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The Electric Cut

Beauty

Un-lock-ing the past: Throwback hairstyles

From pompadours to Afros, finger curls to big ’80s hair, celebrate Throwback Thursday with vintage photos of the hairstyles of yesteryear.

/ 24 PHOTOS
Lya De Putti

Throwback hairstyles

Hairstyles have taken many forms throughout the decades. Celebrate Throwback Thursday with vintage photos of hairstyles of yesteryear.

The bob
Film actress Lya De Putti sports a short bob in 1923. In the 1920s, women said goodbye to their long Victorian locks and welcomed much shorter hairdos. A bob cut is a short haircut in which the hair is typically cut straight around the head at about the level of the jaw, with bangs on the front.

Alexander Binder / Hulton Archive
Soft Focus Mary

Dazzling accessory

Actress Mary Pickford wears a jewelled barrette in her hair in 1925, adding a feminine touch to her short waves.

General Photographic Agency / Hulton Archive
Hairstyles

Sitting pretty

Three women show off their hairstyles at The London Pavilion in the 1920s. Techniques like shingling and layering were turned into an art form that resulted in beautiful coiffures.

Hulton Archive / Hulton Archive
Julia Faye

Perfectly platinum

American leading lady Julia Faye wears a finger-waved hair style in 1928. The style was made popular in the 1920s as a fancy way to style the very modern and wildly popular bob hairstyle of the era. The process involves pinching the hair between the fingers and combing the hair in alternating directions to make a wave shape.

General Photographic Agency / Hulton Archive
Hairdressing Fair

Early dryer

A model demonstrates the latest design in hair dryers in 1928. Before the hair dryer was made, people were using vacuum cleaners to dry their hair.

Gaiger / Hulton Archive
Jean Colin

Cute curls

British film actress Jean Colin shows off her hairdo in 1937. By the 1930s, hairstyles were becoming more feminine again and were more soft and glamorous than the previous decade.

Sasha / Hulton Archive
Veronica Lake

Peek-a-Boo

Actress Veronica Lake made the glamorous peek-a-boo bang hairstyle famous in the 1940s.

Keystone / Hulton Archive
Indoor portrait of woman with painted nails

Super styled

A women models a stylish haircut from the 1950s. That decade saw the re-introduction of romantic femininity, as the war was ending and the practical hairstyles for working in factories were no longer as essential. Women went back to more stylish glamourous coifs.

George Marks / Hulton Archive
Portrait of woman

Reverse curls

A model shows off her brushed-under bob hairstyle in the 1950s. The development of hair-styling products influenced the way in which hair was styled in the '50s. Popular film stars like Audrey Hepburn, Sophia Loren, Grace Kelly, Elizabeth Taylor and Doris Day influenced the latest hairstyles. Others like Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield also had influential trademark looks.

George Marks / Hulton Archive
1950s YOUNG TEENAGE MAN WEARING SUIT TIE POINTING TO HIMSELF QUIZZICAL EXPRESSION POMPADOUR HAIRSTYLE LOOKING AT CAMERA - 01/01/1954 - Photo by: COLEMAN/H. Roberts Armstrong/Classicstock/Everett Collection (p1819)

Slicked back

A man in the 1950s sports the pompadour greased-up style or slicked-back style for men. This was created with heavy use of gel. Popular music and film stars had a major influence on 50s hairstyles and fashion. Elvis Presley and James Dean had a great influence on the high pompadour.

Woman w/mouth open in surprise

High hair

A woman models the modern bouffant hairstyle in the mid-1950s. The main elements of a bouffant hairstyle were volume and height.

George Marks / Hulton Archive
Pretty In Pink

Pulled back

A 1950s fashion model wears her hair pulled back in a matching headband with her hair flipped at the base. Flowers, taffeta ribbons, and even strands of pearls were touted as the perfect hair accessories.

Chaloner Woods / Hulton Archive
Fifties Hair

Over the top

Paris hair stylist Carita wears a hollow crowned hat permitting her hair to remain in shape for summer season in the 1950s.

Keystone / Hulton Archive
Knitted Jacket

Flipped out

A women models her blonde upward-flipped hair in the 1950s. The flip was a long bob that literally "flipped" out at the ends, creating a bell shape.

Chaloner Woods / Hulton Archive
Hair Piled High

Big hair

A model with a beehive hairdo in the 1960s. The beehive is a hairstyle in which long hair is piled up in a conical shape on the top of the head and slightly backwards-pointing, giving some resemblance to the shape of a traditional beehive.

Chaloner Woods / Hulton Archive
Marsha Hunt's Afro

Cute and curly

American pop singer Marsha Hunt with an afro hairstyle in the 1960s. The hairstyle is created by combing the hair away from the scalp, allowing the hair to extend out from the head in a large, rounded shape, much like a halo.

M. Mckeown / Hulton Archive
Pick-Me-Up

Some like it hot

A model sips a cup of coffee while highlighting the simple bushy bob hairdo of the 1960s.

Chaloner Woods / Hulton Archive
Hippies decorate each other with flowers on August 26, 1967 at Woburn Abbey, stately home of the Duke of Bedford at Woburn, England. (AP Photo)

Free spirit

Hippies decorate each other with flowers in the 1960s. During the hippie movement, men and women grew their hair long and avoided fussy styling and hair products. Usually hair was parted in the middle and bang-less.

The Electric Cut

Electrifying

The 'Electric Cut', invented by Paris hair stylist Patrick Ales in 1974. The hair is given body by ultra over-curling, then straightened and cut into a shoulder length geometric bob.

Keystone / Hulton Archive
Punk Fashion

Hair raising

Two young punk rockers pose with spiked hair in the 1980s. 1980's punk fashion was influenced greatly by celebrities in the music scene, such as The Ramones, Sex Pistols and Billy Idol.

Evening Standard / Hulton Archive
L'Ambigue

Asymmetrical

The one-eyed look invented by Parisian stylist Patrick Ales in the 1980's. The cut featured flowing hair held in place by a frizzy perm.

Alain Longeaud / Hulton Archive
From torrents of long hair to short and saucy are the styles of the 80's woman presented in New York on Tuesday, June 11, 1980. The Clairol Collection was designed by John and Suzanne Chadwick and featured hair color by Leslie Blanchard. (AP Photo/Ron Frehm)

Va va voom

A woman models a hairstyle from the 1980s. Big hair was a popular '80s look.

Ron Frehm / AP
Three models present Spring-Summer hair fashions at Parson Fashion Center in New York on Monday, Oct. 30, 1985. Hair stylists are taking their cues from Seventh Avenue, offering sleek, chic short hairdos that hug the head the way designer clothes hug the body. Though cut close, the styles have motion and fullness because they are bobbed, razored bluntly at the ends and sheared inches short of the nape. (AP Photo/Nancy Kaye)

Simply short

The chic short hairdos of the 1980s were adopted by fashionistas and pop stars alike.

Nancy Kaye / AP
Models show off new hair styles that are in fashion in New York on Oct. 30, 1985. The styles offer a sleek short look that hugs the head the way the designer clothes hug the body. The styles have motion and fullness because they are bobbed and razored bluntly. (AP Photo/Ed Bailey)

Back to the bob

Models show off new hairstyles in the 1980s. The styles offered a sleek short look that hugs the head, but feature motion and fullness because they are bobbed and razored bluntly.

Ed Bailey / AP
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