You look good, girl
January 16, 2015 8:58 AM   Subscribe

 
Oh, that is terrific! Makes me wonder how long it took women (I mean non-hairsylists) to achieve each look, using the tools available to them at the time. Because those styles look like a significant time investment. Neat find, thank you!
posted by MonkeyToes at 9:04 AM on January 16, 2015


I love the model. She seems so into it, despite what I imagine was insane hours of time spent on some of those styles.
posted by jacquilynne at 9:06 AM on January 16, 2015 [2 favorites]




I love this one! I saw the first and it was great but nothing new, nothing I hadn't already seen before in a zillion costume drama films. Anyway I think the 30s is my favourite, why aren't fascinators a mainstream thing anymore, this is an outrage.
posted by poffin boffin at 9:15 AM on January 16, 2015 [4 favorites]


Oh, this came across my tumblr feed a couple of days ago! I love this SO much. Especially the mid-century styles ('40s, '50s, '60s, '70s). The older women in my family wore all of those hairstyles at least once.
posted by magstheaxe at 9:22 AM on January 16, 2015


I thought this was fabulous, if sympathetically exhausting to watch. The woman sporting the styles, apart from being gorgeous, inhabits those styles with such easy confidence. I suspect you could put a pile of fruit on her head and I'd be sold. "Why did we ever stop with the cornucopia look? It's hott."
posted by maxwelton at 9:36 AM on January 16, 2015 [7 favorites]


...and not one decade of them straightened. 100 years of natural black hair.
posted by leotrotsky at 10:01 AM on January 16, 2015 [10 favorites]


I think the 1920s one must have been straightened, no? Which feels somewhat reasonable given that flapper hair is so absolutely constructed and fair off from anything "natural" on hair of any ethnicity, like, no one's hair does that on their own at all.

What jumped out at me was how it's not until the 70s that you get a style that's just completely free of influence and distinct from any style of white hair of the time. In retrospect, duh, but visually it's really striking.
posted by The Master and Margarita Mix at 10:19 AM on January 16, 2015 [2 favorites]


...as created by a couple of white-looking hairstylists, I noticed.
posted by Madamina at 10:25 AM on January 16, 2015


I think the 1920s one must have been straightened, no?

I think the point is that they're not using any chemical straighteners/relaxers etc. So in that sense it's not all that historically accurate.
posted by yoink at 10:29 AM on January 16, 2015 [2 favorites]


What jumped out at me was how it's not until the 70s that you get a style that's just completely free of influence and distinct from any style of white hair of the time. In retrospect, duh, but visually it's really striking.


I got the opposite impression with the side-by-side for the 70s, in terms of the thematic feel: basically, both women were wearing hair that was supposed to look "free" and "natural" (but, in reality, do still take time to care for/to make it look good: see the Afro pick, in use).

I also noticed that the 2010 styles looked a heck of a lot like the 1970s styles, for both women-- the white women has free flowing waves, and the black woman, big natural hair.
posted by damayanti at 11:02 AM on January 16, 2015 [6 favorites]


I think the 1920s one must have been straightened, no?

They used product in the video- in the 20s it would have been something like Brilliantine. But when talking about black hair "straightening" refers to a permanent chemical process (simplified definition).
posted by oneirodynia at 11:39 AM on January 16, 2015


I wouldn't say the styles were created by white-looking stylists, but executed by them. Those styles were created by a wide variety of influences.

It takes effort and intention to learn to work comfortably and skillfully with hair of lengths and textures different from those on the standard hair-school mannequin (an example). Cultural factors can add to the complexity and understanding required.

I'm the color of skim milk. I *adore* working with highly textured hair and the people that hair belongs to and take every opportunity to do so.
posted by houseofdanie at 11:46 AM on January 16, 2015 [2 favorites]


Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's 'Americanah' includes a number of discussions and descriptions of hair styles and processes and so forth, for those who may be interested in a solid novel.
posted by mr. digits at 11:56 AM on January 16, 2015 [3 favorites]


Regarding non-chemical straightening back in the day, here's a short history of the pressing comb. I learned to use the kind you place in a stove to heat up. I've seen combs that plug in directly, but I have no idea how well they work.
posted by houseofdanie at 11:59 AM on January 16, 2015 [5 favorites]




Regarding non-chemical straightening back in the day, here's a short history of the pressing comb. I learned to use the kind you place in a stove to heat up.
posted by houseofdanie at 2:59 PM on January 16


Oh, Lord. The nape of my neck flinched at the mere sight of those words.
posted by magstheaxe at 2:50 PM on January 16, 2015 [2 favorites]


They're all just beautiful, and the model looks awesome in all of them. Some of these take an incredible amount of time to put together and look a bit high-maintenance though.
posted by BlueHorse at 5:18 PM on January 16, 2015


They all look really cute/beautiful and I love how they're styled without heat (possibly the 20s one was just done with pomade?). The modern approach to the styles is very low-key and chic. It was so weird to see the 90s and 00s and be like oh shit, those were in and now they're out. I'm 25 and feelin' old.
posted by stoneandstar at 4:56 PM on January 17, 2015


Oh, Lord. The nape of my neck flinched at the mere sight of those words.

Say more, please?
posted by MonkeyToes at 5:57 PM on January 17, 2015


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