Big hair
Big hair is a term that can refer to hairstyles that emphasize large volume or largely styled hair. Big hair was popular in the late 1970s, as popularized by Dolly Parton and Farrah Fawcett, a development from earlier bouffant styles. The term is also used in the punk, goth and alternative cultures and is particularly associated with alternative fashion of the 1980s, or inspired by the period. In either usage, big hair in modern times generally suggests an eye-catching, untidy, tangled, voluminous hairstyle, worn by conformist women in the 1970s, non-conformist of all sexes in the 1980s.
Less commonly, big hair can refer to any style that incorporates a lot of height and/or volume.
History of big hair
Big hair has been a cultural trend and fashion icon throughout the span of centuries. Big hair can be achieved by the use of wigs, hair tools or hair products.
17th and 18th centuries
Wigs were popular in high society during the 16th and 17th centuries. Royalty, judges and high level officials wore wigs. Aristocrats were also known for wearing wigs as wigs were expensive during those times and needed maintenance. Powdered wigs were also worn, starting from the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries. In the first half of the 17th century, especially in France, men of all classes wore their hair long and preferably curled. When Louis XIV of France started compensating for his receding hairline with long, curly wigs around the mid-1600s, they became fashionable amongst the aristocracy and further developed in colour and style over the next 150 years. Women started to embrace elaborate powdered wigs in the 18th century as well, and the excesses of these hairstyles, sometimes even carrying miniature constructions (such as boats, and castles, executed in expensive materials such as gems, precious metals and silks), were a favourite subject among caricaturists at the time.
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20th century
Big hair became popular in Western culture during the 1950s and 1960s with bouffant hairstyles. The beehive hairstyle's popularity spanned the 1950s and 1960s. There are many iconic examples from popular culture, among them the 1961 movie Breakfast at Tiffany's, the Star Trek character Janice Rand and, to a lesser extent, the I Dream of Jeannie television show.
The afro hairstyle became widely popular not long after the beehive's decline. Seen by many as a repudiation of the use of hair straighteners to mimic the straightness of Caucasian hair, the afro became culturally symbolic during the 1960s and 1970s in connection to the growth of the Black Pride and Black Power political movements and the emergence of blaxploitation films and disco music.
During the 1980s and early 90s, big hair became a trend with styles such as the mullet, mohawk and "glam metal hair" (large hairstyle worn by Metal music groups). Large hairstyles were achieved with the use of hairspray, hair gel and hair mousse. Teased and permed hairstyles were not uncommon. Some music groups that promoted the big hair 1980s hairstyles included Bon Jovi, Whitesnake, Poison, Guns N' Roses, and Twisted Sister. Alternative music groups also sported big hairstyles including the mohawk. Alternative musicians that wore big hair hairstyles include Robert Smith of The Cure, Siouxsie Sioux of Siouxsie & the Banshees, and Johnny Slut of Specimen. The characters in the 80s television show Dynasty also displayed large hairstyles. Many characters in the 1988 film Hairspray exhibit such coiffure.
The 1990s were not defined by big hair hairstyles but a short lived interest in afro hairstyles resurfaced.Instead, the early 1990s had some influence of volumious hairstyles of the 80s but the later portion of the decade reflected decidedly smoother hairstyles. Moving towards the twenty-first century perms became significantly less popular as mainstream culture began to favor straight hair.
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Big hair styles
Afro
An afro, sometimes shortened to "'fro", is a hairstyle in which curly hair extends out from the head like a halo or cloud which may be several times the diameter of the head. Afros gained popularity in the 1970s.
Afro's are usually sported by people with tightly curled hair which is a distinct Black racial feature typical of indigenous African descended people, hence its name. Anyone of any racial background however, is capable of growing an afro if they have curly hair.
Afro's first originated in late 1950s South Africa among Black South African women and were originally called 'bushes'. The afro was adopted by politically conscious Black Americans in the late 1960s as an expression of pan-African pride and Black cultural independence from mainstream White society. The style was largely depoliticized throughout the 1970s and continued through the early 80s. In the mid-late 1980s, the afro became shorter but most Black males still wore their hair out to some degree (as opposed to keeping it short enough to the point that it does not curl which is the prevalent style in the 2000s).
A curly afro worn by a White person is humerously referred to as a 'Jewfro' as loosely curled hair is common among Ashkenazi Jews.
Mohawks
Mohawks are a hairstyle that was prominent in the early 1980s punk and hardcore music subcultures. The Mohawk style consist of shaved or buzzed sides of the head with a strip of longer hair in the centre of the head that is typically stiffened using hairspray and hair gel. Some individuals with Mohawks also colored the hair.
The deathhawk, a variation on the Mohawk, is generally thicker and looser than a traditional Mohawk, and may feature long tendrils. The deathhawk is associated with both the deathrock and goth scenes.
Liberty spikes, named for their resemblance to the spikes on the crown of the Statue of Liberty, are a style that incorporates long, thick, upright spikes all over the head. All varieties of Mohawks can be styled into liberty spikes.
Beehive
The beehive is a woman's hairstyle named for its resemblance to a beehive and for its similarity to the bulbous nose of the B-52 Stratofortress bomber.
A bouffant style, beehives originated in the USA in the 1950s. The peak of its popularity was in the 1960s, but is associated in modern times with the New Wave rock band The B-52's and with cartoon character Marge Simpson, whose usual hairdo is an extreme, two-foot high, blue beehive. Alex Handley also used this style by growing his hair and burning it off on live tv
Glam metal hair
In the 1980s, male members of bands of the glam metal era, such as Poison and Whitesnake often had a big hair style that featured long, often dyed-blonde hair that was teased or permed and then given "body" by the use of hairspray and hair dryers. The big hair of the glam metal bands led to it being nicknamed "hair metal".
This style lost popularity in the early 1990s, with the arrival of grunge fashion.
Techniques
Depending on the specific style, hairstyles in the big hair categories may require a number of styling, cutting, or treatment techniques. Styling of punk and alternative big hair styles often requires backcombing (teasing) and the liberal application of styling aids such as hair spray and hair gel, often in combination with the use of hair dryers. Crimping irons, perms, hair rollers, or other techniques may also be required.