Fashion History
Hairstyles of 1970s College Women Fashion History
By Pauline Weston Thomas for Fashion-Era.com
1970s Fashion History
Hairstyles Image of College Women 1977
By the mid 1970s women had adopted a variety of hairstyles
many based on blow drying of hair into specific flicked positioning that
emanated from a centre parting. The image below is of several hundred
women between 18 and 65 and taken at the university college where I graduated.
I never thought 30 years ago I would be putting it on this site to show
hairstyles, but when I recently came across the picture long stored in my loft it seemed so real. Real people
of the 1970s with real hair styles.
The top picture above is the full, but compressed picture. I have split
it into smaller sections so you can look at the hair on individuals in a little
more detail. These women did not have a great deal of spare cash, yet I
recall at the time most of my fellow students in the main having fashionable
hair. The main hairstyle trend was to have flicks of some sort particularly on the
fringe or sides.
Whilst the hairstyle detail is not great, you can see lots of variation
between mid late 1970's hair styles and fashions in female hair from young to
old. As many of the women are under 21 they are reasonably reflective of
the everyday hair fashions of the mid late 1970s.
This photograph was taken about 1977 - note the centre
partings and 'wings' of layered hair flicks at the sides. Here is another
section
and another...
And the far left final section ..
Remember these are what real women looked like. If you are looking for
glamour in 1970s hairstyles then check out images of Farrah Fawcett Majors who
looked mostly like this, especially during her Charlie's Angels era. Such
a hairdo would have demanded a hairdresser running around after her on a film
set to constantly maintain those flicks with curling tongs. Heated rollers
could be used to similar effect, but tongs could achieve more directional hair
flick ups. Mostly during the 70s electric tongs were used with Braun gas
tongs becoming very popular in the 1980s.
Evidence of this style is often seen in the picture above.
This flicked hairstyle reached it's peak in the early 1980s and a look at images
from the
TV soap opera Dynasty will confirm how average hair ultimately became
'big hair'. Much of it became big hair just after people started to have
afro perms and then just let the hair grow out. The remaining perm on the ends
allowed full flicks and this was followed by spiral perm styles. Permanent
waves were big business in the 1980s along with highlights and frosting.
Please send your old hairstyle pictures for placement on the
site.
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