Hair Again

Hair itself is something that's changed very little over the past few millennia. It's dark or light; curly or straight; you have it or you don't.

"Glamour represents an escape."

Hair styles, however, are another story.

According to Grant McCracken, author of Big Hair: A Journey into the Transformation of Self, "Hair is one of the imperatives of contemporary life. Hair matters in our life because it is a way, perhaps the most important way, that women transform themselves."

Recent decades have seen women transforming themselves with hairdos that have seemed totally unprecedented: There was the '70s' Farrah Fawcett feathered shag, the wild Cyndi Lauper styles of the '80s, and the ubiquitous "Rachel cut" from Friends in the 1990s.

But suddenly, the tides are shifting. You might say we're flipping our hair back. What's in right now? Any look that seems like it went out along with the Truman administration.

"What you're seeing today is a return to more elegance," says Ira Ludwick, owner of Progressions Salon in Rockville, MD. "If you take a look at the '30s and '40s, people's favorite thing was to go to the movies to escape the difficulty of their everyday life. Glamour represents an escape. The same is true now. The world is crazier than ever before."

Mikel James, a colorist at Washington, D.C.'s Okyo Salon, has seen an increase in the demand for finger waves, a popular 1930s method of setting hair (one that preceded hot rollers) that involves creating alternate waves in the hair by pinching it between the fingers.

At the 78th Academy Awards, several actresses were seen sporting the wave, including Salma Hayek (who opted for a sensual side part) and Hillary Swank. Off the red carpet, both Gwen Stefani and Faith Hill have been showing off their romantic retro waves.

Vintage products like massive curlers, were hard to find for years, says James, but they're making their way back on the market. There are also a number of new volume-enhancing products like Bumble and Bumble's hair powders and styling cream, which resemble the kinds of products women of other generations used to create that Rita Hayworth look, according to Ludwick.

So what's the next look that's going to be resurrected? The mullet? The bob? The beehive?

The female version of the Yul Brynner?

Heaven forbid.

Posted on April 03, 2006