I walk by a hair salon and almost drool. It has been eight months since I have allowed anyone else to cut or style my hair. I quit coloring it before the pandemic started, so at least I don’t have to worry about that any more. I also styled my hair before March, so that is not a problem. However, cutting my hair is another issue. I have been doing it myself, just trying to trim where it was cut before. But, I’m not always successful; there are many uneven places now. I have always been envious of those who could make a few strategic cuts and turn a haystack into a masterpiece. Guess I wasn’t born with that gene. Let’s learn more about those who were.
A hairdresser is a person whose occupation is to cut or style hair in order to change or maintain a person's image. This is achieved using a combination of hair coloring, haircutting and hair texturing techniques. Most hairdressers are professionally licensed as either a hairdresser, a barber or a cosmetologist.
History
Ancient hairdressing
According to Wikipedia, hairdressing as an occupation dates back thousands of years. Ancient art drawings and paintings have been discovered depicting people working on another person's hair. Greek writers Aristophanes and Homer both mention hairdressing in their writings. In Africa, it was believed in some cultures that a person's spirit occupied his or her hair, giving hairdressers high status within these communities. The status of hairdressing encouraged many to develop their skills, and close relationships were built between hairdressers and their clients. Hours would be spent washing, combing, oiling, styling and ornamenting their hair. Men would work specifically on men, and women on other women. Before a master hairdresser died, they would give their combs and tools to a chosen successor during a special ceremony.
In ancient Egypt, hairdressers had specially decorated cases to hold their tools, including lotions, scissors and styling materials. Barbers also worked as hairdressers, and wealthy men often had personal barbers within their home. With the standard of wig-wearing within the culture, wigmakers were also trained as hairdressers. In ancient Rome and Greece, household slaves and servants took on the role of hairdressers, including dyeing and shaving. Men who did not have their own private hair or shaving services would visit the local barbershop. Women had their hair maintained and groomed at their homes. Historical documentation is lacking regarding hairstylists from the 5th century until the 14th century. Hair care service grew in demand after a papal decree in 1092 demanded that all Roman Catholic clergymen remove their facial hair.
Europe
The first appearance of the word "hairdresser" is in 17th century Europe, and hairdressing was considered a profession. Hair fashion of the period suggested that wealthy women wear large, complex and heavily adorned hairstyles, which would be maintained by their personal maids and other people, who would spend hours dressing the woman's hair. A wealthy man's hair would often be maintained by a valet. It was in France where men began styling women's hair for the first time, and many of the notable hairdressers of the time were men, a trend that would continue into contemporary times. The first famous male hairdresser was Champagne, who was born in Southern France. Upon moving to Paris, he opened his own hair salon and dressed the hair of wealthy Parisian women until his death in 1658.
Women's hair grew taller in style during the 17th century, popularized by the hairdresser Madame Martin. The hairstyle, "the tower," was the trend with wealthy English and American women, who relied on hairdressers to style their hair as tall as possible. Tall piles of curls were pomaded, powdered and decorated with ribbons, flowers, lace, feathers and jewelry. The profession of hairdressing was launched as a genuine profession when Legros de Rumigny was declared the first official hairdresser of the French court. In 1765 de Rumigny published his book “Art de la Coiffure des Dames,” which discussed hairdressing and included pictures of hairstyles designed by him. The book was a best-seller amongst French women, and four years later de Rumigny opened a school for hairdressers: Academie de Coiffure. At the school he taught men and women to cut hair and create his special hair designs.
By 1777, approximately 1,200 hairdressers were working in Paris. During this time, barbers formed unions and demanded that hairdressers do the same. Wigmakers also demanded that hairdressers cease taking away from their trade, and hairdressers responded that their roles were not the same, hairdressing was a service, and wigmakers made and sold a product. de Rumigny died in 1770 and other hairdressers gained in popularity, specifically three Frenchmen: Frederic, Larseueur and Léonard. Léonard and Larseueur were the stylists for Marie Antoinette. Léonard was her favorite and developed many hairstyles that became fashion trends within wealthy Parisian circles, including the loge d’opera, which towered five feet over the wearer's head. During the French Revolution, he escaped the country hours before he was to be arrested, alongside the king, queen and other clients. He emigrated to Russia, where he worked as the premier hairdresser for Russian nobility.
19th century
Parisian hairdressers continued to develop influential styles during the early 19th century. Wealthy French women would have their favorite hairdressers style their hair from within their own homes, a trend seen in wealthy international communities. Hairdressing was primarily a service affordable only to those wealthy enough to hire professionals or to pay for servants to care for their hair. In the United States, Marie Laveau was one of the most famous hairdressers of the period. Laveau, located in New Orleans, began working as a hairdresser in the early 1820s, maintaining the hair of wealthy women of the city. She was a voodoo practitioner, called the "Voodoo Queen of New Orleans," and she used her connections to wealthy women to support her religious practice. She provided "help" to women who needed it for money, gifts and other favors.
French hairdresser Marcel Grateau developed the "Marcel wave" in the late part of the century. His wave required the use of a special hot hair iron and needed to be done by an experienced hairdresser. Fashionable women asked to have their hair "marceled." During this period, hairdressers began opening salons in cities and towns, led by Martha Matilda Harper, who developed one of the first retail chains of hair salons, the Harper Method.
20th century
Beauty salons became popularized during the 20th century, alongside men's barbershops. These spaces served as social spaces, allowing women to socialize while having their hair done and other services such as facials. Wealthy women still had hairdressers visit their home, but, the majority of women visited salons for services, including high-end salons such as Elizabeth Arden’s Red Door Salon.
Major advancements in hairdressing tools took place during this period. Electricity led to the development of permanent wave machines and hair dryers. These tools allowed hairdressers to promote visits to their salons, over limited service in-home visits. New coloring processes were developed, including those by Eugène Schueller in Paris, which allowed hairdressers to perform complicated styling techniques. After World War I, the bob cut and the shingle bob became popular, alongside other short haircuts. In the 1930s complicated styles came back into fashion, alongside the return of the Marcel wave. Hairdressing was one of the few acceptable professions during this time for women, alongside teaching, nursing and clerical work.
United States
Occupationally, hairdressing is expected to grow faster than the average for all other occupations, at 20%. A state license is required for hairdressers to practice, with qualifications varying from state to state. Generally, a person interested in hairdressing must have a high school diploma or GED, be at least 16 years of age and have graduated from a state-licensed barber or cosmetology school. Full-time programs often last nine months or more, leading to an associate degree. After students graduate from a program, they take a state licensing exam, which often consists of a written test and a practical test of styling or an oral exam. Hairdressers must pay for licenses, and occasionally licenses must be renewed. Some states allow hairdressers to work without obtaining a new license, while others require a new license. About 44% of hairdressers are self-employed, often putting in 40-hour work weeks, and even longer among the self-employed. In 2008, 29% of hairstylists worked part-time, and 14% had variable schedules. As of 2008, people working as hairdressers totaled about 630,700, with a projected increase to 757,700 by 2018.
Hairstyles in the 1950s
The 1950s were a decade known for experimentation with new styles and culture. Following World War II and the austerity years of the post-war period, the 1950s were a time of comparative prosperity, which influenced fashion and the concept of glamour. Hairstylists invented new hairstyles for wealthy patrons. Influential hairstylists of the period include Sydney Guilaroff, Alexandre of Paris and Raymond Bessone, who took French hair fashion to Hollywood, New York and London, popularizing the pickle cut, the pixie cut and bouffant hairstyles.
The American film industry and the popular music industry influenced hairstyles around the world, both in mainstream fashion and teenage sub-culture. With the advent of the rock music industry, teenage culture and fashion became increasingly significant and distinctive from mainstream fashion, with American style being imitated in Europe, Asia, Australasia and South America. Teenage girls around the world wore their hair in ponytails while teenage boys wore crew cuts, the more rebellious among them favoring "greaser" comb-backs.
The development of hair-styling products, particularly setting sprays, hair-oil and hair-cream, influenced the way hair was styled and the way people around the world wore their hair day to day. Women's hairstyles of the 1950s were in generally less ornate and more informal than those of the 1940s, with a "natural" look being favored, even if it was achieved by perming, setting, styling and spraying. Mature men's hairstyles were always short and neat, and they were generally maintained with hair oil. Even among "rebellious youth" with longer, greased hair, carrying a comb and maintaining the hairstyle was part of the culture.
Male hairstyles in the 1950s
Popular music and film stars had a major influence on 1950s hairstyles and fashion. Elvis Presley and James Dean had a great influence on the high quiff-pompadour greased-up style or slicked-back style for men with heavy use of Brylcreem or pomade. The pompadour was a fashion trend in the 1950s, especially among male rockabilly artists and actors. A variation of this was the duck’s ass (or in the UK "duck's arse"), also called the "duck's tail," the "ducktail" or simply the D.A.
This hairstyle was originally developed by Joe Cerello in 1940. Cerello's clients later included film celebrities like Elvis Presley and James Dean. Frank Sinatra posed in a modified D.A. style of hair. This style required that the hair be combed back around the sides of the head. The tooth edge of a comb was then used to define a central part running from the crown to the nape at the back of the head, resembling, to many, the rear end of a duck. The hair on the top front of the head was either deliberately disarrayed so that untidy strands hung down over the forehead, or combed up and then curled down into an "elephant's trunk" which might hang down as far as the top of the nose. The sides were styled to resemble the folded wings of the duck, often with heavy sideburns.
A variant of the duck's tail style, known as "the Detroit," consisted of the long back and sides combined with a flattop. In California, the top hair was allowed to grow longer and combed into a wavelike pompadour shape known as a "breaker." The duck's tail became an emblematic coiffure of disaffected young males across the English-speaking world during the 1950s, a sign of rebellious youth and of a "bad boy" image. The style was frowned upon by high school authorities, who often imposed limitations on male hair length as part of their dress codes. Nevertheless, the style was widely copied by men of all ages.
The regular haircut, side-parted with tapered back and sides, was considered a clean-cut fashion and preferred by parents and school authorities in the United States. The crew cut, flattop and ivy league were also popular, particularly among high school and college students. The crew-cut style was derived from the military haircuts given to millions of draftees and was favored by men who wished to appear "establishment" or mainstream. Daily applications of "butch wax" were used to make the short hair stand straight up from the head. Celebrities favoring this style included Steve McQueen, Mickey Mantle and John Glenn. Crew-cuts gradually declined in popularity by the end of the decade; by the mid-1960s, long hair for men had become fashionable.
Black male entertainers chose to wear their hair in short and unstraightened styles.
In southeast Asia, a variation of the quiff that was popular was the "curry puff," styled by a bob of wavy hair just above the forehead. "Geek chic" was a fashion trend for intellectual types, with a bouffant or greased-back hair and black glasses, exhibited by the likes of Buddy Holly and Bill Evans.
In the 1950s, a surfing hairstyle for men was popularized by surfers. The style featured layered long hair swept by the wind, and originally it was frequent in beach areas like Hawaii and California.
Female hairstyles in the 1950s
Hairstyles for women in the 1950s were diverse, of varying hair lengths, although women older than 20 generally preferred short to medium-length hair. Women generally emulated the hair styles and hair colors of popular film personalities and fashion magazines; top models played a pivotal role in propagating the styles. Alexandre of Paris had developed the beehive and artichoke styles seen on Grace Kelly, Jackie Kennedy, the Duchess of Windsor, Elizabeth Taylor and Tippi Hedren. Generally, a shorter bouffant style was favored by female movie stars, paving the way for the long hair trend of the 1960s. Very short, cropped hairstyles were fashionable in the early 1950s.
By mid-decade, hats were worn less frequently, especially as fuller hairstyles like the short, curly “elfin cut" or the "Italian cut" or "poodle cut” and later the bouffant and the beehive became fashionable — sometimes nicknamed B-52s for their similarity to the bulbous noses of the B-52 Stratofortress bomber. Stars such as Marilyn Monroe, Connie Francis, Elizabeth Taylor and Audrey Hepburn usually wore their hair short with high volume. In the poodle hairstyle, the hair is permed into tight curls, similar to the poodle's curly hair — curling the hair involves time and effort. This style was popularized by Hollywood actresses like Peggy Garner, Lucille Ball, Ann Sothern and Faye Emerson. In the post-war prosperous 1950s, in particular, the bouffant hair style was the most dramatic and considered an ideal style in which aerosol hairspray facilitated keeping large quantities of “backcombed or teased and frozen hair” in place. This necessitated a regimen of daily hair care to keep the bouffant in place; curlers were worn to bed and frequent visits were made to the hair stylist's salon. Mouseketeer Annette Funicello dramatically presented this hair style in the movie “Beach Party.”
Short, tight curls with a poodle cut known as "short bangs" were very popular, favored by women such as First Lady Mamie Eisenhower. Henna was a popular hair dye in the 1950s in the U.S.; in the popular TV comedy series “I Love Lucy,” Lucille Ball — according to her husband's statement — “used henna rinse to dye her brown hair red.” The poodle cut was also made popular by Audrey Hepburn. In the 1953 film “Roman Holiday,” Audrey Hepburn's character had short hair known as a “gamine-style” pixie cut, which accentuated her long neck, and which was copied by many women. In the film “Sabrina,” her character appears initially in long plain hair while attending culinary school, but returns to her Paris home with a chic, short, face-framing "Paris hairstyle," which again was copied by many women. When the rage among women was for the “blond bombshell” hairstyle, Hepburn stuck to her dark brown hair color and refused to dye her hair for any film.
Jacquelinne Kennedy wore a short hair style for her wedding in 1953, while later she sported a “bouffant;” together with the larger beehive and shorter bubble cut, this became one of the most popular women's hairstyles of the 1950s. Grace Kelly favored a mid-length bob style, also influential. There were exceptions, however, and some women, such as Bettie Page, favored long, straight dark locks and a fringe; such women were known as "Beat girls." In the mid-1950s, a high ponytail became popular with teenage girls, often tied with a scarf. The ponytail was seen on the first Barbie dolls in 1959; a few years later Barbies with beehives appeared. The “artichoke cut,” which was invented by Jacques Dessange, was specially designed for Brigitte Bardot. Compact coiffures were popular in the 1950s as less importance was given to hairstyling, although a new look was stylized by Christian Dior’s fashion revolution after the war.
Hair products in the 1950s
In the 1950s, lotion shampoos with conditioning ingredients became popular precursors of the shampoo/conditioner rinse pairing of two decades later. The Clairol ad campaign, "Does she ... or doesn't she?" boosted hair color product sales not just for their company, but across the hair dye industry.
The bouffant style relied on the liberal use of hairspray to hold hair in place for a week. Hairspray lacquers of this era were of a different chemical formula than used today and were more difficult to remove from the hair than today's products. But even less extreme styles, such as parting hair on the left and the right before pulling the bangs to one side, required holding the style in place with hairspray. One ingredient in 1950s hair spray was vinyl chloride monomer; used as an alternative to chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), it was subsequently found to be both toxic and flammable.
Hair gels, such as Dippity-do, came in a variety of forms such as spray or jelly, and were referred to as "setting gels." African American hair products promised natural-looking hair to black women, with natural in this context defined as straight, soft and smooth; these products, such as Lustra-silk, were advertised to not be heavy, greasy or damaging like pressing oils and chemical relaxers of the past.
Only a small amount of Brylcreem was needed to make a man's hair shiny and stay in place; Brylcreem's tag line was "Brylcreem, a little dab'll do ya." It was also used by those who suffered from dandruff. While the conk was still popular through the end of the decade, Isaac Hayes switched to going bald. The conk — derived from congolene, a hair straightener gel made from lye — was a hairstyle popular among African American men from the 1920s to the 1960s. This hairstyle called for a man with naturally “kinky” hair to have it chemically straightened using a relaxer — sometimes the pure corrosive chemical lye — so that the newly straightened hair could be styled in specific ways. Hair growth products for men were first introduced in the 1950s in Japan.
Influence of 1950s hairstyles
The 1950s had a profound influence on fashion and continues to be a strong influence in contemporary fashion. Some of the world's most famous fashion icons today such as Christina Aguilera, Katy Perry and David Beckham regularly wear their hair or indulge in a style of fashion clearly heavily influenced by that of the 1950s. Aguilera is influenced by Marilyn Monoe, Beckham by Steve McQueen and James Dean.
The pompadour style became popular among Italian Americans and the image became an integral part of the Italian male stereotype in the 1970s in films such as “Grease” and television series such as “Happy Days.” The Fonz, played by Henry Winkler, with his greased pompadour, white T-shirt and leather jacket, has been cited as the "epitome of the 50s bad-boy cool". In modern Japanse popular culture, the pompadour is a stereotypical hairstyle often worn by gang members, thugs, members of the yakuza and its junior counterpart bōsōzoku and other similar groups such as the yankii — high-school hoodlums. In Japan the style is known as the "Regent" hairstyle and is often caricatured in various forms of entertainment media such as anime, manga, television and music videos.
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