottes, flimsy petticoats, and garters that often peeked out from very short knee-length skirts. Flappers introduced a new boy-like body shape that prescribed no curves or voluptuous silhouettes. No longer emphasising the body’s sinuous lines, their dresses were simple rectangles of fabric, with the waistline dropped to the pelvis conveying a sense of lightness and speed of movement while dancing. And so in came slippery and shiny fabrics (silk even in the winter), adorned with beads, fringes and embroideries. Accessories too were taken to another level: long strings of pearls, bracelets with dangling charms and small reticule bags. Women smoked from long cigarette holders, drank out of special flasks they carried fastened under their garters, drove sport’s cars and sometimes
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even aeroplanes, like pilot and actress Ruth Elder also known by the name of Miss America of Aviation. This carefree age however was destined to end in the most tragic of ways. An unprecedented economic crisis, Wall Street’s sadly famous Black Monday of 1929, put a drastic stop to what seemed the decade’s inexorable rush towards the enjoyment of the pleasures of life and of easy money, the only values that seemed to matter.
BACKSTORY
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TRADITION
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PLAIT RESUMÉ 1. Hat decorated with pheasant feathers, part of the traditional Bavarian Alps costume. 2. Tight belt worn over the clothes to highlight the hips, used by Tyrolean country women. 3. Medieval German bas-relief depicting a noble woman with side plaits, as was the custom of the times. 4. From the well-known fairy tale Rapunzel, the plait used as a rope, illustrating its importance in the Germanic tradition. 1
5. The German girls of the Nazi Party’s youth organisations were expected to wear the classic plaited style.
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3
4
5
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TRADITION
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SOVIET
Opposite The smiling face of the new Soviet woman on the cover of the international magazine L’Union Soviétique (1959), a potent means of propaganda.
During the post-Stalin period, in the throes of the Cold War, the
Page 85 New Year 1966, Russian state television gives cosmonaut Valentina Tereškova the task of wishing the nation well.
no longer was a mere economic and military power but also home
Soviet Union enjoyed a period of relative prosperity. Between 1953 and 1964, led by Nikita Khrushchev, the nation seemed to have reached a balance with the West and, through its propaganda, readily fashioned a new image for itself, affirming that the USSR to an existential project for a contented and problem-free society. The Soviet woman was the perfect testimonial for this message of unstoppable progress bound to the Communist Party’s sweeping success. Once having given up the traditional plaits, Russian women opted for a comfortable, unfussy hairstyle that allowed them to maintain their femininity even while carrying out the most demanding jobs (such as that of a cosmonaut) or all sorts of athletic challenges. Being traditionally independent, Russian women had no problem in copying this hairstyle: Soviet technology, applied to the most diverse functions, made available an appliance composed of electric wires and curlers that guaranteed wonderful and practical perms, able to resist even the harsh Russian climate.
TRADITION
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CREATE THE STYLE
THE BUBBLE CUT IS GENERALLY ACHIEVED WITH A FULL SHAPE OR A SLIGHT LAYERING IN THE LOWER PART, SOMETIMES WITH THE FRONT SECTION DIAGONALLY CUT AND BRUSHED TO ONE SIDE.
THIS STYLE REQUIRES VOLUME
ON THE CROWN OF THE HEAD OBTAINED WITH BACKCOMBING, WHILE THE REST OF THE HAIR IS TREATED WITH A SMOOTH AND SOFT SET WITH POINTS TURNED UPWARDS.
STRONG FIX PRODUCTS (LIKE HAIRSPRAY OR VOLUME MOUSSE OR SALINE POWDERS TO INCREASE VOLUME WHILE STYLING) ARE TO BE USED BEFORE, DURING AND AFTER DRYING.
VOLUME
MUST NOT BE RESTRICTED ONLY
TO THE CENTRAL AREA BUT TO THE WHOLE HEAD OF HAIR.
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PRINCESS DIANA RESUMÉ 1. Sloane Girls intentionally adopted references to Victorian tradition in its most aristocratic and hierarchical aspects. 2. One of the Sloane Rangers’ symbolic items of clothing was the Barbour jacket. Created as a hunting jacket, it projected the appeal of country life onto those who wore it. 3. The Official Sloane Ranger Handbook defined the members of the Sloane Square group. Published in 1982 with Lady Diana Spencer on the cover, it was that year’s top selling book.
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4. After the royal wedding, Diana became a lucky and unexpected brand that promoted the British monarchy. 5. Horse-riding was an elitist choice, represented by the classic riding boots that were worn not only at the stables.
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TRADITION
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FEATHERED HAIR
Opposite Farrah Fawcett played a key role in forging our contemporary perception of the casual look. Thanks to her fresh, feminine and at all times impeccable style, sports regained their allure. This picture from the Charlie’s Angels series contributed to making skateboarding popular among girls.
During the 1980s, American television produced a number of TV series in which women, now fortified by feminist principles, could step into new roles of bionic women, super-she-heroes, fearless detectives, shrewd business ladies: all characters a far cry from those earlier roles where women were merely dependant on men, and offering nothing more than an aesthetic addition to the role of the protagonist. What all these new characters had in common, besides their stunning bodies, were their elaborate hairstyles that, in spite of the very busy lives they led, were always no less than impeccable. The most iconic hairstyle was that of Farrah Fawcett, the beautiful protagonist of Charile’s Angels: her feathered hair echoed the looks of Renaissance blond cherubs, with their soft hair that seemed to have no weight, fluctuating in the air defying the laws of gravity while delicately framing their faces.
THE ARTIFICE
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Amy Winehouse in a photo for her 2006 album Back to Black. The British singer’s towering beehive was inspired by those worn by the 1960s Motown singers.
The beehive was the girl-version of a boy’s pompadour,
Texan boots, jeans, bandana scarves tied around their
a style that was most popularly and radically embraced
neck; close-fitting clothes, sleeveless shirts, and short
by the rockabillies. If rock’n’roll was a successful
bolero jackets: a style that certainly could not pass
product for teens living in big cities, the rockabillies
unnoticed and that in the world of show business was
were more of a hard-core subculture that retained all
often adopted by many artists during shows and on the
the authentic quintessential spirit of rock, based on an
covers of their records. Singers like Dusty Springfield
authentic lifestyle and love for aesthetic and behavioural
made the beehive a must for pop music lovers and even
excess, with a taste for country and western culture.
Priscilla, Elvis Presley’s wife, was a fan of this style. This
Those who boasted a beehive were no-nonsense girls
extreme hairdo however was not greeted with favour by
who were not afraid to stand up to boys. They loved
American mass media which often accused rockabilly
heavy makeup, and shared their boyfriends’ passion
beehive girls of scarce hygiene, telling horrible stories
for tacky clothes and accessories, for fast wild dancing
of poor girls whose messy heads of hair were invaded
and showy cars. Of popular, provincial, if not even
by parasites. These hygienic concerns however were
rural extraction, these girls could aspire to become
obviously only an excuse to stigmatise the rockabilly
hairdressers, shop assistants or funfair workers. These
girls’ diversity. This towering hairdo briefly enjoyed a
girls did not hide their femininity, but rather underlined
return of popularity between the 1970s and ‘80s among
it, often trespassing the limits of good taste, embodying
the New Wave music bands and in John Walters’ films
the typical American kitsch style before it was celebrated
on the head of his muse Divine. More recently, British
by Pop Art, with clashing colour combinations, animalier
singer songwriter Amy Winehouse with her extraordinary
prints, hot pink, pale green and light yellow paired with
personality and her Motown-inspired style revamped
cowboy accessories. Check shirts tied under the breasts,
the legendary beehive. THE ARTIFICE
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OUTSIDERS
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CREATE THE STYLE
IN TECHNICAL JARGON THE PIXIE IS DEFINED A “UNIFORM-LAYERED CUT.” TO MAKE THE TEXTURE LIGHT, HARMONIOUS AND FEMININE IT IS CRUCIAL THAT HAIR IS ALWAYS CUT PERPENDICULARLY TO THE HEAD. IT IS A VERY VERSATILE STYLE THAT HIGHLIGHTS THE FACIAL FEATURES FOR IT IS USUALLY KEPT VERY SHORT, BUT IT CAN ALSO BE PERSONALISED BY KEEPING THE PERIMETER OF THE HAIRLINE LONGER AND THINNED, OR BY CUTTING THE FRONT SECTION ASYMMETRICALLY.
THE
STYLING REQUIRES PRODUCTS THAT DEFINE THE LINES WITHOUT HARDENING THEM, FOR EXAMPLE HAIR WAX OR HAIR PASTE, BECAUSE THE HAIR MUST FALL NATURALLY IN PLACE WITHOUT LOOKING STIFF.
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OUTSIDERS
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BOHEMIAN RESUMÉ 1. The Italian espresso coffee machine with its futurist design matching the clean modern lines of the Vespa and Lambretta scooters. 2. The Soho district, London’s no man’s land, attracted those who felt out of place in post war Britain. 3. John Osborne’s famous theatre piece Look Back in Anger (1956) epitomised the ideas of a group of intellectuals seeking new forms of expression: the Angry Young Men.
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4. The English free cinema trend described the first signs of the existentialist revolution. 5. The Flamingo Club was one of the iconic venues of the new London bohemian scene, where the coolest music groups of the time used to play.
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OUTSIDERS
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SKINHEAD
Opposite An early-1970s long feather cut.
The skinhead movement was born in England in the late 1960s
Page 199 Skinhead girl in England wearing a classic feather cut and a Fred Perry polo shirt in the 1980s.
abbreviation for modernist). Those who joined the movement were
as a sub-proletarian deviation of the mods culture (mod being an working class youths, unsettled by widespread deviant behaviours and globalisation, a phenomenon that in London was at that time already clearly tangible. Skinheads considered themselves the defenders of the nation’s truest values, and being nationalists, they felt it was their duty to defend British traditions, be it the Union Jack or even the pint at the pub. Skinheads hated creative and ethnic diversity, their enemies were homosexuals and immigrants whom they spitefully attacked, and violence was an integral part of their identity, so much so it became the skinheads’ trademark. Their name derives from their shaved heads, a style intended to create an aggressive and unpleasant look – the exact opposite of the much-loathed effeminate hippy look.
OUTSIDERS
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CREATE THE STYLE
GLAM HAIR REQUIRES A VERY MASCULINE CUT, SHORT ON THE CROWN OF THE HEAD, CUT IN UNIFORM LAYERS SET TO STAND UP, WHILE THE BOTTOM PART MUST BE CONSIDERABLY LONGER. IN THIS WAY, MORE VOLUME IS CREATED IN THE TOP SECTION COMPARED TO THE LOWER SECTION THAT HAS A FLATTER APPEARANCE.
POINTING
CORRECTLY CREATES THE
THE HAIR DRYER
“SPIKY”
EFFECT
ON TOP THAT CAN BE FURTHER DEFINED WITH A STRONG GEL (NOT A WET LOOK GEL), OPAQUE HAIR STYLING WAX OR HAIRSPRAY
(NOT SHINY). IN THE NAPE AREA, HAIR MUST BE LEFT FLAT.
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Printed in Czech Republic
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